If you are using WhatsApp Web on your computer screen and someone passes behind you or there is just someone nearby, they may see all the photos that are in your chat message. It also usually happens when we are using WhatsApp on our mobile phone and there is someone close to us: on a bus, at home, sitting at the table, in the office … There are many times when we do not keep our distance and someone can see what they send us. Usually, in addition, what we receive is usually confidential or private and we do not want them to see it and that is why you can hide photos received on WhatsApp Web.
Either because it is private or because we want to avoid prying eyes, we can hide the photos received in WhatsApp both in the messaging application and in WhatsApp Web. There will be no thumbnails of videos or photos as long as people are in front of them to see them. This way we will prevent anyone from seeing compromised photos that make us have a bad time in public places or at home.
Hide photos on WhatsApp
In the case of the messaging application, it is easier to hide the photos in WhatsApp because it will be enough for us to block automatic downloads. This way, no image will be downloaded until we can decide it manually. Without authorizing the download, the image will not appear on the screen until you press the button. Also, the thumbnail will appear blurry without the need for you to touch anything.
To do this, you only have to block automatic downloads even with WiFi and thus nothing will be downloaded without your authorization. You can do it from the settings.
On Android
- Open the application on your mobile phone
- Click on the upper right corner to go to Settings
- Check the option ” Data and storages” in the menu
- Go to the «Automatic download» section
- You will see three options
- Download with mobile data
- Download with WiFi
- In data roaming
- Mark the option “None” in the three
When they send you something, you will have to click on the thumbnail button for it to download. Until you do it, it will not appear on the big screen on your mobile.
On iOS
- Open WhatsApp on your iPhone
- Click on the “Settings” button in the lower right corner
- Go to the section “Data and storage”
- You will see four options
- Photos
- Audio
- Videos
- Documents
- Choose in each of them that it is never downloaded
You can also hide photos received from WhatsApp from the mobile phone gallery . In other words, it will allow you to make sure that the photos they send you are not on your phone so that you will not find them when you are teaching someone something and they may appear unexpectedly … This way you will avoid compromised moments in the gallery.
- Go to the WhatsApp application
- Access the application settings on your mobile
- Click on the “Chats” option
- Select the “Media file visibility” checkbox
- Check the box from settings
When the photos reach you, you can see them from the chats. But from the gallery of your mobile phone they will not be visible to avoid accidents.
Hide photos on WhatsApp Web
In the event that you want to hide photos received on WhatsApp Web, it will not help if you have the download option blocked on your mobile because the thumbnail will appear large on the computer screen and visible to everyone. But there are options to show them out of focus until you tap on them and decide to see them. This is especially useful if you use it in the office, at work or if you share a room at home and you do not want anyone to see private photos. ON a large screen, the possibility of it being seen is even greater than on mobile.
To avoid this and to hide photos received on WhatsApp Web we can use an extension called Blur WhatsApp whose purpose is to blur the thumbnail of the image received or the preview of the video that we have received. It will be completely out of focus until we move the mouse pointer over it and then we can see what is there. If there is someone behind, just do not touch and nothing will be seen. If you are alone and without risks, you will be able to discover what they have sent.
Although it may vary from one browser to another, there are extensions for Mozilla Firefox and Googel Chrome that serve the same purpose. There are some options available and you can choose between the one that interests you the most of all those that we leave you below:
Blur Images
Blur Images is a Chrome extension that allows us to blur the thumbnails until you click on them or move the mouse or cursor over it. Hide videos, photos or any multimedia image received until you decide. It is free and you just have to install it from Google Chrome . Beyond photos or videos, it also blurs the GIFs that they send us. It is very useful, it has more than 2,000 downloads and it will not cost you anything to try it. If you are not convinced, just remove it from your browser and try another of the available options.
Privacy Extension for WhatsApp Web
Another option to hide photos received on WhatsApp Web is to do it through this extension that has more than 10,000 users in the Google browser. The great advantage is that not only does it allow us to hide photos or videos but it also blurs any message in the application and even profile photos, etc. You can choose what you want to hide, among several options such as only photos, only new messages, profile photos, downloaded multimedia content, names of groups or users or all messages in the chat. You can mark and unmark the different options as you need. It’s free, it’s in English, and you can add it to your Google Chrome browser from the Privacy Extension for WhatsApp Web download link or by searching for it in the browser’s extensions store.
WhatsApp Pop & Blur
For Mozilla Firefox you can install WhatsApp PopUp & Blur, an extension for Firefox that allows WhatsApp Webs to open in a pop-up window, and not in the one of your browser you are using, and is also capable of automatically blurring everything you receive: videos , icons, images or any message that your contacts send you through the messaging application. Even if someone passes behind, they will not see what you are writing.
