How to Create a WhatsApp Link (With a Pre-filled Message)

To create a WhatsApp link, write https://wa.me/ followed by the full phone number in international format, digits only: country code first, no plus sign, no spaces, no dashes, no leading zero. To add a pre-filled message, append ?text= and the URL-encoded message. So a Buenos Aires mobile becomes https://wa.me/5491123456789. The fastest way to get it right is our free WhatsApp link generator: type the number and message, copy the link. It's 100% free and runs right in your browser. You can use it without an account, and a free account gives you unlimited use.

The format is the easy part. Most broken WhatsApp links fail because of how the number was written, so this guide spends most of its time on that, with real outputs from the generator.

What a WhatsApp link looks like

WhatsApp calls this feature click to chat. Its help center gives two official formats:

• https://wa.me/<number> opens a chat with that number. The person doesn't need to be saved in your contacts, but the number must have an active WhatsApp account.
• https://wa.me/<number>?text=<urlencodedtext> opens the chat with your message already typed in the text box. The visitor still has to press send.

There's also a third variant: https://wa.me/?text=<urlencodedtext> with no number. It opens the message and lets the person choose who to send it to, which is how share buttons work.

When you open a wa.me link, it simply forwards to WhatsApp's own send page. We requested https://wa.me/5491123456789?text=Hola%0Achau this week and got a 302 redirect to https://api.whatsapp.com/send/?phone=5491123456789&text=Hola%0Achau&type=phone_number&app_absent=0. That 302 is a temporary redirect; our guide to 301 vs 302 redirects explains what the codes mean.

How to create a WhatsApp link, step by step

1. Write the number in international format. Country code, then the national number without its leading 0 or any local mobile prefix. Details for common countries are in the next section.
2. Open the WhatsApp link generator and type the number as digits only, for example 5491123456789.
3. Type your pre-filled message (optional). Line breaks, accents, emoji and WhatsApp formatting such as *bold* all work.
4. Click outside the message box. The link updates when a field loses focus, so do this before copying.
5. Copy the link and test it on a phone that doesn't already have a chat with that number, then on a computer with WhatsApp Web.
6. Put it where people will tap it: a website button, your Instagram or TikTok bio, an email signature, a Google Business profile or a printed QR code.

Get the phone number right (this is where links break)

WhatsApp's instructions are short: use the full international number and omit any zeros, brackets or dashes. In practice that means removing everything you'd dial inside the country and adding the country code instead. Here's how some common numbers convert:

(These are example numbers, not real contacts.)

Argentina and Mexico have special rules

WhatsApp's help page on international numbers says that every Argentine number needs a 9 between the country code 54 and the area code, and the local mobile prefix 15 must be removed, giving 13 digits in total. So 011 15-2345-6789 becomes 54 9 11 2345 6789, or 5491123456789 in the link. Leaving out the 9 is the single most common reason Argentine WhatsApp links fail.

The same page says Mexican numbers need a 1 after the country code 52. Many Mexican numbers also open without it, so if a link to a Mexican number shows the not-on-WhatsApp error, test the other version before giving up.

Worked example: what the generator does with messy input

The generator's phone field is a number field, and the browser decides what it accepts. We typed these into it in Chrome:

Typed: +33 6 12 34 56 78    -> https://wa.me/33612345678   (works)
Typed: +54 9 11 2345-6789   -> https://wa.me/NaN           (broken)
Typed: (11) 98765-4321      -> https://wa.me/NaN           (broken)
Typed: 015123456789         -> https://wa.me/15123456789   (wrong person)
Typed: 09876543210          -> https://wa.me/9876543210    (wrong person)

Plus signs and spaces were dropped harmlessly, but a dash or a bracket empties the field and the link ends in NaN. The last two are worse because they look fine. A German number typed with its leading 0 and no country code turns into 15123456789, which starts with 1, the country code for the US and Canada. The Indian number without 91 starts with 98, which is Iran's country code. Always start with the country code and you avoid both traps.

Add a pre-filled message

A pre-filled message tells the customer what to send and tells you where they came from. Type it normally; the generator encodes it with the same rules WhatsApp's examples use (spaces become %20).

Worked example: a booking link

Phone:   5491123456789
Message: Hi! I'd like to book a table for 2
Link:    https://wa.me/5491123456789?text=Hi!%20I'd%20like%20to%20book%20a%20table%20for%202

Worked example: a multi-line order with bold text

Phone:   5491123456789
Message: *Order #1042*
         2 x Empanadas de carne
         Pickup: 20:30
Link:    https://wa.me/5491123456789?text=*Order%20%231042*%0A2%20x%20Empanadas%20de%20carne%0APickup%3A%2020%3A30

Notice what had to be encoded: each line break became %0A, the # became %23 and the colons became %3A. If the # were left raw, everything after it would be read as a page anchor and the message would be cut off at Order. An & left raw causes the same kind of truncation, which is why hand-built links so often arrive half-empty. The asterisks stay as they are, and WhatsApp shows the first line in bold.

