How to Avoid Being Added to Spammy WhatsApp Groups

Do you keep getting unwanted messages from random WhatsApp groups you never asked to join? Spammy groups can be annoying, but you can change a single setting to limit them. Let’s see how you can adjust your WhatsApp settings and keep yourself from being barraged with spam messages. After that, you can adopt better privacy habits to keep your chats clear of unsolicited content.

Set up the WhatsApp Group invite settings

The instructions and screenshots below are from the WhatsApp app for iOS. The steps are similar for Android, with minor variations.

Open WhatsApp and tap Settings. In Android, Settings is located under the kebab menu (three vertical dots) at the top right.
Tap on Privacy on the Settings screen.
Select Groups. You’ll see multiple options for “Who Can Add Me to Groups?“.
By default, it’s set to Everyone. Anyone with your phone number can add you to any group. Here are three more settings that give different levels of control.

My Contacts: Only people in your address book can add you to groups. They’ll need to send a private invite for you to approve within 72 hours.
My Contacts Except: This offers more granular control. Choose this option and select specific contacts to exclude from adding you to groups.
Nobody: This gives you complete control and is the recommended setting. You have to explicitly give your permission when you receive an invite from a WhatsApp group. WhatsApp on Android doesn’t display this option (and some users on iOS may not see it, either)—choose “My Contacts” instead, or “My Contacts Except” and manually select people, if you have contacts who are trying to spam you. (If you don’t have the “Nobody” option and you really don’t want invites, choose “My Contacts Except” and then “Select All.”)

WhatsApp for iOS group privacy settings showng the

Credit: Saikat Basu

You will still receive invite links in a private DM to join a group. But now you have the choice. If you want to join a group, you’ll have three days to accept the invite before it expires.

Note: Group privacy settings can’t be changed on WhatsApp Web or Desktop. When you change the settings on your phone, they will be synced with WhatsApp Web and Desktop. Also, this setting doesn’t apply to community announcements; if you’re in a community, you’ll always be added to these.

More tips to avoid unwanted WhatsApp Groups

WhatsApp makes texting and sharing easy—which makes it easy to overlook some basic privacy guidelines.

Don’t share your number publicly online. Spammers can scrape contact information from social sites.
Don’t click on unknown links or phishing messages that use link shorteners from unknown sources.
Be cautious of messages with urgent language or unknown senders.
If you accidentally join a spam group, you can report it by tapping on the group info and selecting Report Group. Then, select Exit Group to leave the group. You can archive the WhatsApp group and hide it from view.
WhatsApp also has a Privacy Checkup tool. It’s like a guide that takes you to the ideal settings to apply and control your privacy on the app.