How to Stop Anyone From Adding You to a WhatsApp Group

Following WhatsApp’s new line of privacy policy, people have switched to security-focused and privacy messaging apps like Telegram and Signal. However, many users continue to use WhatsApp because most of their contacts are there. Sometimes, WhatsApp users often create groups and add other people to them without their consent. It must have happened to you and you are wondering if you can prevent it. Of course you can by activating a few options, and we’ll show you how.

WhatsApp groups have a limit of 256 users, but even a smaller active group can blast your phone’s notifications. You might wake up to an avalanche of messages tagging you, discussing all kinds of stuff in the sun that you didn’t want to be a part of. Fortunately, WhatsApp includes a mechanism that prevents people from adding you to unsolicited and random groups. This way you have the option of making a choice – whether you want to be part of this group and prevent spam from reaching your phone screen or not.

Let’s get started.

How to stop being added to WhatsApp group on Android

Due to the majority of Android phone users, we will start with this platform.

Step 1: Launch the WhatsApp app on your phone and select Settings after tapping on the three-dot menu icon.

2nd step: Tap Account, then select the Privacy option from the list.

Step 3: Under Groups, you will see three options.

• Everyone means anyone can add you to a WhatsApp group.
• The My Contacts option means that only people whose number you have saved in your contacts can add you to a WhatsApp group.
• The My Contacts Except option acts more like a blacklist for My Contacts where everyone in your contact lists except those you have specifically excluded can add you to a WhatsApp group.

Tap the Done button at the bottom of the screen after making any changes to save the settings. You can come back later and change the settings or add / remove contacts from the list if you want.

How to stop being added to WhatsApp group on iOS

The process remains more or less the same for the iOS version of WhatsApp. The interface looks and works differently due to Apple’s design language.

Step 1: Tap the Settings button in the bottom bar menu and select Account.

2nd step: Select Privacy, then you will see the Groups option. Select that.

Step 3: Just like in Android, there are three options here. As stated above,

• Everyone means anyone can add you to their WhatsApp group. This is also the default option selected.
• My contacts means that those who are in your contact list or in your contacts app can add you to their WhatsApp group.
• The My contacts except option allows you to choose people from your contact list who are not allowed to add you to a WhatsApp group.

What happens when someone still tries to add you to the WhatsApp group

Let’s say you don’t want anyone adding you to a WhatsApp group without your permission. Your contact should not be that person and add you without your permission.

When the other person puts your name on the list, they’ll show a pop-up message letting you know that you can’t be added to the group. This means that no matter how hard they try, they will need your permission to be a part of this group.

That said, they can still send an invite link to join the group. And it’s entirely up to you to join one or not. With the necessary option available, you at least have a choice to avoid all spam and unsolicited messages.

It’s a subtle way of delivering the message. Again, don’t abuse the private message feature and bombard them with “Join my group” links. It’s not cool either.

Groups are fun

It is annoying to wake up every morning to mundane morning messages with random pictures flooding your WhatsApp app. If the necessary options are not enabled, people can add you to all kinds of groups such as company, local clubs, gyms, etc. messages.

The ability to prevent people from adding people to a group without their permission is such a blessing. While this is a step in the right direction, there is still a long way to go. The size of the user base that Facebook enjoys across all platforms and geography makes it difficult for them to regulate and curb such instances.