Get that junk outta here!
WhatsApp is a quick, convenient, and secure messaging service, but there’s still a chance that you’ll occasionally receive spam messages or calls. After all, the only thing anyone needs is your phone number to contact you on the service. Should nuisance spammers manage to get hold of your number, you don’t need to worry too much — there’s an easy way to block and report senders on the Android app so you’ll never be hassled by them again.
Blocking & reporting
The easiest way to prevent someone from sending you unwanted messages — spam or otherwise — is to simply block them from within WhatsApp itself. To do this…
- Open the chat for the number you’d like to block and tap on the three-dot menu in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, then select More.
- Now tap Block. You’ll now need to confirm you just want to block them from being able to call you or send you messages with the ‘Block’ option. Alternatively, you can select Block and Report, which will stop them from contacting you and also file a report with WhatsApp so it knows this number is responsible for sending spam.
An alternative way to both report and block a contact on WhatsApp is to tap the three vertical dots in the upper right-hand corner again, select More and then choose the Report option. You can then choose to report and block the user at once.
Both of these methods have the same outcome, so it doesn’t really matter which way you do it. Keep in mind that if you report a contact, WhatsApp receives the last five messages sent to you by the user, who won’t be notified about it.
If you’re using WhatsApp Web or the desktop app, you’ll need to tap the three-dot menu or down arrow in the top right corner of a chat, then go into Contact Info. Scroll down to the bottom and then you’ll find separate options for Block and Report Contact.
Deleting spam messages
Now that you’ve blocked (and possibly reported) the sender, you can delete the messages so you no longer have to see them in your chats…
- Head to your Chats screen and long-press the chat in question.
- Tap the little trash can icon that appears in the row of buttons at the top of the screen.
For WhatsApp Web users or desktop users, open the chat you want to delete, click the three-dot menu/down arrow and then Contact Info. Scroll down to the bottom and click the Delete chat option.
And just like that, your WhatsApp is free of spam and you can rest easy knowing that the pesky sender has been blocked and reported. If you’re looking for other handy guides on using the ever-popular encrypted messaging service, check out our posts on using WhatsApp on your desktop or laptop and how to send disappearing messages.
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