WhatsApp has made it easier to hide your secrets, but is that really a good thing?
Image: DENIS CHARLET / AFP
As of February 2025, the WhatsApp Chat Lock feature, which first debuted in 2023 “to be launched soon”, is fully available for use for all of the app’s users.
The Chat Lock feature is designed to protect sensitive conversations from prying eyes by allowing users to secure individual chats with an additional layer of privacy. But let’s be real, it’s also a convenient way to become sneaky.
Locking a chat takes it out of your inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device’s password or biometric, like faceID. The feature also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications as well.
On the one hand, it’s great for people who share their phones and wish to keep some things private, on the other hand, it’s the perfect way to hide the fact that you are doing something you probably shouldn’t, from your significant other.
“We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra-special chat arrives,” said WhatsApp owner, Meta in a statement.
You can turn chat lock off or on for any chat, by tapping and holding on a contact then tapping on “Lock/Unlock Chat”, which will prompt the authentication method. It can be applied on individual and group chats as well as muted chats.
When a new message arrives in a locked chat, notifications will only display a generic message such as "WhatsApp: 1 new message," concealing the sender's name and message content.
And if you’re feeling extra sneaky, there is an additional option in Settings to hide the “locked chats” folder from your chat list.
By enabling it, you will be prompted to create a secret code that you will enter into the search bar in the Chats tab and the folder will appear and unlock.
If you happen to forget your secret code to access the locked chats folder, all locked chats will be unlocked and cleared, including the messages and media. So use Chat Lock wisely, your secrets (and relationships) may depend on it.
To access a locked chat on a linked device, for example when using Whatsapp on your PC, you have to use your secret code. Whatsapp gives you the option to create the secret code in the locked chats folder.
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