Hidden WhatsApp ‘Wrapped’ button creates monthly dossier on EVERYTHING app knows about you – but it comes with a warning

A HANDY WhatsApp feature hidden deep inside the app’s settings creates a monthly dossier on everything it knows about you.

The feature can churn out a massive report – even detailing the number of texts you’ve ever sent.

Sadly it’ll take about three days to put together your first dossier.

The feature is almost like Spotify‘s Wrapped recap of your music history – but the WhatsApp equivalent isn’t built for fun.

Instead, it’s meant to be a privacy tool that lets you see exactly what WhatsApp knows about you.

And that means Meta too, as Mark Zuckerberg‘s tech giant owns WhatsApp.

The report can reveal many nuggets of info being held about you, including:

• Account info
• Profile photo
• Name
• Your app settings
• Privacy settings
• Security settings
• Contact names and phone numbers
• Total number of sent and received messages
• Groups created
• Groups joined
• Group members
• Blocked accounts
• Times for editing profile pictures

There is a key chunk of info missing, however: the contents of your messages.

You won’t be able to see a list of the texts you’ve sent – but there is a way to export your messages, which we’ll explain below.

This is because WhatsApp can’t read your messages (because they’re scrambled through encryption).

So the report only contains stuff that WhatsApp can access.

That also means it contains the info that WhatsApp could potentially share with police if you were in trouble, for instance.

It’s also worth noting that if you’re a parent, you might be able to request a report on your child’s WhatsApp account.

If you want to try to get that, use WhatsApp’s Privacy Rights form here.

For WhatsApp fans looking for their own account report, here’s what you need to do…

HOW TO GET WHATSAPP DOSSIER

To request a report, first you’ll need to load up WhatsApp.

Then go into Settings > Account > Request Account Info.

Now just tap on Request Account Report and WhatsApp will begin creating it.

Your screen should show the message “Request Sent” – and underneath should be a rough date for when the report will be ready.

Usually this takes around three days to compile.

It’s worth noting that there’s no way to cancel your request, unless you change your phone number or delete your account.

SET UP AUTOMATED DOSSIERS

If you want to be regularly updated about what WhatsApp knows about you but don’t want the faff of doing this constantly, you can create automated reports.

Turn that on and you’ll get a report every single month.

Just open WhatsApp, then go to Settings > Account > Request Account Info.

Now choose Create Reports Automatically, which will send you a dossier each month until you turn the setting off.

BE CAREFUL!

Once your report is ready, you should get a WhatsApp notification that reads “Your Account Info Report is now available”.

And you’ll be given notice of how long you’ve got to download it – before it’s deleted forever.

So it’s worth downloading the report as soon as possible.

But be warned: WhatsApp says that you must treat your report with extreme caution.

“Because this report contains your information, you should be careful about storing, sending, or uploading it to any other services,” WhatsApp warned.

It may even be worth deleting the report as soon as you’re done reading it.