A WhatsApp link opens a chat with you in one tap, without the customer saving your number first. Put it in your Instagram bio, on a product page, in an email signature or on a flyer as a QR code, and people can ask about sizes, delivery or a booking right away. Add a prefilled message and they do not even have to think about what to type.
This generator builds the link in the format WhatsApp documents, creates a QR code for print, and writes the HTML for a website chat button. It all runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to WhatsApp until the visitor taps Send in their own app.
How to create a WhatsApp link
- Choose your country code. The picker starts on the country from your browser's language settings and remembers your choice.
- Type your WhatsApp number the way you dial it at home, with or without spaces, brackets and dashes. A leading 0 (trunk prefix) is removed for you. If you paste a full international number starting with + or 00, the country picker is ignored.
- Write a prefilled message, or click a template such as Order question or Booking. Line breaks and emoji are kept.
- Copy the link, or click Test the link to open it on your device.
- Download the QR code as PNG for print or SVG for design tools, and copy the button HTML for your site.
Tick No number to make a share link instead: it opens WhatsApp with your message and lets the person choose who to send it to. That is useful for "send this to a friend" referral campaigns.
The wa.me link format
WhatsApp's help page on click to chat describes the format as https://wa.me/<number>, where the number is in full international format with no plus sign, zeros, brackets or dashes. A prefilled message is added as ?text= followed by URL-encoded text. A link with only a message is https://wa.me/?text=. This is the format the generator writes, checked against WhatsApp's help center in October 2026.
Number examples
| Country | You type | Number in the link |
|---|---|---|
| United States (+1) | (503) 555-0142 | 15035550142 |
| United Kingdom (+44) | 07700 900123 | 447700900123 |
| Pakistan (+92) | 0300 1234567 | 923001234567 |
| India (+91) | 98765 43210 | 919876543210 |
| Italy (+39), landline | 06 1234 5678 | 390612345678 |
| Any country | +44 7700 900123 | 447700900123 |
Italy is the one common exception to the "drop the 0" rule: Italian landline numbers keep their leading 0 after the country code, and the generator handles that. For the US and Canada, which share +1, type the 10-digit number with the area code; a leading 1 is removed if you add it.
How the message is encoded
Links cannot contain spaces or some symbols, so the message is URL-encoded. The text in the link looks odd, but WhatsApp turns it back into your message:
| In your message | In the link |
|---|---|
| Space | %20 |
| Line break | %0A |
| # (as in Order #1042) | %23 |
| & | %26 |
| ? | %3F |
| 🙂 | %F0%9F%99%82 |
So a two-line message to a Pakistani number is written like this:
| Message | Link |
|---|---|
| Order #1042 & delivery? Thanks | https://wa.me/923001234567?text=Order%20%231042%20%26%20delivery%3F%0AThanks |
Without encoding, the # and & would cut the message short, which is the most common reason hand-made WhatsApp links lose half their text.
Prefilled messages that get replies
A good prefilled message tells you where the chat came from and what the person wants, so you can answer in one message instead of three:
- Product pages: "Hi, I'm interested in the Linen Throw in Oat. Is it in stock?" One link per product, so you know the item without asking.
- Order help: "Hi, I have a question about my order #" and the customer types the number.
- Bookings: "Hi, I'd like to book an appointment. My preferred day and time:"
- Ads and flyers: add a short code such as "(FB-OCT)" at the end to see which campaign started each chat.
Keep it short. The message is a suggestion; customers can edit it before sending. The tool counts characters and warns when the whole link passes about 2,000 characters, the point where some apps start cutting links.
wa.me or api.whatsapp.com?
You will see older links written as https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=15035550142&text=Hi. They still open chats, but wa.me is the short form WhatsApp's own help page documents, it fits better in a bio or on print, and it makes a smaller QR code. If you have old api.whatsapp.com links on your site, there is no urgent need to replace them; use wa.me for anything new.
Messages in other languages
Any language works, including right-to-left scripts such as Arabic and Urdu, because the message is encoded as UTF-8 before it goes into the link. Non-Latin text makes the link longer (each character becomes several encoded bytes), so keep those messages short, especially when the link goes into a QR code. If you sell in two languages, make one link per language and put each on the matching version of your page.
