Keep RCS, Change These Google Messages Privacy Settings

Google Messages has enough privacy and notification controls to make the default setup worth reviewing. The useful move is not to disable every modern feature. It is to decide what appears on your lock screen, what social signals you send, and how much profile information other people can see.

BGR recently highlighted five settings that can reduce clutter and limit unwanted visibility. The menus are real, but they are not identical on every Android phone. Google warns that manufacturers customize Android, while some Messages features also vary by device, carrier and region. Update Google Messages first, then treat the paths below as signposts rather than promises that every label will match word for word.

Hide message content before changing the app

The most important privacy adjustment may sit in Android’s system settings, not inside Google Messages. A locked phone can still reveal a sender’s name, part of a conversation or a one-time code to anyone who can see the screen.

Open the phone’s Settings app, find Notifications, and look for lock-screen controls or a Sensitive notifications switch. Choose to hide sensitive content while the device is locked. On some phones, you can apply the restriction only to Google Messages; on others, the setting affects every app. Samsung and Pixel menus differ, so using Settings search for “lock screen notifications” is often faster than following a fixed path.

This change does not stop alerts. It keeps the notification while withholding its contents until you unlock the phone. That is a better balance for most people than silencing messages entirely.

Keep RCS, but choose your social signals

RCS brings messaging over Wi-Fi or mobile data, higher-quality media, group-chat features, read receipts and typing indicators. Google specifically advises against repeatedly turning RCS off and on because doing so can remove you from group chats. You do not have to abandon RCS just because you dislike the “read” or “typing” pressure.

In Google Messages, tap your profile picture, open Messages settings, then choose RCS chats. Turn off Send read receipts if you do not want contacts to know when you opened a message. Turn off Show typing indicators if you do not want them to see when you are composing a reply. These signals work only in supported RCS conversations, so changing them does not alter ordinary SMS behavior.

While you are there, review the resend option. If RCS delivery fails, Messages can fall back to another method. Google cautions that the “SMS with a link” option may make media accessible through a public link outside Google’s control. A plain SMS/MMS fallback may be less elegant, but it avoids that particular exposure.

Limit what your Messages profile shares

Google Messages can share your profile name and picture with people you message. That can make conversations easier to identify, but it is not a setting everyone wants enabled broadly.

Tap your profile picture and select Your profile. Google currently offers three audiences: people you message, only your contacts, or no one. “Only your contacts” is a sensible middle choice because it limits visibility without making every conversation anonymous. Choose “No one” if you would rather rely only on locally saved contact details.

You can also use Google Messages without a Google Account, though that removes access to features such as device pairing, Gemini and some account-based tools. That is a larger tradeoff than simply narrowing profile visibility.

Treat code deletion as housekeeping, not security

Some versions of Google Messages include Auto-delete OTPs after 24 hours under Message organization. Enable it if verification-code texts fill your inbox. The option may be missing on certain phones or in certain regions, and code recognition is not perfect.

Deleting an expired code reduces clutter and removes a small trail showing which services you use. It does not strengthen the account that issued the code, revoke a stolen login session or replace an authenticator app and strong password. If an account offers passkeys or app-based two-factor authentication, those are more meaningful security improvements than cleaning old texts.

Make daily controls harder to trigger by accident

Google Messages can assign archive, delete, read/unread or no action to left and right swipes. Open Messages settings and find Swipe actions, then give each direction a different job—or disable both if conversations keep disappearing from the inbox. Remember that archive is reversible, while deleting a conversation is permanent on the device.

For noisy group chats, open the conversation, choose Details, then set its notifications to Silent or snooze it for a defined period. Google also lets you disable automatic website previews under Messages settings and Automatic previews. That is useful if you prefer to open links deliberately, and Google notes that URLs themselves can contain personal information.

One control not to overestimate is the option to hide the Gemini button. Removing that shortcut can simplify the interface, but it is not a broad privacy switch for Google Messages. Review profile sharing, RCS signals, lock-screen content and link behavior separately. Those settings change what other people can actually see—and they do it without giving up the parts of RCS that make modern Android messaging useful.