WhatsApp offers you several options to protect your chats from the eyes of others. The first option is to block access to the entire application with a fingerprint. The second is hide certain chats and protect them with a fingerprint in something that is now called Restrict Chats and was previously called Chat Blocking.
Restricting chats allows you to ensure that certain WhatsApp conversations They cannot be read by anyone with physical access to your mobile and your WhatsApp. With proper configuration, you can even hide certain chats from people whose fingerprint is configured in mobile biometrics.
What is “Restrict Chat” and what is it for?
WhatsApp doesn’t know what to call its chat protection system, which is called in English Chat Lock. In Spanish it was first called Chat blocking Yes Blocked discussions and has currently been renamed to Restrict chats Yes Restricted discussions
Apart from the name change, the concept is the same: hide certain discussions from the conversation list. Restricted chats are displayed in a separate folder called Restricted discussionswhich does not appear as standard in the WhatsApp interface, but when you swipe down on the main tab of the application.
Grace is that you must use your fingerprint to be able to access this list of chats, which prevents a stranger from being able to read these chats even if they accidentally have physical access to your mobile phone.
How to Protect Your Chats with Restricted Chats
To protect one of your chats, simply select it with a long press then press the context menu button ⋮ and choose Restrict chat. This will keep your chat protected and hidden, separate from the rest.
However, anyone with physical access to your WhatsApp will be able to see the Restricted Chats folder by swiping up the list of conversations. To completely protect your restricted chats, you can choose to hide folder with secret code.
To do this, you must enter the folder Restricted discussions, use the ⋮ menu and in settings to restrict chats, check Hide restricted chats. WhatsApp will then ask you to create a secret code which will be used to view your restricted chats. This code can be anything, even an emoji.
The advantage of protecting your restricted chats with a secret code is that used instead of biometricsso even someone whose fingerprints are configured on their mobile will not be able to access these chats or know that they exist.
The use of a secret code also allows the Synchronizing restricted chats on other devices that you use in your account. If you only use biometrics, messages you receive in this chat will arrive as normal messages on linked devices.
Where are the cats you are restricting?
And where are these restricted discussions? Hidden, but not much. Unless you checked the option Hide restricted chats, you can view the Restricted Discussions folder swipe down on the main WhatsApp tab. This folder only appears if there are restricted discussions.
If you have hidden the restricted folder and protected your chats with a secret code, then you need to do a search that includes the code. The first search result will be a shortcut to Restricted discussions, be able to enter without having to use the mobile fingerprint reader.
Note that if you forget the secret code You will not be able to read pending messages. Your only option will be to go to Settings > Restrict chat Yes Stop restricting and clear restricted chats.
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