Do you use WhatsApp to communicate with friends, family, or colleagues? While this app offers end-to-end encryption for all your chats, you may still worry about the privacy and security of your sensitive or personal information. To help you protect your chats from prying eyes, WhatsApp has introduced a new feature called Chat Lock. This feature lets you lock specific chats using your phone’s authentication method, such as fingerprint, face ID, or passcode.
In this article, we’ll explain how to use Chat Lock on your Android or iOS device to add an extra layer of security to your chats. We’ll also discuss the benefits and limitations of this feature.
Table of Contents
What Is Chat Lock and How Does It Work?
Are you curious about how to lock your chats on WhatsApp? With the Chat Lock feature, you can lock any chat you want, whether a one-on-one chat or a group chat where you’re an admin. However, broadcast lists or group chats where you’re not an admin cannot be locked.
When you lock a chat, it will be moved to a separate Locked Chats folder, which you can access by swiping slowly from the top of the Chats tab and authenticating yourself using your fingerprint, face ID, or passcode.
When a chat is locked, the notification content and contact name will be hidden, and the notification will only show “WhatsApp: 1 new message.” You can still receive calls from locked contacts or groups despite the Lock. The person you’re chatting with won’t know that you’ve locked the chat, and they can still see and send messages normally. Chat Lock doesn’t affect the end-to-end encryption or security of your messages, which are still protected by WhatsApp’s encryption and can only be seen by you and the recipient.
How to Lock Your WhatsApp Chats Using Chat Lock on Android
If you have an Android device, you can follow these steps to lock your WhatsApp chats using Chat Lock:
1. Open WhatsApp on your phone and go to the chat you want to lock.
2. Tap on the contact name or group name at the top of the chat screen to open the chat info screen.
3. Scroll down and tap on Chat Lock.
4. Turn on the toggle for Lock this chat with fingerprint and confirm with your fingerprint.
5. A message will appear confirming that the chat is now locked.
6. Repeat these steps for any other chat you want to lock.
How to Lock Your WhatsApp Chats Using Chat Lock on iOS
If you have an iOS device, you can follow these steps to lock your WhatsApp chats using Chat Lock:
1. Open WhatsApp on your device and go to the chat you want to lock.
2. Swipe left on the chat and tap on More.
3. Tap on Edit and then tap on Chat Lock.
4. Turn on the toggle for Lock This Chat with Face ID and confirm with your Face ID.
5. A message will appear confirming that the chat is now locked.
6. Repeat these steps for any other chat you want to lock.
Benefits and Limitations of Chat Lock
Chat Lock is a useful feature that can help you protect your privacy and security on WhatsApp. However, it also has some benefits and limitations you should be aware of before using it.
Some of the benefits of Chat Lock are:
- It allows you to lock specific chats that contain sensitive or personal information without locking the entire app.
- It prevents others from snooping on your chats when you lend your phone to someone or leave it unattended.
- It gives you more control over your chats and lets you choose which ones to secure.
Some of the limitations of Chat Lock are:
- You can only lock chats within 15 minutes of sending them. After that, they become uneditable.
- You can only lock text messages. You cannot lock media messages such as photos, videos, voice notes, etc.
- You can only lock chats on your primary WhatsApp device. The feature does not work on linked devices like desktop computers or tablets. (Wont work if you have two WhatsApp accounts on one iPhone).
- You can only lock chats delivered to the recipient’s device. You cannot lock chats that have not been delivered yet (indicated by a single tick mark).
- You can only lock chats once. You cannot lock a chat that has already been locked before.
- Locked chats will have an Edited label next to them, so the recipient will know that you have changed something in your message. However, they will not be able to see what you changed or the original message.
FAQ
You can lock a chat on WhatsApp using Chat Lock for as long as you want. There is no time limit for locking a chat.
You cannot lock media messages on WhatsApp using Chat Lock. You can only lock text messages.
You cannot lock chats on linked devices such as desktop computers or tablets using Chat Lock. You can only lock chats on your primary WhatsApp device.
No, you cannot lock chats that have not been delivered yet on WhatsApp using Chat Lock. You can only lock chats delivered to the recipient’s device.
No, you cannot lock a chat more than once on WhatsApp using Chat Lock. You can only lock a chat once.
No, the recipient will not know that you have locked a chat on WhatsApp using Chat Lock. They will be able to see and send messages normally.
No, locking chats does not affect their encryption or security on WhatsApp. WhatsApp’s encryption still protects your messages and edits and can only be seen by you and the recipient.
You should lock chats on WhatsApp using Chat Lock to protect your privacy and security and prevent others from snooping on your chats.
You can lock chats on WhatsApp using Chat Lock on Android by tapping and holding on the message, tapping on the three-dot icon at the top right corner, selecting Edit from the pop-up menu, making the changes, and tapping on the send button.
Conclusion
Chat Lock is a new feature that lets you lock individual chats on WhatsApp using your phone’s authentication method. You can use this feature on Android and iOS devices by following the abovementioned steps. However, you should also be aware of the benefits and limitations of this feature before using it.
We hope this article helped you learn how to lock your WhatsApp chats using Chat Lock. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to comment below.
0 Comments