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Explained: Keep your messages private with WhatsApp’s Chat Lock feature

Meta-owned WhatApp has rolled out a new feature, called Chat Lock, to add a further layer of protection for your messages

WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature, Chat Lock. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature, Chat Lock. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Have you kept your unlocked phone lying around on the sofa and panicked when you heard the WhatsApp message ping? Often, privacy has to be claimed and is not assumed, making it difficult for many to keep their personal stuff away from prying eyes. In that regard, Meta’s new Chat Lock feature for its instant messaging app WhatsApp might come as a relief for many users.

This new feature adds a layer of security to protect your conversations on the Meta-owned messaging service, WhatsApp. When you lock a chat, the conversation thread is taken out of your inbox and put in its own folder that can be accessed using your device’s password or biometric, such as a fingerprint, according to a blog post by Meta. The Chat Lock option was rolled out on 15 May for users worldwide on WhatsApp.

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According to Meta, this feature will be helpful for people who sometimes share their phones with a family member, or when an intimate message arrives while someone else is holding your phone. To lock the chat, simply tap on the name of the person or group and select the lock option. 

Chat lock won’t lock your calls, they will still appear. Also, this feature will only lock chats on the device where it was toggled on from. If other devices are linked to your WhatsApp – such as your laptop – those chats won’t be locked. 

Notification from a locked chat will appear as WhatsApp: 1 new message. Moreover, the person you are chatting with won’t know you have locked the chat. Also, if you use the backup and restore feature on WhatsApp, your locked chats will be locked once you restore to a new phone, according to WhatsApp.

Currently, WhatsApp has many security and privacy-centric features including end-to-end encryption, disappearing messages, screenshot blocking, and the option for hiding last seen status from others. This latest update might further expand its privacy and security features, which is always a cause for concern among users.

Over the next few months, Meta plans on adding more options for Chat Lock, including locks for companion devices and creating a custom password for the chats so that you can use a unique password different from your phone’s, according to the blog post.

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