We’ve all been there at some point – trapped in a WhatsApp group that’s cluttering your inbox. It can be awkward to walk away from the chat and easier to let old chats drop own to the depths of your inbox.
Previously, WhatsApp had no way to subtly slip away from a group chat. But, there has been an update that few people actually know about to make a group chat purge less of an awkward situation.
Before, everyone would get an alert to notify that someone had “left the chat”, which would sometimes lead to awkward follow-ups and questions. It could also drudge up chats from years ago that have since gone quiet.
But, the messaging platform fixed this in a 2022 update. It allowed you to bow out with as little drama as possible.
To leave a WhatsApp group, you can do the following:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the Chats tab
- Select the group you want to leave
- Tap the group name at the top of the screen
- Tap the group chat icon to open the chat’s info page
- Scroll down and tap Exit Group
- Confirm your exit by tapping Exit Group again
You’ll be given a prompt that reminds you that “only admins” will get that alert you’d decided to leave the chat. Other group members will be able to see you’ve gone – but only if they look up the list of group participants and notice you’re nowhere to be seen.
If it’s the admin you may want to avoid having any drama with, there are less permanent ways of walking away from the conversation. WhatsApp has a silence feature that lets users choose any chat (both individual and group) and mute any notifications.
You can temporarily shut them off for 8 hours a week or, with the ‘always’ option, for good. Users are told other members of the chat won’t know they’re muted, but you will get alerts if you get tagged/mentioned.
You could also archive a chat – sending it to another folder in your WhatsApp entirely. The other user or group won’t know they’ve been filed away from your main inbox.
Just like muting, you won’t receive notifications for archived chats unless you’re mentioned or replied to. You’ll notice a little number next to the “Archived” section that shows if you have unread messages from anyone in there.
