WhatsApp Online: Visible if Blocked Them?

Here’s everything about seeing someone online on WhatsApp if you blocked them:

In short, no, you cannot see whether someone is online on WhatsApp if you blocked them. 

Similarly, they cannot see whether you are online or your last seen status when you block them. 

With WhatsApp, blocking is intended to obscure active and passive communication, making it difficult for people to interact even indirectly.

So if you want to learn all about what happens exactly when you block someone on WhatsApp, then this article is for you.

Let’s get started!

Seeing One Online on WhatSapp if Blocked Them? (Know All)

What Exactly Does Blocking Someone on WhatsApp Do?

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It might help to understand the overarching setup of blocking and how it works with WhatsApp. 

Every app that facilitates communications sets its own rules and protocols, and that includes blocking. 

With WhatsApp, one of the primary design features is to make it hard for a user to know that they have been blocked. 

WhatsApp considers this a part of protecting user privacy.

So, when you block someone on the app, it’s actually a two-way street.

They won’t be able to see if you are online or not.

And, when they send messages to you, they will come up as sent but not as delivered.

Similarly, you won’t be able to see when they are online.

Neither user will be able to see status or profile updates from the other. 

Blocking doesn’t just stop communication.

It stops all of the subtle ways you can keep an eye on someone through the app too.

So, to make sure this is perfectly clear, you cannot see if someone is online on WhatsApp if you blocked them. 

You would have to unblock them for that information, and then they would be able to see if you are online too.

Can You See Whether Someone Is Online on Whatsapp When You’re Blocked by Them?

Serious woman using smartphone near window

How is it the other way around?

Can you see whether someone is online when you’re blocked?

When someone blocks you, you cannot see whether they are online on WhatsApp. 

The blocking feature aims to block all communication between a user and the person they block while obscuring the fact that the person has been blocked. 

No updates are visible, and you cannot contact them directly.

Learn all about what happens when someone on WhatsApp blocks you here.

What Can You See When You Block Someone on WhatsApp?

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With all of that said, blocking someone doesn’t make you or them completely invisible. 

You can still see the user’s profile, but you won’t see any updates that come to it. 

In most cases, you won’t see their profile picture at all anymore, but there are times when that doesn’t hold true.

Essentially, when you block someone, it’s like you are freezing what you know about them (at least on WhatsApp) in time. 

Previous messages are not deleted.

Their contact isn’t deleted, but if they make changes, you won’t know.

Once again, this goes both ways.

They won’t see any changes you make either, but they will still have access to their copy of any conversations you had before you blocked them.

How Do You Block Someone on WhatsApp?

Modern female using phone and laptop in the office.

With all of this in mind, an obvious question comes up. How do you block someone?

WhatsApp tries to make it easy to block or unblock any given user.

To block or unblock someone on WhatsApp, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open the app.
  2. Tap More Options and choose Settings.
  3. Tap on Account, then Privacy, then Blocked contacts.
  4. Tap the Add button.
  5. Find the person you want to block and tap their contact.

That’s it.

Following those steps, that user should now be blocked. 

For unblocking, it’s basically the same idea, but instead of tapping “add,” you tap the contact you want to unblock.

Then you’ll get an option to unblock them, and you can select it.

If you are blocking an unknown number, then it’s easiest to open a chat with that number.

Then you can choose to block them.

Why Might You Block Someone on WhatsApp? (3 Reasons)

Charming serious woman checks her phone while relaxing at cafe

Ok. Blocking and unblocking are covered. 

You also have a fair idea of what that really means as far as the user experience is concerned. 

So, here’s the final question.

Why should you block someone on WhatsApp?

There are innumerable reasons and justifications for blocking a person.

We’re going to cover the most common below together, but this isn’t the limit. 

You could block someone as a joke, on a whim, for privacy purposes, as part of a court order, or just about anything else you can think of.

#1 Harassment

Anxious girl using cellphone lying in bed at night

Harassment is probably the leading reason to block someone. 

If you’re getting repeated messages or calls from someone you don’t want to speak to, then it’s harassment. 

The best way to stop it from happening is to just block their number.

It’s worth mentioning in this context that you can only block individual numbers. 

If that user gets a new WhatsApp number, then they can start contacting you all over again. 

So, if harassment persists after blocking someone, then you should probably also report their behavior to WhatsApp so more aggressive or effective action can be taken.

You can report that contact by opening a chat with that user and choosing “more options.” 

You’ll see an option to report, and you can tap it and follow the prompts.

#2 Spam

Anxious woman watching media in a mobile phone sitting outdoors outside near her home

Any digital communication platform is going to have to deal with spam. 

You see it on every social media site.

You get spam phone calls and texts. 

You get spam advertisements when you browse the web.

It’s part of the ecosystem.

So, spam happens with WhatsApp as well. 

If you get contacted by users, and you think it’s spam, blocking those users is one of the easiest ways to deal with it.

They can’t send you any more spam unless you decide to unblock them at some point.

You can take an additional step and report the contact as spam. 

WhatsApp has a system in place for just this kind of thing.

#3 You Want To

Young blonde woman lying on the sofa with smartphone

Here’s the bottom line. 

You can use the app as you see fit. 

You don’t really need a justification or special reason to block someone. 

You can do it simply because it’s what you want to do. 

WhatsApp operates under the concept of a “right to participate.” 

Essentially, WhatsApp acknowledges your right to participate in using the app to the extent that you think is appropriate.

Part of that means blocking other users when you see fit to do so. 

In fact, that ideology is part of why WhatsApp doesn’t provide direct confirmation to people when they are blocked. 

According to the app developers, this is a part of user privacy, and it’s important to them that you have the ability to use it freely.

So, block people as you see fit and understand how that impacts your experience using the app.

How Much Data Does WhatsApp Use?

Woman walking using smart phone in a park

Have you ever wondered how much data WhatsApp uses?

Unless you receive or send lots of pictures, text messaging and group messaging use very little data.

In general, voice calls over WhatsApp use about 400 KB or 0.4 MB per minute, regardless of the network generation.

WhatsApp’s video calls, however, use about 5 MB per minute.

Learn all about how much data WhatsApp uses here.

Author

  • Theresa McDonough

    Tech entrepreneur and founder of Tech Medic, who has become a prominent advocate for the Right to Repair movement. She has testified before the US Federal Trade Commission and been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, helping influence change within the tech industry.