How to read messages on WhatsApp without letting the sender know – Times of India

There are times when you do not want to go online or get involved in an unwanted conversation on WhatsApp. But also, you don’t want to skip updates and become completely ignorant of what’s being said or talked about. In situations like these, you wish for a feature or a work-around through which you can read incoming messages without actually opening the chat or letting the sender know that you have read a particular message. Well, there are both official and unofficial ways to do so. Let’s take a look
The official way- Turn off the Blue tick settings
If you do not want the sender to know whether you have read a message or not, then turn off the Read Receipts feature in your WhatsApp Setting. But remember, it’s a two-way street. If you turn off the Read Receipt, not only the sender but you too will not be able to know if he/she has read the message.
Steps to turn off Read Receipts

Trick one- Read message through the notification bar
When a WhatsApp message arrives on your locked phone screen, do not swipe it away. Unlock your phone and press down the notification bar. You will see WhatsApp messages along with other phone notifications. Tap and hold on the WhatsApp message. It will expand and the user will be able to read the message without actually opening the chat. This way, you can fool the sender into thinking that you have not read the message.
Trick two- View WhatsApp in Airplane mode
When you receive a message on WhatsApp, turn on Airplane mode on your smartphone. This will turn off Wi-Fi and Mobile data on your device. You can now go to WhatsApp and read chat messages. This way the sender will not be notified or shown any blue ticks if you have Read Receipt turned on. Remember to close WhatsApp before disabling the airplane mode on your device.
Trick three- Add WhatsApp to widget card on home screen
Android smartphone users can add WhatsApp widget cards to their home screen. This way they can read incoming messages from contacts on WhatsApp without opening the app. Readers must note that tapping on the chat shown in the widget will open WhatsApp. So they should avoid tapping on the chat if they do not want the sender to know they have read the message.
Trick four- WhatsApp web users can simply hover over a chat to read the last message
For those who use WhatsApp on their laptop, they can also fool the sender and read messages without opening them. Simply hover on the contact’s chat whose message you want to read. This will show you a floating bubble with the entire message. Note that the trick works only for the last message received in the chat.