WhatsApp link generator

What is a wa.me link?

A wa.me link (also called a WhatsApp click-to-chat link) is a normal web address that opens a WhatsApp chat with a specific phone number. Anyone who taps it lands in a chat with your business, with no need to save your number first. You can also add a message, so the chat opens with the first line already typed in.

It works with the regular WhatsApp app, the WhatsApp Business app and WhatsApp Web, and it costs nothing. You do not need the WhatsApp Business API to use it.

The wa.me link format

Three rules make a link work:

• Use the full number with the country code and nothing else. For India that is 91 followed by the 10-digit mobile number.
• Leave out the plus sign, spaces, brackets, dashes and any leading zeros. +91 98765-43210 becomes 919876543210.
• Encode the message. Spaces become %20, a comma becomes %2C, a question mark becomes %3F and an ampersand becomes %26. The generator above does this for you.

How to make a WhatsApp link with a message

1. Enter your 10-digit WhatsApp number in the generator. It adds the country code 91 for you.
2. Type the message people should send you, for example "Hi, I saw your ad and want to know the price."
3. Press the button, copy the link, and open it once on your own phone to test it.

Write the message the way a customer would say it. A message that mentions where they found you ("I saw your Instagram post") also tells you which channel is working.

Where to use your WhatsApp link

• Website: on a "Chat with us" button, in the header and next to your contact details.
• Instagram and Facebook: in your bio or profile link, and as the button link on your Page.
• Google Business Profile and listings: as the website or appointment link where the listing allows one. Check the platform's current rules for which fields accept messaging links.
• Email signature and invoices: a tap-to-chat line under your name.
• Ads: the destination for ads that should open a WhatsApp chat. Meta's click-to-WhatsApp ads have their own setup, covered in our guide to click-to-WhatsApp ads in India.
• Print: turn the same link into a QR code with our WhatsApp QR code generator.

Make one link for each place you use it

A single link on every page tells you nothing about where customers come from. Make a separate link for each place, with a different pre-filled message, such as "Hi, I came from your website" and "Hi, I saw your Instagram". When the chats arrive, the first line tells you the source. For a step-by-step setup with tracking built in, see the guide to QR codes and links with tracking.

wa.me link not working? Check these

• The number has a plus sign, spaces or a leading zero. Remove them.
• The country code is missing. A bare 10-digit number needs 91 in front.
• The number is not on WhatsApp. The link can only open a chat with a number that has a WhatsApp account.
• The message is not encoded. A raw ampersand or hash sign cuts the text short.
• WhatsApp is not installed. On a phone without it, the link shows a page that offers to install it. On a computer it opens WhatsApp Web or the desktop app.

wa.me vs api.whatsapp.com/send

Both open the same chat. The older form is https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=919876543210&text=...; the shorter wa.me form is the one WhatsApp documents for click to chat. Use wa.me unless a tool asks for the other.

When you outgrow a plain link

A link only opens a chat. Once enquiries start coming in, you need somewhere your whole team can answer them, an automatic reply for the hours you are closed, and a record of each lead. That is what a WhatsApp CRM is for. Responseify gives you a shared team inbox, AI auto-reply, broadcasts and a sales pipeline on the official WhatsApp Business API, with a free forever plan to start. You can create tracked links and QR codes inside it, as explained in the Help Center.

Sources

• WhatsApp, How to use click to chat: the link format, the country-code rule and the pre-filled text parameter.