Let’s examine what ticks are, what their meaning is and how to interpret them. After reading this mini-guide, the so-called “ticks” – those little gray or green, or blue (or red) “v’s”, will have no more secrets.

What are  WhatsApp ticks ? What do they mean? Can they be deactivated? How do they behave when we receive a message? What does it mean if I only see a gray tick? And two blue ones? No fear. In this article you will find all the answers to your questions.

One of the most important features of WhatsAp is the ” read receipt “. If you have noticed, when you send a message on WhatsApp, the gray check mark appears under the text. Immediately after, another gray tick appears. Then the two ticks turn blue. And that means the message has been read .

Everything has been said about the ticks. Misunderstandings have been created  . Engaged couples have decided to break up because of this symbol. Friends who spend hours waiting to see the color of the tick change . Little detectives looking for answers to the questions “will he have read my message?”, Will he have received the photo I invited him? “.

Well, you can finally know if your message has been delivered or read by the recipient. Here is a complete guide that will help you understand the WhatsApp checkpoints.

What are WhatsApp ticks?

WhatsApp ticks – or  check , as they are called in English – are  symbols  that the instant messaging application uses to provide information to users about sending, receiving and reading messages (or multimedia content such as photos, video and audio notes).

The checkmarks are precisely that small gray, green or blue “v” that appears below the text in a WhatsApp message.

Meaning checkmarks WhatsApp

Checks can be of three types:

✓ – a single green tick (or gray, depending on how you see the color of the V against the background of the message)

✓✓  – two green ticks (or gray, as in the previous case)

✓ ✓ – two blue ticks (here the color is clearly a bright blue, no doubt)

These symbols are found within the single message, whatever the type we send (text, photo, video, audio note, position), and are located exactly in the  lower right part  of the green box next to the time. Here is an example:

NB In the same position it is also possible to find another symbol other than the ticks: the clock . This indicates that the message has not yet been sent. Also, when you click “send” in a message, you will see this symbol (the clock) appear for a few moments, then replaced by ticks.

to. A gray (or green) tick: ✓

Indicates that the message was sent successfully (but not received).

WhatsApp is normally used by people to send messages to one or more recipients, you will notice a gray check mark right next to the time the message was sent.

The gray check mark indicates that the message has been successfully sent from the WhatsApp servers to the contact but has not yet been received .

In group chats , the single gray check mark indicates that the message has been sent to group members but members have yet to receive it.

b. Two gray (or green) ticks: ✓✓

Indicates that the message was successfully sent and received.

Now, you already know that a single gray check mark simply means that the chat has been sent to the recipient but has yet to be received. If you continue watching chats, you will notice that another one of the same color appears next to the check mark.

The two gray ticks are designed to symbolize that the  message has been delivered  to the recipient. This only happens when the recipient is online .

One important thing : the two gray ticks do not mean that the recipient has read the message, but only received!

So be patient. The recipient will soon read the  message  and you will know.

In fact, sometimes the single gray check remains on WhastApp for a long time , but rest assured. There can be multiple reasons why this happens:

• The recipient’s phone may be turned off.
• The recipient may experience Internet connection problems.
• The recipient may have received the notification of the new message but has yet to open WhatsApp.
• The recipient may have blocked the user who may therefore not see anything.
• Someone is trying to spy on WhatsApp on your phone and doesn’t want to be seen.

NB In  group chats , two gray ticks indicate that the message has been delivered to group members but has not yet been read. So, have patience. Not all members may not be online at the same time.

c. Two blue ticks ( ✓✓ )

They indicate that the message has been read. It is the so-called “double check” (or double check, in English) which signals the confirmation of the reading.

When the gray ticks turn blue, the  recipient has read your message . The only way to do this is to launch the app and tap the notification.

But be careful: if they appear, the message has certainly been read. But if they don’t appear, the recipient may not have already read our message!

