TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A narrative is circulating on X and Facebook [archive] claiming that the different colors of WhatsApp profile icons—green, blue, red, and light green—indicate the blocking status or activity of a particular account.
The green color is claimed to appear because the account owner doesn't save the user's contact number. Blue indicates the account has previously blocked the user's number. Red means the account owner rarely sends messages, while light green indicates reduced communication intensity.
However, do the colors of these WhatsApp profile icons really have the meanings described in the circulating content?
FACT CHECK
Tempo verified this claim by interviewing experts, checking official sources, and conducting direct testing. The results showed that the color variations of WhatsApp's default profile icons have no specific meaning.
Alfons Tanujaya, a cybersecurity expert from Vaksincom, explained that Meta randomized the colors of the profile icons. WhatsApp's parent company has never provided an official explanation for the meaning behind the color differences.
According to Alfons, these colors automatically appear on profile icons when a user or group doesn't have a photo attached. "This misinformation can trigger misunderstandings among WhatsApp users," Alfons said when contacted by Tempo on Friday, June 19, 2026.
Tempo's search in the WhatsApp Help Center using the keywords "profile color" and "color" also yielded no explanation.
This color change is purely a visual aesthetic update. Previously, WhatsApp's default profile icon used a uniform white and gray silhouette. This default icon appeared when the account owner didn't save a number, was blocked, or excluded from the profile view. A comparison of the profile icon appearance can be seen on this Instagram account.
In an independent test, Tempo compared the profile appearance of accounts that didn't save a number with accounts that blocked the contact. The results showed that both accounts displayed the same icon color randomly.
CONCLUSION
Based on Tempo's investigation, the narrative regarding the meaning of the different colors of WhatsApp's default profile icons is misleading.
**Do you have information or claims that you want to have fact-checked? Contact our ChatBot. You can also send criticism, objections, or feedback for this Fact-Checking article via email to [email protected].
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