This article explains how to ignore messages received on WhatsApp by silencing notifications or disabling read receipts.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Muting a Chat
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Step 1. Open WhatsApp
The icon looks like a green speech bubble containing a white handset. It is located on the home screen or in the app drawer.
This method turns off both individual and group chat notifications. New messages will continue to appear in the conversation, but you will no longer receive any notifications
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Step 2. Tap Chat
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Step 3. Tap and hold a chat
A row of icons will appear at the top of the screen.
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Step 4. Tap the crossed out speaker icon to mute the chat:
is at the top of the screen.
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Step 5. Select a duration
You will not receive notifications via sounds or vibrations for as long as you want. The options are 8 hours, 1 week or 1 year.
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Step 6. Remove the check mark from "Show notifications"
When you receive a new message in this chat, no notification will appear on the screen.
If you want to keep seeing notifications on the screen (without sounds or vibrations), you can skip this step
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Step 7. Tap OK
Notifications will have been silenced for as long as indicated, making it easy to ignore new messages.
You can still continue to see new messages in the chat - just open it
Method 2 of 2: Disable Read Receipts
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Step 1. Open WhatsApp
The icon looks like a green speech bubble containing a white handset. It is located on the home screen or in the app drawer.
This method allows you to disable the feature that lets contacts know when their messages have been viewed
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Step 2. Tap ⁝ at the top right
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Step 3. Tap Settings
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Step 4. Tap Account
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Step 5. Tap Privacy
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Step 6. Remove the check mark from "Read Receipts"
It is located in the section titled "Messages". Once deleted, your contacts will no longer see the blue check marks and will not be able to know when you have read their messages. Similarly, you will not be able to see their read receipts.