What The Tech: How kids are hiding secret messages to their friends
BY JAMEY TUCKER, Consumer Technology Reporter
When we were kids, “invisible ink” meant lemon juice on notebook paper, write the message, and to see it someone would have to hold it up to the light for the words to appear. Otherwise it just looked like a blank sheet of paper.
These days kids (and adults) don’t need lemon juice, they just need a keyboard.
It’s called invisible text, and it’s one of those digital tricks that’s clever, sneaky, and surprisingly easy.
Here’s how it works:
You type a message in Google Docs, email, or another document program and then change the color of the font to white on a white background. Then poof, it disappears. Students have been caught to sneak notes into homework assignments.
Some set up “study groups” in shared Google Docs that double as secret chatrooms for those not allowed to use
apps like Snapchat. Others send invisible messages through email or even shared calendar invites.
The person on the other end just needs to know the trick. They open the message, hit Select All by using Control-A, or Command-A, and change the text back to black. There it is, the secret message they don’t want anyone else to see.
Change it back to white, and it’s hidden again.
It’s not just a classroom secret anymore. Invisible text is showing up in the workplace, on dating apps, and even in business emails. A document that looks black could actually contain sentences, links, or personal notes that are invisible to the eye, and sometimes invisible to search tools or AI filters.
If you’re a parent, teacher, or a partner who’s curious, there’s an easy way to check. Open the file or message and highlight all the text and look for anything that suddenly appears. You can also check formatting settings for white or hidden fonts.
Technology is getting smarter and so do the people finding ways to use it. Whether it’s a middle-schooler outsmarting a teacher or parent, or an adult trying to hide a message from a spouse, invisible text proves one thing: some secrets aren’t deleted, they’re just hiding in plain sight.
