(Web Desk) — It can be surprisingly easy for your partner, family members, friends, or colleagues to secretly access your WhatsApp chats on their own devices without you realizing it.

How?

Meta’s WhatsApp “linked devices” feature allows you to send and receive messages on a desktop, laptop, or iPad using a web app. However, you can also link it to another phone, as long as it isn’t already running the app, according to Forbes.

Anyone with access to your unlocked phone or passcode can link their device to your WhatsApp quickly, and you might never know. Fortunately, it’s also easy to detect and stop.

Step one: Open WhatsApp and go to “Settings”. Then, click on “Linked Devices”.

Step two: Check the list of linked devices. If you see any devices you don’t recognize or haven’t linked yourself, log out immediately.

This advice applies to most messaging apps that link devices this way, rather than through a trusted device system.

Other ways to protect WhatsApp chats: WhatsApp offers a “locked chats” feature that allows you to set a different passcode to protect your most sensitive messages in a separate folder.

WhatsApp also advises regularly checking your linked devices to review all devices connected to your account. A linked device will automatically be logged out if it remains inactive on your account for about a month, but it’s important to keep checking to prevent unauthorized access.