How do I create a WhatsApp link with a pre-filled message?
Enter the phone number in international format, type an optional message, and click Generate. You get a link of the form https://wa.me/<number>?text=<message>. Anyone who taps it opens a WhatsApp chat with that number, with your message already typed in the box and ready to send. They don't need to save your number as a contact first.
WhatsApp calls this feature "click to chat" and describes it in its help article How to use click to chat. The number has to be a full international number with no +, spaces, brackets or dashes, and the message is added as a URL-encoded text parameter.
Steps
- Type the number, including the country code, in the Phone number box. Formatting characters are fine.
- Optionally type the message in Pre-filled message.
- Click Generate and copy the link.
- Test it by opening it on your own phone before you publish it anywhere.
Getting the number right
The tool removes every character that isn't a digit, then checks the result. That makes it forgiving about formatting while still catching the dialling-prefix mistakes that would produce a dead link:
| You type | Link | Correct? |
|---|---|---|
+44 7700 900123 |
https://wa.me/447700900123 |
Yes |
07700 900123 |
No link: "This looks like a local number (it starts with 0)..." | Add the country code instead of the 0 |
0044 7700 900123 |
https://wa.me/447700900123 |
Yes: the 00 prefix is dropped |
+44 (0)7700 900123 |
https://wa.me/447700900123 |
Yes: the bracketed (0) is dropped |
+1 (415) 555-2671 |
https://wa.me/14155552671 |
Yes |
+91 98765 43210 |
https://wa.me/919876543210 |
Yes |
+61 491 570 156 |
https://wa.me/61491570156 |
Yes |
The rule of thumb: write the number the way it would look after a + in the international E.164 format used worldwide, which is country code plus national number and at most 15 digits. Many countries drop a leading 0 from the national number when it follows a country code (the UK, Australia, India and others), so 07700... becomes 447700.... The tool enforces the basics of that format: more than 15 digits, or fewer than 7, gives an error, and input with no digits at all gives "Enter a phone number in international format".
The number also has to be registered on WhatsApp. If it isn't, the link opens WhatsApp but the chat can't be started.
The pre-filled message
The message is encoded with JavaScript's encodeURIComponent. For example, the number +44 7700 900123 with the message "Hi, is the blue bike still for sale? 🚲" produces:
https://wa.me/447700900123?text=Hi%2C%20is%20the%20blue%20bike%20still%20for%20sale%3F%20%F0%9F%9A%B2
The emoji becomes four percent-encoded bytes, which WhatsApp decodes back into the bicycle. Characters such as !, ', ( and ) are left as they are, which is valid in a URL. If you need to read an existing link's message, the URL decoder turns it back into plain text.
Keep the message short and editable. It's a starting point the customer can change before sending, so phrase it from their point of view: "Hi, I'd like to book a table for Friday" works better than marketing copy.
Where to put the link
- Website buttons. A "Chat on WhatsApp" button on a contact page.
- Social profiles. Instagram, TikTok and X bios accept a plain link.
- Email signatures and invoices.
- Printed material. Turn the link into a scannable code with the QR code generator; a short message keeps the code less dense.
If you want people to share a page to their own WhatsApp contacts rather than message you, that's a different kind of link; the share link generator builds those for WhatsApp and other networks.
What the tool doesn't do
Beyond the 7 to 15 digit range, it doesn't check whether the number exists, whether it's on WhatsApp, or whether its length is right for that particular country. It makes no network request, and the link is never shortened or tracked: what you see is exactly what people will tap. Business features like catalogues, automatic replies or API messaging need the WhatsApp Business app or platform, not a link.
Quick checklist
- Country code present, not a local number starting with
0. - Message reads well and fits on a phone screen.
- Link opened and tested on a real phone.
- If printed, QR code scanned from the distance people will use.
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