How to Create a WhatsApp Click-to-Chat Link (wa.me)

A WhatsApp click-to-chat link lets anyone message you in one tap, without saving your number. You can add it to your website, social profiles, emails and printed material. Here is how it works and how to create one.

The wa.me link format

The basic link looks like this:

https://wa.me/919876543210

The number after wa.me/ must be in full international format:

• start with the country code (91 for India)
• then the phone number
• no plus sign, spaces, dashes or brackets
• no leading zero before the number

So the Indian number 98765 43210 becomes 919876543210.

Add a pre-filled message

To make a message appear in the chat box, add ?text= and then the message:

https://wa.me/919876543210?text=Hi%20I%20want%20to%20know%20more

Spaces and special characters must be encoded (a space becomes %20). The customer still presses send themselves, so a pre-filled message only saves them typing.

Create a link in 3 steps

1. Write your number in international format.
2. Put it after https://wa.me/.
3. Optionally add ?text= and your encoded message.

Or skip the manual work and use our free WhatsApp link generator. It formats the number and encodes the message for you, and lets you test the link.

Common mistakes

• Adding a plus sign or spaces in the number
• Leaving the country code out, so the link opens the wrong chat or fails
• Keeping the leading zero from a local number
• Not encoding the message, which can break the link
• Not testing on a phone before you publish

Where to use your link

• website buttons and contact pages (see our chat button generator)
• Instagram and Facebook profiles
• email signatures
• Google Business Profile
• social posts and ads
• printed material as a QR code

Tips for more chats

Use a message that says what the customer wants, such as “Hi, I saw your 3 BHK listing and would like to visit”. Use a different message for each page or campaign so you know where every chat came from, and reply quickly: a link is only as good as the answer behind it.

Want to turn those chats into customers? Read about collecting opt-in consent.