WhatsApp is working on a new privacy control that will let people decide exactly who can see their phone number when they chat or call. The feature, spotted in a test version of the Android app, builds on the username system introduced earlier this year and could close one of the biggest privacy gaps in the world’s most popular messaging app.
For most of WhatsApp’s history, a phone number has been the price of admission. You needed one to create an account, and anyone you messaged could see it, save it and pass it on. That worked when the app was mainly for friends and family, but it looks out of step now that it is also a marketplace and a workplace. A phone number is a personal identifier, and once it is out in the world it cannot easily be taken back.
WhatsApp began to address that problem in June, when it opened reservations for usernames. Instead of sharing a number, people could share a short handle, and anyone who contacted them through it would see only the username. Reservations opened on 29 June 2026, and the full feature has been switching on gradually, country by country. A number is still required to create an account, but for anyone who sets a username up, new contacts no longer get the number automatically.
The new control takes that idea one step further. According to WABetaInfo, which tracks test versions of the app, the setting was found in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.26.45.1. It adds a section inside the privacy settings, alongside familiar controls such as last seen and profile photo, where users can choose who sees their number.
How the New Privacy Feature Will Work
The new screen offers four choices. Everyone keeps things as they are today. My Contacts limits visibility to people already saved in the user’s address book. My Contacts Except lets a user hide the number from selected contacts while keeping it visible to the rest. Nobody hides it from everyone else entirely. That last option matters most, because it will apply by default once a username is in place. People who want to keep their number private will not need to change anything; the protection will already be switched on.
There is one important limit. The control only applies to people who have set up a username, and it does not erase a number from anyone who already has it. If a contact saved your number long ago, they will still see it. The feature is aimed at new conversations, where the risk of a number spreading is highest.
Switching between the options will not be entirely silent either. WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp is building a warning that appears when a user changes the setting, because doing so resets the list of exceptions they had chosen. Anyone previously excluded could then see the number again, so the app will ask for confirmation first.
Phone Numbers Will Be Hidden by Default
The default matters more than the menu itself. Most people never open their privacy settings, so a feature that is switched off by default helps almost nobody. By setting Nobody as the starting point, WhatsApp is making privacy the normal state rather than something users have to hunt for. Those who want their number visible, such as small business owners who want customers to call them, can still choose to share it.
That choice reflects how WhatsApp’s privacy thinking has changed. The app already lets users hide their last seen time, profile photo and online status from selected people, and it has added disappearing messages and locked chats. Each control followed the same pattern: give users a simple choice and set the safer option as the starting point. The phone number control fits that approach, and it closes the largest remaining gap, since a number is far more sensitive than a profile photo or a last seen timestamp.
When Will the Feature Be Available?
For now, the feature exists only inside a development build. It has not been switched on even for beta testers, so nobody outside WhatsApp can try it yet, and the company has not announced a release date. A feature found in a beta build usually reaches testers first, then rolls out in stages, so it could still be weeks or months away. Its arrival will also depend on how quickly usernames themselves reach each country.
When it does arrive, it is likely to matter most in places where WhatsApp is used for far more than chatting with friends. In Pakistan, as in much of South Asia, the app is a marketplace, a classroom and a workplace all at once, and a number shared with the wrong person can lead to spam calls and unwanted messages. A setting that hides the number by default, while still letting people share it when they choose, gives users back control they have never really had. It will not make anyone anonymous, but for the millions of new conversations that start on WhatsApp every day, it is a meaningful step forward.
