WhatsApp Mute vs. Block: Know the Difference

Quick Tips

• When you mute someone or a group on WhatsApp, you’ll not receive message notifications from them.
• Blocking someone on WhatsApp will stop all forms of communication with them.
• When muted they can view your profile picture, status, last seen, etc., however, when blocked you can’t see each other’s activity.

What Is Block on WhatsApp?

Block is a harsh way to stop messages from someone. When you block a contact on WhatsApp, you cannot have a conversation with them, as the block restricts all kinds of communication — direct chats, voice calls, and video calls.

How to Block Someone on WhatsApp

Go to the chat you want to block. Tap the three-dot icon at the top-right corner → More → Block → tap Block again to confirm.

Note: To unblock, repeat the steps and tap on Unblock. To view all your blocked contacts, navigate to WhatsApp settings → Account → Privacy → Blocked contacts.

What Is Mute on WhatsApp?

Mute is a friendly alternative to block. In simple words, mute means to silence notifications. When you mute a chat, you will not receive audio notifications whenever the said contact sends you a message directly.

To check for new messages from that person, you must check the contact’s muted chat on WhatsApp.

How to Mute Someone on WhatsApp

Launch WhatsApp and open the chat you want to mute. Tap the three-dot icon → Mute notifications. From the pop-up, select the duration you want to mute notifications and tap OK.

WhatsApp Mute vs. Block

	Mute	Block
Will you receive – Messages – Media – Calls (Audio/video)	Yes Yes Yes	No No No
Get Notifications For – Messages – Media – Calls	No No Yes	No No No
Can you send – Message – Call – Media	Yes Yes Yes	No No No
Last Seen	Yes	No
Online Status	Yes	No
Profile Picture	Yes	No
Status update	Yes	No

Groups and Personal Chats

While you can mute personal chats and groups, you can only block individual chats. The block feature isn’t available for groups. You must exit the group to stop receiving messages from it.

There are two important things to remember while using these features:

1. When you block a personal chat, the group chats with them remain unaffected. Meaning that even though you cannot personally contact each other, the blocked contact can still send messages in common groups. Both can view each other’s messages in groups.
2. Similarly, you will get notifications for the muted contact in group conversations. Muting them individually will not affect the group chats. You must mute a group to turn off its notifications. And when you mute groups, it will not alter personal chat notifications from its members.

What Happens to WhatsApp Calls?

Blocking someone stops all WhatsApp communication with them, including calls. You can neither make nor receive voice or video calls.

When you mute a chat, the muted contact can still call you. Interestingly, muting does not mute call notifications—it only mutes message notifications.

Note: The block is limited to WhatsApp and doesn’t apply to conversations or calls on other apps. The blocked person can still contact you outside WhatsApp.

What Happens to Past Conversations?

When you block or mute someone, nothing happens to past conversations. Those chats remain on WhatsApp until you delete them manually.

What Happens to Last Seen, Online Status, and Profile Picture?

When you block a contact, the said person cannot see your last seen, profile picture, or online status when you are active on WhatsApp. However, the muted contact can view all those details.

Message Status

WhatsApp has three symbols to show message status. A single grey tick means that the message has been sent but not delivered, two grey ticks indicate that the message has been delivered, and two blue ticks mean that the message has been read.

When a blocked person sends you a message, they will only get a single grey tick. Since you cannot send a message to a blocked contact, there is no message status for you.

On the contrary, message status follows normal rules for muted contacts. They will get two grey ticks when a message is delivered and it will turn blue when you read the message.

What Happens When You Unblock or Unmute?

When you unmute a chat, you will be notified about future messages. When you unblock a person, you will receive new messages from them. However, you will not receive messages sent while the sender was blocked.

How to Tell if You’ve Been Blocked or Muted

There is no way to know if you have been muted. But when it comes to blocking, even though there is no direct way for that as well, you can figure out if you’re blocked from several hints.

For instance, if the person’s profile picture or online status is missing, or the messages always have a single grey tick, you should know something is fishy.

WhatsApp Mute vs. Block: What Should You Choose?

While mute and block are used to avoid people, they are different. One is used to turn off notifications, and the other stops all forms of communication from any contact on WhatsApp.

You may want to mute your family groups or long-distance relatives who send good morning messages. On the other hand, use a block for your annoying ex, unknown number, or brands that spam a lot. So, pick your weapon wisely.

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