There are cases where the message has been read but the blue ticks do not appear . For example:

• The recipient used the technique to read the message avoiding the blue ticks (which therefore remained green even if the message was both delivered and read)
• The recipient read the message from the lock screen but did not open the application

In  group chats, the ticks turn blue when all group members have read the message.

c. Two red ticks (or three): ✓✓

The red ticks do NOT exist. The news that started shooting in 2021 is false. There are no red ticks and above all they are not used by the government to control us.

The false news spread with a viral message that sparked some heated discussions. In reality, as the Ibtimes fact check testifies , it is false and unfounded news.

Why are the ticks not 100% reliable?

The check system, however, does not give certainty with respect to what it promises, or at least not entirely. Let’s see why, according to the different possible cases:

1. For the single tick no problem. When it appears, it is certain that the message has been sent.
2. The green / gray double check presents the first doubts. As a rule, when it appears it is certain that the message has been received but not read. This is true, but only partially. In fact, there are at least three cases in which the recipient has read the message even if the ticks are still green / gray but not blue.

Case 1. You have not updated the WhatsApp application and therefore the ticks cannot turn blue

Case 2. The recipient used the technique to read the message avoiding the blue ticks (which therefore remained green even if the message was both delivered and read)

Case 3. The recipient read the message from the lock screen but did not open the application.

How to disable the ticks

1. The first thing you need to do is make sure your WhatsApp version is the latest. You can simply update from here or visit the App Store or Play Store.
2. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings> Account Information> Privacy
3. Disable the “read notifications” option.

Simple, right? After the introduction of the blue ticks, WhatsApp has received several criticisms from users who did not look favorably on the possibility that their friends could check if a message had been read or not. Where has the privacy gone ? They wondered. No sooner said than done. WhatsApp ran to remedies by introducing the possibility of deactivating double checking.

Remember though: if you deactivate the ticks, not only will others not be able to see if a message you received has been read or not, but you too will no longer be able to use this function for the messages you receive on your phone (excluding groups , which are always active).

EXTRAS : Frequently asked questions about WhatsApp checkboxes

Finally, here are some frequently asked questions about the checkmarks and their answers, which summarize most of the topics covered in this post:

Why does only one tick appear?

• The recipient may have their phone turned off
• The recipient may have internet connection problems (for example, being in an area where there is no signal)

Why do I see a read message (and therefore the blue ticks) but the time of the last previous access?

We talked about it in this post on Blue Checks but previous access: here’s why. 

Why don’t the double blue ticks appear?

• The recipient is sleeping or busy and has not read the message
• The recipient used the trick to read a message without making the blue ticks appear
• The recipient has deactivated the read receipt
• The recipient has blocked you (if you have this suspicion, here is a mini-guide to find out if he has blocked you )

Are the blue ticks retroactive?

Let’s now examine a particular case that arises from a question sent to WhatsAppMania by a user.
AS asks:

“ I sent two messages to the same person within a week of each other.

The first has only the two gray ticks indicating the message delivered but not read while the second has blue ticks which also confirm the reading.

(1) How is it possible that once the last message has been read, the penultimate one does not have blue ticks?

(2) Was there the deactivation of the blue ticks and then was it subsequently reactivated? “

We answer the two questions (1) and (2) individually :

(1) How is it possible that once the last message has been read, the penultimate one does not have blue ticks?

This is possible because the blue ticks ARE NOT RETROACTIVE. This means that when he received the penultimate message the recipient had deactivated the read receipt (the double blue ticks). Then he reactivated them, and therefore in the next message you see the blue ticks that confirm that the message has been read.

(2) Was there the deactivation of the blue ticks and then was it subsequently reactivated?

The answer to this question is already contained in the previous one. Yes, there was the deactivation of the blue ticks and then the reactivation. As mentioned above, in fact, the double check is not retroactive. And so when it is activated it does not affect previous messages.

Are the ticks reliable?

• Not 100%. Read above to find out more details

Do you still have doubts or questions about WhatsApp ticks? Contact me through this page and I will be happy to help you! Meanwhile, if you want to find out more about the extraordinary world of WhatsApp, take a look at the other pages of this site!