WhatsApp Last Seen: What It Is and How to Turn It Off

This article explains how to stop WhatsApp from displaying the last time you used the service by adjusting the Last Seen setting. Here's how to change this setting on both iPhone and Android.

How to Turn Last Seen On or Off on iPhone

Turning off the last seen setting is easy to do on iPhone. Here's how to quickly toggle this setting off and on.

1. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone and tap the Settings icon at the bottom of the screen.

2. From Settings, tap Account > Privacy.

3. In the Privacy settings, tap Last Seen, then choose Nobody for your Last Seen setting to turn Last Seen off. This means nobody will be able to view your last seen time.

   If you want to allow others to see when you were last online, you can choose Everyone or My Contacts to turn the option on.

How to Turn Off/On Last Seen on Android

It's also easy to turn off the last seen setting on Android. Here's how to quickly toggle this setting off and on.

1. Open WhatsApp on your Android and tap the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner of the screen to access the menu.

2. From the menu, tap Settings, then tap Account.

3. From the Account screen, tap Privacy, then tap Last seen. Next, choose Nobody for your Last Seen setting. This means nobody will be able to view your last seen time.

   Alternatively, if Last Seen is set to Nobody, but you want to allow others to see your status, you can choose Everyone or My Contacts to enable the feature.

How Does WhatsApp 'Last Seen' Setting Work?

By default, WhatsApp displays the time you last used the app in the Chats window, for example, last seen today at 6:15 PM. So, if someone opens a chat with you, they can see the last time you had the app open (if you're not currently online, that is, in which case your status will say online). However, there's no way to hide your status if you're online or typing, even if you turn off the last seen setting.

Nevertheless, if you don't want your last seen time visible to your contacts, you can choose to turn this setting off, either temporarily or permanently.