Sometimes you may not want to be added to random groups without your consent. Fortunately, WhatsApp has a privacy setting that lets you control who can add you to groups.
Here’s how to use it.
Steps to Change Group Privacy Settings
- Open WhatsApp on your phone and tap the three-dot button at the top-right corner.
- From the menu, tap on Settings > Account > Privacy > Groups.
- You will see three options: Everyone, My Contacts, and My Contacts Except.
- If you want to allow anyone with your phone number to add you to groups without your approval, choose Everyone.
- If you want to allow only contacts in your phone’s address book to add you to groups without your approval, choose My Contacts.
- If you want to exclude some contacts from adding you to groups without your approval, choose My Contacts Except and select the contacts you want to exclude.
- If a group admin who can’t add you directly tries to add you to a group, they will get a pop-up that says they can’t add you and will be prompted to send you a private group invite through an individual chat. You will have three days to accept the invite before it expires.
Benefits of Restricting Group Invites
- You can avoid spam and unwanted messages from strangers or people you don’t know well.
- You can protect your privacy and prevent others from seeing your profile picture and status in groups you don’t want to join.
- You can reduce the clutter and noise in your chat list and focus on the groups that matter to you.
