WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging app, and it has around 2 billion active users each month. It’s known for being simple yet secure and is used for both personal and business communications. Many people want to try this messaging service but would prefer to use WhatsApp without showing number.
Though you can’t do this with WhatsApp itself, there are several workarounds that can help you. Read on to find out how.
Steps to Hide Your Phone Number on WhatsApp
How can I use WhatsApp without showing my number, you ask? Well, you’ll need to use another app or software. Here are some of the ways:
Step 1. Creating a Phone Number on Google Voice
Whether you use Android or iOS, the best way of hiding numbers on WhatsApp is to have a virtual phone number. One such example is Google Voice. This allows you to communicate with text messages, phone calls, and call forwarding, all while hiding your real number. Here’s how you can do it:
- Go to the App Store or Google Play Store and search for Google Voice. Download it and install it.
- Create an account in the app. You can use your existing Google account, if you have, one by selecting ‘Continue as Your Name’.
- Agree to the Terms and Conditions.
- Choose a location for your Google Voice number by area, state, or city. Then press ‘Confirm’.
- Follow the instructions on screen to be allocated your virtual phone number.
Step 2. Changing Your Phone Number
Once you’ve got your virtual phone number, you can use it to hide phone number on WhatsApp. If you already have WhatsApp linked to your personal number, you can change your number in the settings. Before you can do this, your existing number must be verified. Here are the steps to follow:
- Open WhatsApp and click the menu in the top right-hand corner where the three dots are seen.
- Go to settings.
- Select your profile photo. If you have already verified your current number, you’ll be able to see it. If you haven’t, you’ll need to verify it first.
With a verified existing number, you can use the WhatsApp hide phone number tool using your Google Voice number.
- Go to the menu again by clicking the three dots.
- In Settings, click ‘Account.’
- Select ‘Change number’. You’ll then receive a warning, which you’ll need to accept and click ‘Next’.
- Enter your new number as well as your existing number into the appropriate fields and click ‘Next’.
- You’ll then choose who you want to be told about your number change. You can let anyone know if you want. Then, click ‘Done’ to complete the change.
- There’s one final step which is to verify the new number. You can choose to receive a one-time passcode via SMS directly from Google Voice. Enter this in WhatsApp and you can now hide your number on WhatsApp.
Want to Protect Your WhatsApp Data? Here’s How!
There are many reasons for hiding number on WhatsApp requests. Many people worry about what another person can do once they know their phone number.
As our world becomes increasingly digitized, keeping track of our digital footprint is important for many. Your phone number is often linked to your secure online data. It is used for the verification of emails, bank accounts, financial products, and even social media. As such, people are rightly wary to worry about who knows their number.
Hackers and scammers who have access to your number can use it for blackmailing and scamming. They might even sell your number and details for financial gain. As such, it’s often a good idea to reduce who has access to your number, especially when you’re going online, making transactions, or in the public eye as a part of your job.
Now you can probably see why people want to be able to use WhatsApp without showing their number. But there are other safety precautions you can take regarding your personal data held on WhatsApp.
It’s possible to keep your data and conversations backed up on WhatsApp. People often back up this data if they want to restore it for when they have a new phone or if their phone were to break. However, this data isn’t encrypted very securely, which means it’s great when it lands in the hands of a scammer.
Everyone is encouraged to turn on two-factor authentication or 2FA as it’s known. This means that you’ll be asked to enter a unique code whenever you download the app to a new device. This doesn’t hinder your user experience or app use, it simply means you are keeping your data safe. You can turn this on by going into the settings menu in the app itself.
You’re also encouraged to check your privacy settings regularly. You can choose who you want to share information with and who sees your active status. You can also turn off the double blue tick ‘read’ receipts for more privacy.
Bonus: WaLastseen – WhatsApp Tracker App
Sometimes, people want to know more about what their friends and family are up to on WhatsApp. Humans are naturally curious! Thankfully, there’s an app called WaLastseen that allows you to see what your friends are doing on WhatsApp in terms of their time spent. You can get notifications in real time so you know when they’re online and you can also track more than one person.
With WaLastseen you can:
- See which of your friends are currently on WhatsApp.
- See how much time your friends spend using WhatsApp.
- Receive notifications in real time when your friends are online or offline.
- See more than one account at once.
FAQs
Yes. Initially, you do have to use a real phone number when you register for your WhatsApp account. It is possible, though, to use a virtual phone number or even a landline number to register. If you choose these methods, you’ll still need to verify it. However, this would be a call-based one-time passcode instead of an SMS.
It is possible to register a WhatsApp account using a virtual phone number or a landline number. You would use voice authentication during the verification process rather than a text message via SMS.
WhatsApp is a very secure messaging app that takes your security seriously. Changing your phone number in WhatsApp will show when you switch and any contacts you have will be notified about it. There are ways you can make this change, so your contacts aren’t directly notified though but this does involve a few more steps in the process.
There are many reasons why you want to hide your online status when you’re chatting. Sometimes, you just don’t want certain people to know you’re online, which is perfectly reasonable. You’ll need to go into settings, then ‘Account’, then ‘Privacy’. In this section, you can choose who sees your ‘last seen’ or ‘online’ status. There are two options: you can choose to hide your status from everyone or just show your contacts. With this second option, anyone who isn’t on your contact list wouldn’t be able to see if you’re online or not.
Conclusion
WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular messaging platforms. As more and more of us become increasingly conscious of the need to protect our data and identity, we’re more likely to want to keep our phone number private. Thankfully, you can hide your number on WhatsApp by changing it to a virtual number so that your contacts don’t know your real number. There are even ways to do this quietly so that they’re not notified of this change. By using a Google Voice virtual phone number, you can even choose the area you want it to look like it’s from, which is handy.