9 Essential WhatsApp Tips and Tricks You Should Know

By Akshata Shanbhag  

WhatsApp is one of the hottest social networking apps around thanks to features like free video calls and the ability to delete messages. However, even if you use WhatsApp regularly, you might have missed some of its best features.

In this article we take a look at some awesome WhatsApp features. And while some users may regard these as essential WhatsApp features, other users may discover previously unknown tricks they can add to their arsenal.

1. Tweak Your WhatsApp Privacy Settings

You don’t always want everyone to know when you’re online, or whether you had a chance to see their last message. Sometimes you want a bit of time to think before you have these conversations.

You might also have good reason to make sure that only certain people see your profile picture. In fact, it’s pretty unlikely that you’d want anyone but your friends to see your profile picture at all.

Head to Settings > Account > Privacy and you can tweak all of your WhatsApp privacy settings. By default everyone—not just your contacts—can see your last seen time, status message, and profile picture, which might be sharing a little too much.

It’s strange that an app that decided to have great encryption decided also to have overly public default privacy settings. It’s up to you to make WhatsApp more secure and private.

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Note: This is also where you’re able to turn off read receipts if you wish. However, if you do this you won’t be able to see other people’s read receipts.

2. Back Up Your WhatsApp Messages

If you never want to lose a single WhatsApp message ever again, you need to back up your chat history. To do this, go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup and tap on Back Up Now.

If you’re on iOS, the backup goes straight to your iCloud account. On an Android device, it goes to your Google Drive account. Of course, you’ll need to be logged into the relevant cloud storage account first.

It’s best to put your backups on autopilot and forget about them. That’s where the Auto Backup option comes in handy. It lets you back up your chats on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. (You can specify if you want to include videos in the backup.) Now, if you accidentally delete WhatsApp messages, you still have some hope of recovering them.

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3. Export Individual WhatsApp Chats

If you want to share specific chats via email, Slack, or some other service, you’ll need to export them first using the Export Chat option. You’ll find this in the Contact Info section (Group Info section for groups) which shows the contact’s name, phone number, status message, etc.

The exported chat appears as a ZIP file that you can share with others. During export, you can specify whether the file should include attached media.

4. Change the WhatsApp Wallpaper

Chatting on WhatsApp doesn’t have to be a bland experience, as it’s really easy to change the background. Head to Settings > Chats > Chat Wallpaper and you can grab a new background from the in-built wallpaper library. You can also choose a solid color or one of your own photos as the wallpaper.

Want the original WhatsApp wallpaper back? All you have to do is tap on Reset Wallpaper.

5. See Exactly When WhatsApp Messages Were Read

If you’re keen to check whether your friend knows about your party or not, you can easily see if they’ve read the messages you sent or not. Just view the conversation and look for the blue ticks to know whether your latest message has been read (if they have read receipts turned on).

Need more information? Long-press on the relevant message and tap on Info to see exactly when that message was delivered and when it was read.

Keep in mind that you’ll see a couple of gray ticks if your friend hasn’t read the message and a single gray tick if it hasn’t been delivered yet.

6. Check Your WhatsApp Data Use

No one likes excessive data charges, so it’s worth being able to check how much data WhatsApp is using. To do this, go to Settings > Data and Storage Usage > Network Usageand you can get the full details of all your data consumption.

If you want to keep your data usage down, tweak the media auto-download and call settings under Settings > Data and Storage Usage. Here, you can restrict automated media downloads to Wi-Fi connections or turn them off completely to save on mobile data. Opting for a lower voice call quality also helps keep data usage down.

7. Use WhatsApp on a Desktop

As long as your WhatsApp-enabled smartphone has an active internet connection, you can use WhatsApp on your PC.

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To get started, head to web.whatsapp.com on your computer. Next, open WhatsApp on your phone and visit Settings > WhatsApp Web/Desktop. Now point your phone at your computer screen to scan the QR code displayed there. Your chats should then show up instantly.

You can also use this method to access WhatsApp on a tablet, but you’ll need to request the desktop version of the WhatsApp Web site first. It’s a pity that this method doesn’t seem to work for everyone; I have had no trouble with it.

8. Transfer Your WhatsApp Account to a New Number

Changing to a new mobile number doesn’t mean the end of your WhatsApp account—it’s possible to transfer it to the new number. Head to Settings > Account > Change Numberto start the process. You’ll need to enter both the old and new numbers to migrate the data properly.

9. Delete Your WhatsApp Account

If for some reason you want to delete your WhatsApp account altogether, head to Settings > Account > Delete My Account to get started. You can always start a new account later if you change your mind, but your chat history from the current account will be gone forever. The cloud backups of your messages also vanish. Plus, you’ll disappear from groups and the contact lists of your friends.

Keep in mind that any conversations you have been a part of are still visible to your contacts since those conversations are also a part of their chat history.

More Hidden WhatsApp Tips and Tricks to Start Using

WhatsApp is here to stay, more privacy-focused WhatsApp alternativesnotwithstanding. It has many features and settings that aren’t obvious at first glance. Now that you know about these awesome WhatsApp features, you should try a few hidden WhatsApp tricks next.

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Explore more about: Chat Client, Online Chat, WhatsApp.Source: www.makeuseof.com

How to Recover Your Facebook Account When You Can No Longer Log In

By Tina Sieber

So you forgot your Facebook login and password and can’t log into Facebook anymore? Or was your Facebook account hacked, meaning you can’t access it anymore?

