Keep Prying Eyes Away From Your Personal Messages Using WhatsApp Chat Lock

Worried about someone reading your most personal chats on WhatsApp? Worry no more since the Meta Platforms Inc.'s META messaging service has added a layer of protection called Chat Lock.

What Happened: WhatsApp Chat Lock feature has been introduced to keep prying eyes away from your most personal chats. This feature uses your passcode, PIN, Face ID, or fingerprint to lock and keep your chats out of sight.

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WhatsApp has two levels of protection – the first one is at the app level, allowing you to lock the app using Face ID or fingerprint completely. The Meta-owned service has now added a chat-level locking mechanism that works independently of the app lock.

Essentially, you can keep the app unlocked and still have an individual chat locked. When Chat Lock is enabled, even the notification contents are hidden. When a new message arrives from the person whose chat has been locked, the notification will show as ‘WhatsApp: 1 new message'.

How To Enable WhatsApp Chat Lock

Follow these steps to enable WhatsApp Chat Lock:

• Update to the latest version of WhatsApp on your iPhone or Android smartphone.
• Open the chat you want to lock.
• Now tap on the sender's name or number on the top. This will take you to the chat info screen.
• Now tap on ‘Chat lock' and enable the feature on the next screen.
• Authenticate using your passcode, Face ID, or fingerprint.

To view these locked chats again, open WhatsApp and swipe down. Now tap on the ‘Locked chats' folder on the top and authenticate with your passcode, Face ID, or fingerprint. The locked chats will now be visible.

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