Accents and emoji are safe too. Olá! Quero fazer um pedido 🍕 came out as Ol%C3%A1!%20Quero%20fazer%20um%20pedido%20%F0%9F%8D%95, and pasting that back into our URL decoder returned the original sentence, pizza included.

Encoding by hand? Know about the plus sign

If you encode a message yourself with a general URL encoder, you may get form-style encoding where spaces become +. Our encoder turned Order #1042 & pickup at 20:30? into Order+%231042+%26+pickup+at+20%3A30%3F. For WhatsApp links, stick with the generator, which writes spaces as %20 exactly like WhatsApp's own documentation.

Test the link before you share it

• On a phone: tap it from a note or a message to yourself. The chat should open with the right name or number and your text in the box.
• On a computer: open it in a browser. This is the best check of all, because WhatsApp's page prints the number it understood. Our test link showed Chat on WhatsApp with +54 9 11 2345-6789, the message underneath, and two buttons: Open app and Continue to WhatsApp Web. If the country code shown there is wrong, so is your link.
• Read the error: if WhatsApp says the number isn't on WhatsApp, check the country code, then the Argentina and Mexico rules, then the leading zero.
• Printed QR codes: after making the QR code in any QR generator, upload the image to our QR code reader and compare the result with your link character by character. We tested a QR code of https://wa.me/5491123456789?text=Hola%2C%20quiero%20reservar%20una%20mesa and the reader returned exactly that URL, so you know the print matches. If the reader says No data found for a code you know is fine, export the image at a different size or crop it close to the code and try again; two of our test codes only read after we re-exported them smaller.

Where to use your WhatsApp link

• Website button: <a href="https://wa.me/5491123456789">Chat on WhatsApp</a>. Give each page its own message (for example a product name) and you'll know which page sent the chat.
• Social bios: paste it into the website or link field of your Instagram, TikTok or Facebook profile.
• Email signatures and invoices: offer WhatsApp next to email. Our mailto link generator builds the email equivalent, with subject and body.
• Campaigns: UTM tags added to a wa.me link never reach Google Analytics, because the click doesn't land on your site. Tag the landing page that holds the button instead, using the UTM link generator. Our UTM guide for GA4 shows how to name campaigns.

Sending links to a list of customers? Clean the list first with the duplicate lines remover; our guide to cleaning up lists covers the hidden duplicates that trailing spaces create.

Common mistakes

• Keeping the plus sign, zeros or dashes in the URL. WhatsApp's own don't-use example is https://wa.me/+001-(XXX)XXXXXXX.
• Forgetting the country code, which can silently point the link at a stranger in another country.
• Using an unencoded message, so it gets cut off at the first # or &.
• Linking a number that isn't on WhatsApp, such as a landline that was never registered with WhatsApp Business.
• Treating click to chat as anonymous. Anyone with the link can see and save your number, so use a business number for public pages.

Ready to make yours? Open the WhatsApp link generator, enter the number with its country code and your message, and copy the link. Like every tool on My Botsy, it's free to use, with unlimited use on a free account.

Frequently asked questions

How do I create a WhatsApp link for my number?

Use https://wa.me/ followed by your full number in international format, digits only, such as https://wa.me/5491123456789. The free My Botsy WhatsApp link generator builds it for you and encodes any message.

How do I add a message to a WhatsApp link?

Add ?text= and the URL-encoded message after the number. Spaces become %20 and line breaks become %0A. The message appears in the chat box, and the person still taps send.

Why does my WhatsApp link say the number is not on WhatsApp?

Usually the country code is missing, a leading 0 was kept, or an Argentine number lacks the 9 after 54. It also happens when the number has no WhatsApp account.

Can I make a WhatsApp link without a phone number?

Yes. https://wa.me/?text= followed by an encoded message opens WhatsApp with the text ready and lets the person pick a contact. This is how share buttons work.

Does a WhatsApp link work on a computer?

Yes. In a desktop browser the link opens a WhatsApp page showing the number and message, with buttons to open the desktop app or continue to WhatsApp Web.

Is the WhatsApp link generator free?

Yes. It's completely free. Without an account you get 5 uses a day (up to 20 in 30 days), and a free account gives you unlimited use. Type the number and message and the link appears right away.