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If so, you are not alone. Fortunately, Facebook offers several automated ways to recover your account. Whether you forgot your Facebook password or can no longer log in because a hacker changed it, you have several options. In this article we’ll show you how to recover your Facebook account, step-by-step.

Note: This article covers everything we know about Facebook account recovery. Read the article, read the comments, and if you still have questions, feel free to ask it in the comment. Unfortunately, we can’t offer one-on-one support and we also don’t have a direct line to Facebook.

1. Are You Still Logged In Somewhere?

Before you try to recover your account, check whether you are still logged into Facebook on any of your devices. This could be another browser or browser profile on your computer, your Facebook Android or iOS app, or a mobile browser, for example on your tablet.

If you can still access Facebook anywhere, you might be able to “recover” your Facebook password without a confirmation reset code; though what you’ll actually do is create a new password. Proceed to step 1a of our article on what to do when your Facebook account gets hacked, where we explain how to change your Facebook password. At this point, also consider setting up two-factor authentication on Facebook.

Note: If you set up two-factor authentication and have lost access to your Code Generator, here’s how you can regain your Facebook login.

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2. Have You Tried Default Account Recovery Options?

OK, so you could not find a device where you were still logged into Facebook. Let’s proceed with the recovery then. If possible, use a network or computer from which you’ve logged into your Facebook account before.

First, you need to identify your account. Head to the Facebook recover page and use an email address or phone number you previously added to your Facebook account. Even if it doesn’t say so, you can also use your Facebook username.

Once you successfully managed to identify your account, you will see a summary of your profile. Before you proceed, carefully check whether this really is your account and whether you still have access to the email address(es) listed.

Should you No longer have access to these? proceed to point 3 of this article.

If all looks well with the contact details that Facebook has on file for you, however, click Continue. Facebook will send you a security code.

Retrieve the code from your email, enter it, and rejoice in having recovered your Facebook account.

At this point, you can set a new password, which we strongly recommend.

If the code never arrives, click Didn’t get a code?, which will take you back to the previous screen. You can try again or maybe you’ll realize that you don’t have access to the account after all.

Back Into Your Facebook Account

If you managed to regain access to your account and if you suspect that your Facebook account was hacked, immediately change your password and update your contact information. These are key steps in securing your Facebook account. Be sure to remove any email addresses or phone numbers that are not your own or that you can no longer access.

We strongly recommend that you enable two-factor authentication, so this won’t happen again.

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3. Did Your Contact Information Change?

Often, it’s not possible to recover a Facebook account using the options above. Maybe you have lost access to the email address(es) and phone number(s) you once added to your profile. Or maybe a hacker changed this information. In that case, Facebook allows you to specify a new email address or phone number, which they will use to contact you about recovering your account.

To start this process, click the link No longer have access to these? in the bottom left on the reset password page (see above) to start the Facebook account recovery process. Facebook will ask you for a new email address or phone number, so that they can get in touch with you to help you recover your account. Click Continue to proceed.

If you have set up Trusted Contacts, you can ask them to help you recover your Facebook account in the next step. You’ll need to remember at least one full name of your three to five Trusted Contacts to reveal all of them. Note that you only need three codes to recover your Facebook account.

If you didn’t set up Trusted Contacts, you might be given the option to answer one of your security questions and reset your password on the spot. As an additional precaution, this comes with a 24 hour waiting period before you can access your account.

Otherwise, you might have to wait until Facebook gets in touch to verify your identity. Be patient.

4. Was Your Account Hacked and Sending Out Spam?

In the event that your account was hacked and is posting spam while you can no longer access it, you should report your Facebook account as compromised.

This will actually start a similar process to the one outlined above. While you will use the same information to identify your account, in the following step you will be able to use either a current or an old Facebook password to recover your account.

This is useful in case a hacker changed your password, but it may also come in handy in case you forgot your new password.

Find more security-related tips on the Account Security page in the Facebook Help Center.

Note: If you’re the victim of Facebook malware, read our article on how to prevent and remove Facebook malware.

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Still Locked Out of Facebook?

If all of the Facebook account recovery methods above failed, your last hope is Facebook support itself. You can try emailing security@facebookmail.com to explain your situation. They might give you a chance to prove your identity using your passport or driver’s license. You can try to attach a scan of your ID in your first email, but keep in mind that email isn’t necessarily secure. Either way, hearing back from Facebook can take several weeks, so you’ll need to be patient.

Note: If you didn’t use your real name on Facebook, your hopes for recovering your account this way are close to zero.

If All Else Fails, Create a New Facebook Profile

Over the past few years, we have received countless comments and messages from people who weren’t able to recover Facebook their accounts. Usually, their contact information was outdated, the recovery codes Facebook provided didn’t work, or the company would never reach out to verify their identity. Unfortunately, we couldn’t help either.

If you do discover another way to contact Facebook or recover your Facebook account, please share it in the comments below.

At some point, you just have to move on. As much as it hurts, learn from your mistakes, create a new account, be sure to add several valid contact details, secure your Facebook account, and rebuild your profile.

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Explore more about: Data Recovery, Facebook, Password, Password Recovery.Source: www.makeuseof.com