With over 2 billion users and 100 billion messages exchanged daily, WhatsApp is one of the most widely used instant messaging platforms. You can send text, locations, documents, photos and videos to your friends or family members and make voice and video calls. Although you’ve been using WhatsApp for years, here are ten hidden features you probably don’t know about that save you time and protect your privacy.

1. Pin important chats to the top of WhatsApp

If you like to chat with someone specific in your contacts on WhatsApp, you can pin the chat to the top of your chat window. No more scrolling through your contacts to find that specific chat.

• For Android: Long press on the chat screen and tap the Pin icon in the top menu bar.
• For iOS: Swipe from right to right on a chat and select “Pin Chat”.

2. Format your chat words in bold, italic or strikethrough in WhatsApp

By using bold, italic, or strikethrough text, you can emphasize the messages you send in your chats. And you don’t need a special keyboard to do it. Just add a special character on each side of the text you want to format.

• To send bold texts: Add an asterisk on either side of the word you type. For example, *hello*.
• To send texts in italics: Add an underscore to each side of the word you type. For example, _hello_.
• To send a strikethrough text: Add a tilde to each side of the word you type. For example, ~hello~.

You’ll see the special characters when you preview your message, but the recipient will see the formatting the way you want.

3. Respond privately in groups on WhatsApp

If you’re in a group chat and want to reply to just one person in the group, you don’t need to start a separate chat. The “Reply privately” feature allows you to reply to a specific person within the group.

• For Android: Long press the group chat, tap the 3-dot menu icon and select “Reply privately”.
• For iOS: Long press on the group chat, select “More” and tap on the “Reply privately” option.

4. Mark messages as important in WhatsApp

If you’re in the middle of a conversation and someone sends you important information, you can tag the message so you can easily find it later.

• For Android: Long press the chat (whether text, photo or video) and tap the Star icon on the top panel.
• For iOS: Long press the chat (whether text, photo or video) and select the Star option from the list that appears.

When you want to view your starred messages:

• For Android: Tap the 3-dot menu icon in the top right and select “Starred messages”.
• For iOS: Go to Settings and select “Following Messages”.

5. Disable automatic uploading of photos and videos to your Photos (or Gallery) app in WhatsApp

If you don’t want to view the media files you received from a particular chat, you can easily do that.

Follow the steps below for Android:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Select the chat.
3. Head to the 3-dot menu icon in the top right and select “View Contact”.
4. Click on “Media visibility”.
5. You’ll see a message, “Show recently downloaded media from this chat in your phone’s gallery?” Select “No”.

Follow the steps below for iOS:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Select the chat.
3. Tap the contact or group icon at the top of the chat.
4. Select “Save to Camera Roll”.
5. Select “Never”.

6. Message multiple contacts without creating a group in WhatsApp

If you’re sending out an invite or making an important announcement, you might not want everyone in a group chat. With a broadcast message, you can reach many people, but the broadcast recipient list is private and replies are only sent to the person who sent the broadcast message.

Follow the steps below for Android:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Click on the 3-dot menu icon.
3. Select “New broadcast”.
4. Select all the contacts whose message you want to receive.
5. Click the tick icon.
6. Type your message or add a photo or video.
7. Press the Send button.

Follow the steps below for iOS:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. From the Chats page, tap on “Mailing Lists”.
3. Select “New list”.
4. Select all the contacts you want to send a message to.
5. Press “Create”.
6. Type your message or add a photo or video.
7. Press the Send button.

Only people who have your number in their address book will receive your broadcast. Once you have created a mailing list, you can use it for messages in the future.

7. Send photos and videos that disappear after a single view in WhatsApp

You can send images and videos to your chats which are automatically deleted once the recipient views them once.

1. Tap the specific chat.
2. Tap the camera icon.
3. Take or select a photo.
4. Tap the “1” icon in the callout bubble.
   
5. Tap the send arrow.

8. Keep your messages private in WhatsApp

While there’s no surefire way to keep your messaging private, you can use the Archived Chats feature to prevent chats from showing on the main screen.

1. Long press the chat you want to archive.
2. For Android: Select the bin file with a down arrow from the icons at the top of the screen.
   

   For iOS: Select “Archive” from the context menu.

9. Hide your profile picture in WhatsApp

You may not want everyone to see your profile picture. In this case, the option to hide your profile picture is a handy tool.

1. Tap the 3-dot menu icon (Android) or the cogwheel settings icon (iOS).
2. Select “Account”.
3. Select “Privacy”.
4. Select “Profile Picture”.
5. Select the “My Contacts” or “Nobody” option.

By following these steps, your profile picture will be hidden from people you don’t know.

10. Set up auto reply in WhatsApp

If you don’t have time to reply to every WhatsApp message you receive, the automated reply feature can come in handy. It allows you to send an auto-reply message to your contacts when you are unavailable. To use this feature, you need to install Whatsapp Business. WhatsApp Business provides all the functionality of standard WhatsApp with a few additional features designed to interact with customers and customers.

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Tap the 3-dot menu icon (Android) or the cogwheel settings icon (iPhone).
3. Choose Business Tools.
4. Under the Messaging section, you will find two options.
   Away message: send an automatic reply when you are away.
   Welcome Message: Automatically welcome new customers.
5. Tap on the “Away Message” option.
6. Activate the “Send messages” option.
7. Type the automatic reply.
8. Tap “Schedule” to select whether you always send your away message or only at specific times.
9. Select “Recipients” if you want to send the automated reply to everyone or to specific contacts.

Now whenever someone sends you a message when you don’t want to be disturbed, they will receive the auto-reply you set.

You can also use WhatsApp in your browser and there is a WhatsApp application for computers. Remember that you can only be logged into your account in one place at a time.

[Image credit: Techlicious/Smartmockups]

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar has been writing about technology for over two years. Previously, he was a writer at Guiding Tech and TechWiser. He enjoys working out, having a cup of coffee and playing guitar.