How to Disable “Last Seen” and “Online” Status in WhatsApp

Download Article

Protect your privacy and find out if you can disable timestamps

Co-authored by Travis Boylls

Last Updated: October 29, 2025 Fact Checked

Download Article

Disabling Last Seen & Online Status

|

Removing Timestamps from a Transcript

|

FAQ

|

Video

WhatsApp is a popular messaging application that allows you to send text messages to people over the internet with end-to-end encryption for added security. Messages sent over WhatsApp generally have a timestamp showing the date and time when the message was sent. It also displays when you are online and when you were last seen online. However, if you are concerned about your privacy, you may not want these features to be displayed. Can you disable these features? This wikiHow article answers these questions and more.

Can you remove timestamps in WhatsApp?

You cannot remove timestamps from sent messages. However, you can disable your “Last Seen” and “Online” status in the Privacy Settings menu. This will prevent others from seeing when you are online and when you were last seen. You can also use a web app to remove timestamps from chat transcripts.

Section 1 of 3:

Disabling Last Seen & Online Status

Download Article

Tap the WhatsApp icon on your home screen or apps menu to launch WhatsApp. It has a green icon with an image that resembles a white phone receiver.
2
Open the Settings menu. To do so on iPhone, tap the gear icon in the lower-right corner. To do so on Android, tap the icon with three dots (⋮) in the upper-right corner. Then tap Settings.
- If you are using a desktop computer, click the gear icon in the lower-left corner. Then click Settings.
Advertisement
It’s the second option in the Settings menu.
It’s the first option in the Privacy menu.
5
Select Nobody below “Who can see my last seen”. This disables your “Last Seen” status and prevents others from seeing when you were last online.
- Alternatively, you can select “My contacts” to only allow your contacts to see when you were last online. You can also tap “My contacts except” and then select which contacts you don’t want to see your “Last Seen” status.
This ensures that your online status matches your “Last Seen” status. If nobody can see when you were last seen, then nobody can see when you are online.^{[1]
X
Research source}

Section 2 of 3:

Removing Timestamps from a Transcript

Download Article

Tap the WhatsApp icon on your home screen or apps menu to launch WhatsApp. It has a green icon with an image that resembles a white phone receiver.
You can export chats on iPhone and Android, but you can’t do it on a desktop computer.
To do so on Android, tap the icon with three dots (⋮) in the upper-right corner. Then tap More. On iPhone, tap the person’s name or group chat name at the top of the chat.
This displays options for exporting the chat.^{[2]
X
Research source}
You can select an email application to email the transcript as an email attachment. Email it to yourself. You can also select a cloud service, like Google Drive, to upload the file to.
This is easier if done on a computer. If you sent the transcript as an email attachment, open the attachment in the email you sent to yourself. If you uploaded it to a cloud service, locate it in your cloud storage and download it to your computer. This will download the transcript in a ZIP file.
Extract the ZIP file. You can generally find it in your Downloads folder. Double-click the zip file to open it on Windows and Mac. Click Extract all to unzip the file on Windows. You can unzip files using Files by Google on Android, or the Files app on iPhone and iPad.
To do so, go to timewipe.deepakness.com in a web browser. This website will automatically remove timestamps from text.
9
Copy the transcript to the text field. Open the text document of your transcript. Press Ctrl + A (or Command + A on Mac) to highlight all the text. Then press Ctrl + C (or Command + C) to copy the entire text. Click the text box in the middle of the Timewipe website and press Ctrl + V (or Command + V on Mac) to paste the text into the text field.
- Alternatively, you can click Choose File below the text box and select the text transcript document. This will automatically copy all the text into the text field.
10
Click Clean Timestamps. This will remove the Timestamps from the text document.
- This website was designed for YouTube transcripts. It may still leave the “AM” and “PM” parts of the transcript. You can quickly highlight and delete those.
This will copy the cleaned text without the timestamps. You can paste this into another document or text file.

Section 3 of 3:

Frequently Asked Questions

Download Article

1
Why can’t I disable timestamps? This is a common feature in most text messaging services. You see this in text messages on Android and iPhone, as well as in Facebook Messenger and other instant messaging apps. It’s a core feature of the app interface that isn’t designed to be turned off.
2
Why can’t I see other people’s “Last Seen” or “Online” status? If you disable your “Last Seen” or “Online” status, you won’t be able to see anybody else’s either. If you haven’t disabled these features, they may have their status disabled, or they may have blocked you. If you haven’t chatted with someone before, you won’t be able to see their “Online” or “Last Seen” status.
3
Can others still see when I am typing? Yes, even if you disable your “Online” or “Last Seen” status, people can still see when you are typing in the chat.