With billions of WhatsApp users worldwide, cybersecurity experts are urging people to activate key privacy and security features to protect their accounts from hacking and unauthorized access.

According to technology specialists, WhatsApp offers several built-in tools designed to safeguard personal data, chats, and media, but many users fail to enable them, leaving accounts vulnerable.

One of the most important tools is Privacy Checkup, which allows users to control who can see their profile photo, status, last seen, and online presence, as well as who can add them to groups.

The Disappearing Messages feature enables messages to automatically delete after 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days, reducing the risk of sensitive information being stored unnecessarily.

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Experts also strongly recommend enabling Two-Step Verification, which adds an extra security PIN to prevent unauthorized logins even if a verification code is stolen.

WhatsApp also allows users to apply App Lock and Chat Lock using fingerprint or facial recognition, ensuring that no one else can access messages without permission.

Advanced security settings further help by blocking unknown messages, disabling link previews, and protecting IP addresses, which reduces exposure to malicious links and tracking.

Users can also enhance chat privacy by preventing chats and media from being shared outside the app or saved automatically on other systems.

Additional privacy can be achieved by turning off read receipts, allowing users to read messages without notifying the sender, and by disabling automatic media downloads, which prevents unwanted images and videos from being saved on the device.

Experts emphasize that enabling these features significantly reduces hacking risks and helps maintain digital privacy.