Signal is one of my favorite messaging apps because of its focus on privacy and security. I use it to message my closest friends regularly, and in the process, I’ve discovered a fair few hidden features that I now use every day. From shielding your phone number from other users, to preventing hackers from breaking into your account, these hacks will help you make the most of Signal.
Hide your phone number from everyone
Credit: Pranay Parab
You can use Signal without revealing your phone number to anyone. You’ll still need to sign up to Signal with a phone number—something the company uses to stop spammers from running amok. But once your account’s created, open Signal on your phone, tap the profile icon in the top left corner, and go to Settings. Now select Privacy > Phone Number > Nobody in both the options on that page. That ensures that no one can see your phone number or use your phone number to find you on Signal.
Set up “Registration Lock” to protect your account from hackers
To enhance your Signal account security, you can set up a registration lock on the app. This will stop anyone from setting up your Signal account on a new device without an additional PIN. If your SIM card gets stolen or hijacked, hackers won’t be able to use that to get into your Signal account if they don’t know this PIN. To set it up, go to Signal settings > Account and enable Registration lock. This option only appears on Signal’s mobile apps.
Use “Screen Security” to block screenshots in your Signal app
Signal added a useful feature that disables app screenshots on Windows 11. This was added in response to Microsoft’s controversial Windows Recall feature, in order to prevent your Signal messages from being logged without your explicit consent. But it’s also a helpful tool for preventing anyone from taking screenshots of your Signal chats. You can check if it’s enabled by going to Signal settings > Privacy > Screen Security on the Windows app.
If you primarily use Signal on mobile, you can also protect your chats in a different way. Go to Signal settings > Privacy and enable Hide Screen in App Switcher on iPhone, or Screen Security on Android. This will hide Signal’s messages when you’re in the app switcher, which prevents others from seeing your Signal chats when you’re moving between apps.
Use Screen Lock to protect your Signal chats behind a face scan
Screen Lock helps ensure that no one but you can open your Signal app. This will require additional biometric authentication to access Signal, and reduces the chances of people snooping on your chats. You can enable this by going to Signal settings > Privacy > Screen Lock on the mobile apps.
Create notification profiles in Signal to block senders at specific times
Credit: Pranay Parab
Notification profiles let you disable notifications from certain contacts at specific times. For example, you could block alerts from coworkers outside of working hours. The feature even works for allowing or blocking alerts for specific days of the week. You can set it up on Signal’s desktop apps by clicking the gear icon in the left pane of the app, and going to Notifications > Notification profiles > Set up.
Once you do, you can pair this feature with chat folders to keep alerts from different contacts in separate tabs in Signal. In Signal settings on the desktop apps, go to Chats > Chat folders > Set up.
Use Disappearing Messages to automatically delete texts
Signal also lets you set up an automatic text deletion timer, called “Disappearing Messages.” When enabled, all messages will self-destruct after a set period of time. If you want to enable this across all of your chats, go to Signal settings > Privacy > Disappearing Messages and choose the duration you prefer. Alternatively, you can enable it for specific chats too. Just open any chat on Signal, tap the contact’s name up top, and select Disappearing Messages to reveal the feature.
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You can disable Stories on Signal entirely
For some reason, Signal lets you post stories. If you’re like me, you’re really only interested in stories in apps like Snapchat, which were designed around ephemeral posts. Luckily, Signal lets you completely disable this feature—which is exactly what I did the moment I found the option. Go to Signal settings > Stories to do the same.
Use “Spoiler” formatting to send messages in “Invisible Ink”
Credit: Pranay Parab
If you’re familiar with iMessage’s text effects, you’ll know about Invisible Ink, which hides your text until the recipient taps the message. Signal has the same thing, but it’s called Spoiler formatting, since you can use it to hide spoilers when you’re talking about books, movies, games, or TV shows. To use it, type a message in any Signal chat, then select a part of the text. Now, go to Format > Spoiler, and you’ll find that the selected text is now hidden. (On desktop, “Spoiler” is available as an option once you highlight your text.)
Relay calls through Signal servers
To avoid revealing your IP address when you make voice or video calls using Signal, you can relay those calls through Signal’s servers. This feature is under Signal settings > Privacy > Advanced > Always Relay Calls. Enabling it reduces call quality slightly, but it’s better for your privacy.
To ensure that Signal’s end-to-end encryption is working, you can use Verify Safety Number. This ensures that you’re messaging the person you contacted, and not someone else logging into their Signal account. The safety number only changes when a person reinstalls Signal or logs in from a new device. To view a safety number, open a Signal chat, tap the contact’s name up top, and select View Safety Number. If you meet your contact in person, you can either scan the QR code on this page, or just check if the safety number is the same. You can also match safety numbers over a call to ensure that your chat isn’t compromised.
Once you’ve done that, you can tap Mark as Verified, and Signal will alert you if the safety number ever changes. At that point, you should verify the safety number with your contact once more before you continue chatting. Signal has a helpful blog post that explains how this feature works in detail, if you want to learn more.
