WhatsApp is one of the most personal social media platforms ever. When we say “personal,” we mean the closeness that comes while using WhatsApp, the close friends and people we chat with on the app and the way the app comes in handy in every important part of our daily lives. But WhatsApp also allows us to interact with people we might not know or talk with through groups.
WhatsApp groups are like virtual meeting places for people who share something in common. They can be family groups, a friend circle, or groups dedicated to a certain event or occasion. Basically, you can create groups for anything and everything.
But there is a problem. You might not know all the people who are in a WhatsApp group. And sometimes, you might be in an unknown group just for some specific purpose. In such cases, you may not want unknown people to look you up on the group’s member list.
Well, we completely understand your problem. And we want to help you out. So, let’s discover whether you can do anything to hide your name in a group.
Can you make yourself invisible in a WhatsApp group?
If you want to chat with anyone online, then WhatsApp is one of the most secure and private options available out there, provided you agree to share your number on the platform.
And group chats are just as secure as individual chats. No one outside the group can ever read the messages sent inside a group; messages are protected with the same end-to-end encryption technique used in one-to-one chats.
But the encryption alone might not be sufficient if you don’t want to talk with the participants of a group. Your number and name appear, by default, in the list of group members. And unfortunately, there is no way to hide your number from the list.
You read that right; you cannot hide your number from the group members’ list. The privacy of a group is taken as a whole, not at the level of its individual members. A group is made with participants, and it won’t make any sense if you can’t see who’s in the group.
But you CAN do something!
You can’t hide in a WhatsApp group due to the reasons we just discussed. But we need to pause here and think, “What good is a phone number on WhatsApp, anyway?”
Think of it this way: If you only have an unknown phone number without any other identifying information on WhatsApp, it’s as good as not having the number at all! After all, why would you, or anyone else, want to know about a number when you know nothing about it to be curious about it in the first place?
What other information do you need to know someone other than their number? The answer is simple– name and profile picture. Now let’s see whether and how you can hide these two pieces of information in a group.
How to Hide Your Name from Participants in Whatsapp Group
When you are part of a WhatsApp group, your name and profile picture appear along with your number in the group. Participants may identify you by seeing these two additional pieces of information.
But if you could hide these two pieces of information from group members, your number in the group would have no significance. So, how can you hide your name and picture from group participants? Let’s find out.
Hiding your name in a WhatsApp group
Well, WhatsApp doesn’t provide an option to hide your name from people on a WhatsApp group. While there are ways to change the visibility of your status, profile picture, and About section, your name is visible to everyone. And you can’t change that.
The only way to hide your name in a group is by removing your name altogether.
But then, there is another problem. WhatsApp doesn’t allow users to keep a blank name on their profile. You need to put something up.
But guess what? We have found a workaround to keep a blank name on WhatsApp. Here is how to do that:
Step 1: Copy these symbols on your phone (excluding the quotation marks): “⇨ ຸ”
Step 2: Open WhatsApp and tap on the three dots in the top-right corner of the screen.
Step 3: Select the last option on the list: Settings.
Step 4: On the next screen, tap on your current profile name. Then tap on the Edit icon (a pencil) next to Name to change your name.
Step 5: Delete your current name and paste the copied symbols on the space.
Step 6: Now, delete the arrow symbol “⇨ ຸ” from the pasted text. Let the second symbol remain pasted.
Step 7: Hit the Save button. The second symbol will become a blank space, and your name will disappear!
No one can see your name now.
Hiding your profile picture in a WhatsApp group
When it comes to hiding your profile picture, there is an option. You can hide your profile picture from people without removing it from your profile. WhatsApp lets you make your picture visible to everyone or just to your contacts. You can also choose to hide your picture from specific contacts.
If you want to hide your identity in a group, you can limit the visibility of your contacts. This way, unknown people won’t see your photo and will be unable to identify you, provided you have also removed your name.
Here’s how you can change the visibility of your profile picture on WhatsApp:
Step 1: Open WhatsApp and tap on the three dots at the top right.
Step 2: Tap on Settings, and go to Privacy.
Step 3: Select Profile picture, and change the visibility to My Contacts, My Contacts except (choose the specific contacts who won’t see your photo), or Nobody.
This way, people in the group will only see your photo if they are in your contacts.
Hiding your About section
If you want to go completely low-key, you might also want to hide the About section from non-contacts. And fortunately, it’s possible to hide your About, just like your profile picture.
Follow these steps to hide your About section on WhatsApp:
Step 1: Open WhatsApp and go to Settings by following the steps mentioned earlier.
Step 2: Go to Privacy→ About.
Step 3: As you did for the profile picture, change the visibility to My Contacts or My Contacts except as you wish.
And that’s it! Your About section will also get hidden for non-contacts.
Once you apply all the three methods mentioned above, you can rest assured as your identity will remain safe and hidden from people you don’t want to.
Summing up
WhatsApp groups let you connect with like-minded people who share some interests and purposes. But not everyone in a WhatsApp group is someone you want to identify with.
But that’s no problem anymore, as we have described ways to hide your identity from people you don’t know in groups. By applying all three methods simultaneously on your account, you can ensure that people who don’t know you don’t identify you.
If this blog helps you hide your identity in WhatsApp groups, don’t forget to share it with your friends. They will thank you, and we will be happy!
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