Where to put your WhatsApp link
Social profiles and posts
Add the link to your Instagram, TikTok or Facebook bio, or to a link-in-bio page, so people who see a product in a post can ask about it straight away. In story and post captions, a link with a matching prefilled message ("Hi, I saw the October drop on Instagram") tells you which post worked. Meta also sells click-to-WhatsApp ads inside Ads Manager; those use Meta's own ad setup rather than a wa.me link, but the same prefilled-message habits apply.
Product pages and the cart
Questions about fit, color and delivery time stop people from buying. A chat button next to the add to cart button answers them while the customer is still on the page. For your best sellers, generate one link per product with the product name in the message, and paste each into that product's description or a Custom Liquid block on its template.
Email, receipts and packaging
Put the link in your email signature (the email signature generator has a button you can point at it, with text such as "Chat on WhatsApp"), in order confirmation emails for delivery questions, and as a QR code on packaging inserts for reorders and reviews. A printed QR code with a message like "Reorder my coffee beans" turns a one-time buyer into a chat you can answer in seconds.
Local business listings and print
Salons, clinics, tutors and restaurants can print the QR code on menus, appointment cards and shop windows. Use a booking message so the customer only has to add a day and time, and keep the WhatsApp Business app's away message on for after-hours chats.
QR code for print and packaging
The QR code updates with every change and decodes to exactly the link shown. Download PNG for printing on flyers, receipts, packaging inserts and shop windows, or SVG for Canva, Illustrator or Figma, where it stays sharp at any size. Print it at least 2 cm (about 0.8 inches) wide, keep the white border around it, and test it with two phones before a print run. Long messages make denser codes, so a short message scans more reliably from a distance. If you need colors, a logo or a code for a website link, the QR code generator handles those.
Add a WhatsApp chat button to your website
Choose Floating corner button or Inline button, set the text and color, and copy the HTML. The button is one link with inline styles, so it does not need any script or app, and it does not slow the page down. Text color switches between white and near-black automatically so it stays readable on the color you pick.
Shopify
- For a button on one page or section: go to Online Store > Themes > Customize, open the page, click Add section, choose Custom Liquid and paste the inline button code.
- For a floating button on every page: in the theme editor, add a Custom Liquid block or section to the footer, which appears site-wide, and paste the floating button code. Save and check it on your phone.
- Alternatively, in Online Store > Themes > Edit code, paste the floating code in
layout/theme.liquidjust before</body>. Note that theme updates can overwrite edits there.
WordPress, Wix and other builders
Paste the code into a Custom HTML block (WordPress), an Embed HTML element (Wix) or any HTML widget. For a site-wide floating button on WordPress, use a footer widget or a header and footer code plugin.
Tip: UTM tags do not help on a wa.me link, because WhatsApp does not pass them on. To count chat clicks in Google Analytics 4, keep enhanced measurement on: clicks to wa.me are recorded as outbound click events with the link URL. The UTM builder is still the right tool for the page the visitor came from.
WhatsApp Business app note
A wa.me link works for both the regular WhatsApp app and the free WhatsApp Business app. If chats are part of how you sell, the Business app is worth it: it adds a business profile with hours and address, greeting and away messages, quick replies and labels for orders. It also has its own short link and QR code in its business tools, but that link carries one default message, while wa.me links let you write a different message for every product, ad or page. Many stores use both. This generator is not affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta.
Keep your number and inbox under control
A public link exposes the number to anyone, including scrapers and spam bots. Use a dedicated business number rather than your personal one, and register it in the WhatsApp Business app so you can set business hours, labels and quick replies. If spam becomes a problem, change the prefilled message to something specific, such as a product name, so real customers stand out, and block senders who misuse it. Never put a customer's number in a public link; wa.me links are for numbers that you want people to contact.
Troubleshooting
- "The phone number shared via URL is invalid." The number is not on WhatsApp, or a digit is wrong. Check the country code and that you removed the trunk 0 where the country uses one.
- The chat opens with the wrong person. The number probably contains the country code twice. The generator warns when the digits you typed already start with the selected code.
- Half the message is missing. The link was typed by hand without encoding a # or &. Generate it here instead.
- The QR code will not scan. It is printed too small, the white border was cropped, or the message makes the code too dense. Shorten the message, print it larger and test again with the phone camera app.
- Nothing happens on a desktop. wa.me opens WhatsApp Desktop if it is installed, otherwise a page that offers WhatsApp Web.
If your customers come from social media, Social Autopilot in AM Jarvis schedules product posts to Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook, so you can put a chat link in front of more people without posting by hand every day.