If users, however, wish to read messages without the sender receiving a blue tick, while not wanting to turn off read receipts, an easy way would be to enable Airplane mode and then read the message. This will prevent WhatsApp from updating the status of sent messages.

When you enable airplane mode, your phone's Wi-Fi and cellular data connections are severed, which effectively puts WhatsApp into a "read-only" state. In 2026, this remains a popular privacy tactic. If you receive a message and then turn on airplane mode before opening it, you can read the full text without triggering the "blue ticks" (read receipts) for the sender, because the app cannot communicate with the server to confirm the message was viewed. You can also compose replies while offline; however, these messages will sit with a "clock" icon and will not be sent until you disable airplane mode and regain a data connection. Incoming calls will simply fail to reach you, appearing as "Missed Calls" once you are back online. It is important to remember that as soon as you turn the connection back on, WhatsApp will immediately sync, sending all your pending replies and updating your "Last Seen" status to the current time, unless you have specifically disabled those features in your privacy settings.