How To See When Someone Was Last Active on WhatsApp

A quick and easy guide to finding when someone was last active on WhatsApp

Last Updated: January 7, 2023 Tested

WhatsApp makes it easy to see when a user was last active in the app. Just open your chats, select a conversation, and you'll see "Last Seen" at the top of the conversation, along with the date and time the user was last active. This wikiHow guide will show you how to see when a contact was last online in WhatsApp on your Android, iPhone, or iPad.

Things You Should Know

Open a chat to find the date and time they were last seen at the top of the screen.
Group chats do not display when members were last seen or active.
Some people may hide their online activity from others.

Steps

1
Open WhatsApp on your Android, iPhone, or iPad. Its icon is a white phone and speech bubble encircled in green.
2
Tap Chats at the bottom of the screen.
- The WhatsApp app will default to the "Chats" tab when you first open the app, unless you last used "Status" or "Calls".
- The "Status" tab may also be worth checking out, as user can update their status to reflect their recent activity.
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3
Tap a conversation. Select a conversation with an individual contact.
- Group chats don't display "last seen" information, so you'll need to choose a one-on-one message.
4
View the "last seen" date and time at the top. Once the conversation loads, "last seen (date) at (time)" will appear below the contact's name at the top of the screen. This is the date and time the contact last opened WhatsApp on their phone or tablet.
- If the word "Online" appears below the contact's name, they have WhatsApp open on their device right now.^{[1]
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- If a user has blocked you, you won't be able to see their "last seen" information (and may not even be able to access any messages with them).
- Users may also opt to hide their online activity in their Privacy settings, but there are still third-party methods available for checking their status.

Community Q&A

Question

Is it possible for "last seen" to not show, even if one is not blocked?

Community Answer

Yes. It just means that person limited the setting to either no one or contact only. It doesn't necessarily mean you are blocked.
Question

Is the time last seen my time or the last seen person's time on WhatsApp?

Community Answer

It is the person whose name the time is under. So, for example, "Dave Yesterday at 10:21am" means that Dave was on yesterday at 10:21.
Question

What if it's not turning to double blue ticks on WhatsApp?

Community Answer

That may be because the recipient has turned off read receipts, so it will not turn to blue ticks.