By Kavita Mistry 
Meta-owned WhatsApp has been constantly adding new features lately and making the messaging app feature-rich and more secure. As part of the latest update, WhatsApp has introduced new advanced security settings that let you prevent anyone from exporting your WhatsApp chats.
In this guide, we are going to look at how to prevent and stop others from exporting and sharing your conversations with others.
3 Ways to stop others from exporting or sharing your WhatsApp chat
WhatsApp has recently introduced an advanced chat privacy feature that lets you block chat export for specific contacts or groups that you are part of. You can also use other WhatsApp privacy features like disappearing messages, and also view-once for photos and videos to secure your info in your WhatsApp chats.
In this guide, we are going to look at all three methods, but first, you need to update WhatsApp to the latest version. Most of these features are available in the latest version of WhatsApp. To update for iOS, you can go to the App Store; for Android, you can go to the Play Store and install the latest version of WhatsApp.
Block WhatsApp Chat Export Feature
WhatsApp’s advanced chat privacy mode prevents chat export for individual chats or groups that you are part of. It also blocks media auto-download and prevents media from being automatically saved to the device’s storage.
Furthermore, turning on advanced chat privacy also prevents Meta AI from using your chats for training.
However, currently, this feature is only available inside chats and groups that you are part of, and it is not available in a global setting
That means you have to manually go to each chat and enable the chat export block feature. Also, this feature currently does not prevent any screenshots or photos of the chat; the user will still be able to take a screenshot of your chats and save them on their device.
How to turn on the Advanced chat privacy feature on WhatsApp:
- Go to the individual chat or group you want to block export.
- Go to the user profile page and then look for the option that says Advanced chat privacy and turn it on.
This feature is only available in the latest version of WhatsApp. If you don’t see the advanced chat privacy feature, it is currently being rolled out to users. You might see this feature in a couple of days or a week.
Use Disappearing Messages
While the chat export block lets you prevent others from exporting your chats, the other user can still take screenshots, manually copy, or forward your message to others. This is where disappearing messages come in handy.
WhatsApp has introduced disappearing messages, where the messages automatically get deleted after a set amount of time, which can reduce the chance of long-term leaks.
However, unlike Instagram, the WhatsApp disappearing messages feature is only available for at least 24 hours, meaning that your messages will still be active for 24 hours in their chat before they start disappearing. In the long term, this can prevent others from sharing your sensitive information once the time limit is reached.
However, unlike the chat export block feature, which is limited to individuals, disappearing messages can be set globally for all chats. You can also enable it for individual chats and group messages. To do this, you can go to any chat, go to the user’s info, and turn on Disappearing messages. You can set the time from a minimum of 24 hours to a maximum of 90 days.
This can be especially useful if you are someone sharing temporary information like your work or having personal chats or private opinions, and also for photos and videos that are meant to be only seen once and removed after 24 hours.
WhatsApp also notifies when someone tries to take a screenshot of these disappearing messages, and also completely prevents the screenshot, and automatically deletes some messages after the time you set, including the media shared in the chat.
WhatsApp also allows you to keep the information permanently by saving the messages, and both parties will be notified if the messages are kept and saved in the chat.
Use View Once Media While Sending an Image/Video
Another privacy feature WhatsApp has introduced recently is the View Once mode, which helps you control who can see your media and how it is seen.
This feature allows media such as photos or videos to be viewed only once and then disappear. It also prevents the receiver from saving it to their device, forwarding it, or even revisiting it.
This can be especially useful if you want to share private or personal contact-specific media that shouldn’t be shown or shared with others later.
To use View Once media, you can share the media and enable the clock/timer icon at the bottom before sending. If you see a single check mark, the user hasn’t opened it. If you see Opened, it means the View Once media has been accessed.
Protect Your Chats
These are the three main methods that can be used to stop others from sharing your personal chats. Since WhatsApp has become a primary messaging platform for most users around the world, it is nice to have features that add more privacy to our chats and enhance our security.
These features are very useful, especially since there’s no control once the messages have been sent to the other contact; they can easily export the chat and can even publish or share it without your permission. I also recommend avoiding sharing sensitive information with unknown people, and you can also set the default timer for new chats and immediately enable these privacy features for unknown contacts.
I hope you found this guide helpful. If you have any suggestions, please comment below. You can also view our other WhatsApp guides to enhance your experience on the platform.
- How to Unsend Messages on WhatsApp: A Step-by-Step Guide
- What to do if Your WhatsApp Account is Hacked
- How to Turn On WhatsApp Voice Message Transcripts and Use It
- 8 Easy Ways to Send a WhatsApp Message Without Saving Number
- WhatsApp Passkeys: How to Use It on Android or iPhone
FAQs on Stopping Others From Exporting Your Chats
1. Will WhatsApp ever add a global setting to block chat export across all conversations?
Yes, WhatsApp might add a global setting to block chat export across all conversations in the future.
2. Is there any way to know if someone has exported or saved my chat before I enabled the privacy settings?
No, there is no way to know if someone has already exported the same chat before you enabled it. This export block setting is only available on individual chats.
3. Do these privacy features work the same way on WhatsApp Web or Desktop versions?
The chat export feature is only available on the mobile app for now, so users will only be able to export the chats on mobile, other privacy features like disappearing messages are also supported on desktop, while view once is also supported on WhatsApp chats.
4. Will the Chat Export Block prevent backups or cloud sync?
The chat export feature only blocks the manual chat export, but it does not affect automatic backup to Google Drive. Users will still be able to back up their chat. However, they still can’t expect your chats even if it is backed up.
5. Will I be notified if someone tries to export my chat after I enable the block?
No, instead, the other users will see an alert saying can’t export chat and advanced chat protection is enabled.