Possible innocent reasons for this? Tbh, any reason would be welcomed because I actually can't think of any...

[AlwaysTimeToGoSomewhere]

With the exception that there have been messages he wouldn't want me to see and doesn't want a message to pop up when I'm with him that I might see.

I'm 47. My boyfriend is 59. I love him but I think it's fair to say he's not the sort of man that a much younger woman would be attracted to 🤷🏻‍♀️ He's also not the sort of man to give me reason to mistrust him. He's open with everyone about he feels about me etc. I'm not a secret etc etc.

Anyway, I noticed the other day that he had created an 'archived' folder on WhatsApp. I don't know why but it rang huge alarm bells. I've never archived a chat, I've only ever seen them mentioned on here in terms of being suspicious because it allows someone to receive a message without it being seen at the top of their message screen - the sort of thing you might be bothered about if you were doing something you shouldn't be.

He isn't protective about his phone at all and leaves it lying around.

I'm not proud of it but I looked.

There was an archived chat in there but there were no messages in it. Only the initial notification about the messages being encrypted.

The profile pic was of a woman who I doubt was older than 20. Certainly young looking if older than that. No make up, not a provocative photo in anyway, nothing special about her. Just a normal looking girl. First name only. It's just not what I expected to see.

Is there any way this can be innocent?

Daughter/ niece?

Ermm, I use archive all the time on WhatsApp! I’ve got 47 archived chats and groups, and 5 in active. I’m not up to anything, I just hate seeing chats on the main screen that aren’t currently active or in regular use.

As for your DP, nobody can say?! Is it his niece? A cleaner? Someone who works for a window company? Employment agency? Colleague? Wrong number? Who bloody knows?!

It seems more likely to be innocent than dodgy, from what you’ve said.

Hard to know. Could be a daughter. But why would he hide that.

I think at the very least, he fancies some young woman and is not blocking her or just letting the thread sink. Encrypted messages make me think some sort of sex service unfortunately. You don't encrypt "fancy dinner?"

A daughter he hasn’t told you about?

Tbh my question would be "is there any chance this might NOT be innocent?" at this stage. If it's just a normal photo of a young woman it could be anyone. If I'm looking on my WhatsApp now, I can never be arsed to delete people, so I've got a man I rented an airbnb off 6 years ago, a woman from gumtree I bought a rug from, a neighbour's bag brother guy who borrowed my car park fob for a week...

I think if you don’t understand the App that OP is referring to it’s probably best to butt out rather than fan the flames.

Whatsapp isn’t a sex service, all messages are encrypted, and the message is automatically posted at the start of every chat.

I’ve got various archived chats, nothing to hide at all. Get a grip.

An archived chat wouldn't scream anything to me, I have loads.

Sounds like spam to me.

WhatsApp auto archives some v old chats

I sometimes press archive instead of delete by accident then can't be arsed deleting it properly. I'm sure I've probably got loads of archived chats.

Would you not feel able to say "I noticed a message in your WhatsApp and she didn't look familiar, who is it?"

FYI if a chat is archived it doesn’t stop notifications flashing up, if that person sends a message then the chat automatically unarchives itself. It’s not a way to ‘hide’ chats in that sense.

His handler ?

Much like PPs, I archive all the time. And I can categorically state that there’s no chance anyone can look at my phone.

I can’t explain the girl or the lack of messages in the chat you looked at but if I was doing something dodgy, I’d be deleting the chat rather than archiving it!

I also just don’t believe he’d leave his phone lying around - unlocked or otherwise - if he was doing something dodgy. And all the Mumsnet threads about cheating that I’ve read would suggest I was right.

Another good point. Although you can change the settings on whether they automatically move back to the main list. And if it’s set not to, I’m not sure what happens with notifications.

Random message from a scanner that he archived instead of deleting by mistake which I’ve done many times.

My WhatsApp archives old chats without me telling it to. Very annoying.

I have 57 archived chats, am happily married and never ever cheated on anyone.

@AlwaysTimeToGoSomewhere

Is there a particular reason you are so insecure/suspicious about him?
In what you described - there is no reason at all, unless there is something in your past that affected you?

You are with a much older man, who, as you say isn’t attractive to younger women. He is a good bf, and isn’t secretive with his phone.

Why are you looking for something in absence of any red flags?

I just checked my archive and have one chat in there I had forgotten about. It contains one message from a woman I don't know. Almost certainly a wrong number but I remember I archived it rather than deleting just in case it turned out to be some sort of scam, or just that there was something more to it?

So could possibly be something like that?

I've met his daughter and his niece.

He doesn't have any other archived chats. It only popped up last week which is why I noticed.

Just seems odd that he'd have no others and the only one he does have is an empty chat with a woman around 30 years his junior.

He doesn't have loads of contacts and doesn't message many people. He only uses WhatsApp for close friends and family.

Which is different to someone who has archived loads of people and groups etc amd does so routinely.

The 'encrypted' message is the standard one you get on WhatsApp that tells you all messages are end to end encrypted. Nothing more.

Would you not feel able to say "I noticed a message in your WhatsApp and she didn't look familiar, who is it?"

Not without admitting I'd opened the archived bit, no.

I wondered sex worker except that her pic doesn't scream sex worker.

What's the point in archiving chats if doing so doesn't prevent notifications from coping up and if it e ethers standard chat once a message is received?

Hmm. I archived a few chats that were dull AF or really goady but were family so I didn’t want to offend anyone by removing myself entirely. Did my blood pressure a worldwide of good.

Sounds like it could have been done by mistake.

Stop snooping where you shouldn’t be and then you wouldn’t be worrying about unnecessary things.

This isn’t odd in any way.
You obviously don’t trust him for other reasons.

I have someone in my archive that I started off muting but then would see their messages in app when I opened it to catch up with other messages, and this person gives me the twitches when they message me, so I archived. You can't send archived messages to the bottom afaik, I wish it was possible, since I know that person's messages are in there every time I see it. It could be someone that was pestering him. I guess you could ask...

What's the point in archiving chats if doing so doesn't prevent notifications from coping up and if it e ethers standard chat once a message is received?

It’s just a sorting mechanism, I guess. To put them aside, in the absence of folders.

I don’t really have rules for why I do it - maybe people I haven’t heard from in a long time or groups I’m scared (😂) to leave, people who have annoyed me and so I don’t want to see their name every time I open WhatsApp. I’ve just looked and I’ve also got an old hairdresser in there, an ex, a guy who annoyed me, my work number (I sometimes send photos from one phone to the other), and a few people I don’t think I know.

Anyway, I’ll not bore you any more but you get the idea!