Chat link, QR code and printable sign for WhatsApp

How to make a WhatsApp chat link in four steps

1. Enter your number. Pick your country and type the number the way you dial it. The tool adds the country code and removes the extra zeros and spaces for you.
2. Choose a first message. Pick a starter such as opening hours or booking, in English or Spanish, and change the words if you like. The customer sees it already typed and presses send.
3. Test the link. Press Test the link. It opens a chat in a new tab. Check the number is yours and the message reads well, then copy the link.
4. Share it or print it. Paste the link in your Instagram or Facebook bio, an email signature or a text. For a shop, download the sign or the 4x6 card and put it where customers wait.

What a click-to-chat link is

A click-to-chat link is a normal web address that opens a chat with one phone number. When someone taps it on a phone that has the app, the chat opens straight away. On a computer it opens WhatsApp Web or the desktop app. If the person does not have the app, the page offers to install it.

The address has two parts. The first is wa.me and your number, written as the country code followed by the number with no plus sign, no spaces and no leading zeros. The second is an optional message after ?text=. Anything you type there is encoded so that spaces, accents, question marks and emoji travel safely.

Getting the number right

The most common reason a link fails is a number in the wrong shape. A Mexican mobile number is 10 digits after the country code 52. A US number is 10 digits after 1. If you type a leading 0 or a dialling prefix that belongs only to calls inside your country, the link points at a number that does not exist.

• Pick your country and type the number as you would dial it from inside that country. Prefixes such as 044, 045 and 01 in Mexico or a leading 0 in the UK are removed for you.
• If your country is not in the list, choose Other and type the full international number, starting with + or the country code.
• Some countries need an extra digit after the country code for mobile numbers. If a test does not open the right chat, check the number with the country's rules.
• Always use Test the link on your own phone before you print anything.

Personal app or Business app

The link works the same for the personal app and the Business app, because it only points at a phone number. The Business app adds things this tool does not touch: a business profile, quick replies, away messages and a catalogue. If customers write to you every day, the Business app is worth a look. It is a separate app from the same company, and this tool is not part of it.

Keep in mind that anyone who scans your code or taps your link will see your number once they open the chat. Use a number you are happy to give customers, not a private one.

Starter messages that get answered

A good first message tells you what the customer wants, so you can reply with an answer instead of a question. Hours, a quote request, a booking and an order cover most small businesses.

• Keep it under two sentences. People can edit it, but most will just send it.
• End a quote request with a colon and a space, so the customer types the details straight after it.
• Write in the language your customers use. If your neighbourhood is bilingual, make one link per language and print both on the sheet.
• Do not put prices, private details or anything you would not want on a poster in the message. Anyone can read the text inside a code.

Printing the sign and the card

The sign is a letter-size page with your business name, a short line in English, Spanish or both, a large black-on-white code and, if you choose, your number. The card is 4x6 inches, the size of a standard photo print, so you can print it at a drugstore or a print shop and slip it into a frame or a menu holder.

The code needs room. Keep the printed code at least 2 inches wide if people will scan it from arm's length, and larger if it will be on a window or a wall. Do not place it on a curved surface, behind glass with glare, or on a busy photo.

The one-sheet option puts up to five codes on a page, one for each thing a customer might want. Cut the rows apart, or leave the sheet whole for a notice board.

Where to put the link and the code

A chat link works anywhere a web address works: in your Instagram or Facebook bio, as a button on your website, in an email signature, in a text, or on a business card. A QR code is for places where nobody can click, such as a window, a menu, a truck, a flyer or a table card.

A simple way to learn which place works is to give each one its own first message. A sign in the window can start with "Hi! I saw your sign", the link in your bio with "Hi! I found you on Instagram". When the chat opens, you can see where the customer came from without any tracking tool.

Whatever you choose, check that someone answers. A chat link makes it easy to start a conversation, and a slow reply loses the customer. If you cannot answer all day, say your hours on the sign, or use an away message in the Business app.

Your number and your privacy

The link, the code and the PDFs are made in your browser. Our code does not send your number or your message anywhere, does not store them, and does not write them to any log. Close the tab and they are gone.

The link itself is not private. Anyone who has the link or the printed code can see the number and the first message. That is the point of a public chat link.

Frequently asked questions