How to Lock Chats in WhatsApp Business

To lock a chat, press and hold it in your chat list and tap Lock chat (on Android it’s under the ⋮ menu), then confirm with your fingerprint, face or phone passcode. The chat moves into a Locked chats folder at the top of your list, which opens only after you unlock it again.

WhatsApp’s Help Center describes chat lock in one article for WhatsApp on Android and iPhone; it doesn’t give separate steps for the Business app, so if you don’t see Lock chat, update the app first. This guide covers the steps, the secret code, what chat lock does and doesn’t protect, and how to keep customer chats private when a team shares one number.

What chat lock does, and what it doesn’t

Chat lock moves chosen chats out of your main list into a separate folder behind an extra check: your phone’s passcode, Face ID, fingerprint, or a secret code. WhatsApp introduced it in May 2023. It’s useful when someone else picks up the shop phone, or when you show a screen to a customer.

How to lock a chat

1. Set up a phone lock first. If your phone has no passcode, fingerprint or face unlock, WhatsApp asks you to create one before you can lock chats.
2. Find the chat in your chat list.
3. Press and hold it. On Android, tap ⋮ and then Lock chat. On iPhone, tap Lock chat in the menu.
4. Confirm with your fingerprint, face or passcode.

The chat disappears from the main list and appears in Locked chats. To unlock it, do the same and choose Unlock chat. Unlocking also brings back the contact’s name in notifications.

How to open your locked chats

1. On the chat list, swipe down and tap Locked chats.
2. Unlock with your fingerprint, face or passcode, or tap Use secret code if you’ve set one.
3. If you’ve hidden the folder, tap the search bar instead, type your secret code and tap Locked chats.

Locked chats close again as soon as you lock your phone, so you don’t need to remember to lock them yourself.

Set a secret code and hide the folder

A secret code is a separate password just for locked chats. It’s separate from your phone’s passcode, which can still open locked chats on the phone itself. The code is what lets you hide the folder completely and open locked chats on WhatsApp Web, the desktop app or an iPad.

1. Swipe down on the chat list and tap Locked chats.
2. On Android, tap ⋮ › Chat lock settings › Secret code. On iPhone, tap Settings › Secret code.
3. Enter the code, tap Next, enter it again and tap Done.
4. To hide the folder, go back to the same settings and turn on Hide locked chats. From then on, locked chats appear only when you type the code in the search bar.

To turn the code off, open the same settings, tap Secret code › Turn off › Continue. Pick a code you’ll remember, because there’s no reset (see below).

Chat lock not showing? Check these

WhatsApp’s chat lock article lists no other requirement beyond a phone lock, so if the option is still missing after an update, check again after the next update.

If you forget your secret code

There’s no way to reset a forgotten code without losing the chats. On your main phone, go to Settings › Privacy › Chat lock › Unlock and clear locked chats › Unlock and clear. This removes the code and clears every message, photo and video in your locked chats.

Chat lock, app lock or two-step verification?

WhatsApp’s security tips recommend chat lock and app lock together. They protect against different things:

With app lock on, you can still answer calls, and on iPhone reply from notifications too. On iPhone you choose whether it locks immediately or after 1 minute, 15 minutes or 1 hour. WhatsApp also says never to share your registration code or password with anyone.

Keeping customer chats private in a team

Chat lock works on one phone. If several people answer your number on linked devices, they all see the same chat list, and anyone with the secret code can open every locked chat. There’s no way to give one person access to some chats and not others. More on that in WhatsApp Business on multiple devices.

On the WhatsApp Business API, your team works in a shared team inbox with their own logins instead of one shared phone. In Automate AI you control who sees what with settings rather than a folder:

• Agents see their own chats. In Settings › Auto Assignment, leave Grant agents access to view all chats not assigned to them off (it is by default), and agents see only the chats assigned to them.
• Managers see their department. Turn on Managers see only their department to keep a manager to their team’s chats and contacts, plus unassigned chats.
• Hide customer numbers. Staff see masked numbers such as +91 98••••••45 and can’t export contacts, but can still chat.
• Two-step login. Each person can add a code from an authenticator app or email after their password, in Settings › Security. For now, accounts with two-step login sign in on the website.
• Branches with a PIN. Each branch has its own number, team and PIN, asked every time anyone switches into it.

When someone leaves, you remove them from the team instead of taking back a phone. You can keep using the Business app on the same number with coexistence, and read how chats are protected on the API in WhatsApp Business API encryption.