How to make a WhatsApp QR code that opens a chat with your business
A WhatsApp QR code is a QR code of a click to chat link: https://wa.me/ followed by your full phone number in international format, with no plus sign, spaces, dashes or leading zero. When a customer scans it, WhatsApp opens a chat with you, without saving your number first. Make it as a static code, so it holds the link itself and keeps working for as long as the number does: no account, no trial and no company in between. Scan it with an iPhone and an Android phone before you print it.
Step 1: write your number in international format
Our generator writes the number for you (step 3), but it helps to know the format. WhatsApp's help page on how to use click to chat says the number must be the full number in international format, without zeros, brackets or dashes. In practice:
- Start with your country code: 44 for the UK, 1 for the US and Canada, 972 for Israel.
- Add your number without the first 0, if it has one.
- Remove the plus sign, spaces, dashes and brackets.
| Number as you write it | In the link | Full link |
|---|---|---|
| 07700 900123 (UK) | 447700900123 | https://wa.me/447700900123 |
| (555) 010-0123 (US) | 15550100123 | https://wa.me/15550100123 |
| 050-123-4567 (Israel) | 972501234567 | https://wa.me/972501234567 |
Open the link on your own phone first. If WhatsApp opens a chat with your business, the number is right. If it says the number is not on WhatsApp, check the country code and the zero.
Step 2 (optional): add a ready-made message
The chat can open with a message already typed, for example to show that the customer came from your menu or your shop window. The customer still taps send, and can change the text first.
In the link, the message follows ?text= and must be URL-encoded: each space becomes %20, and punctuation, emoji and letters outside the Latin alphabet become longer codes. Our generator does this for you. If you build the link by hand, I want to book a table
becomes:
https://wa.me/447700900123?text=I%20want%20to%20book%20a%20table
Keep the message to a sentence: a long message makes the code denser and harder to scan.
Step 3: make the QR code
- Open our QR code generator and choose WhatsApp chat.
- Enter your number with the country code, for example
+44 7700 900123. The generator removes the plus sign, spaces and dashes and writes thewa.melink. - If you want, type a ready-made message. The generator encodes it into the link, in any language.
- Download the PNG for screens and the SVG for print. The generator is free, needs no sign-up, makes only static codes, and nothing you type leaves your device.
- Test it. Scan the code with an iPhone camera and an Android camera, from the screen and from a test print. Check that the phone shows
wa.meand your number, that WhatsApp opens the right chat, and that the message, if you added one, appears in full.
Avoid generators that offer a special WhatsApp QR code
behind a sign-up. Many of them make a dynamic code, a short link to their own server, which stops working when the free trial ends. Our guide explains why free QR codes stop working.
Step 4: print and place it
- Print it dark on a light background, at least 2 cm (about 0.8 inches) wide, with an empty margin around it. On a sign people scan from a distance, make it larger.
- Write what the code does next to it, for example
Order on WhatsApp
and your number, so customers know what to expect and can type the number if the scan fails. - Good places: the counter, the shop window, menus, delivery bags and boxes, business cards, invoices and flyers.
The QR codes inside WhatsApp
WhatsApp also makes QR codes of its own. They work, but they are not the same as a wa.me link to your number:
| Code | What it does | What can stop it working |
|---|---|---|
| A wa.me link to your number, made by you | Opens a chat with your number, with an optional ready-made message | Only a change of number |
| The QR code in WhatsApp's settings | Lets people add you as a contact | Resetting the code, or deleting the account |
| WhatsApp Business short link and QR code | Opens a chat with the business, with an optional default message | Resetting the link, changing the business username, or deleting the account |
WhatsApp's help pages say you can reset your QR code to make the old one invalid, and that a WhatsApp Business QR code does not expire unless you reset it or delete the account. That is useful if a code was shared with the wrong people, and a problem if the code is printed on a thousand bags. Whoever manages the business phone should know not to reset a printed code.
If you use WhatsApp Business, its short link is another way to add a default message: in the app, look for the short link under the business tools, set a default message, and use the link or the QR code it gives you. Scan it before you print, as with any other code.
Safety: for you and for your customers
- Never scan a QR code someone sends you to
verify
orlink
your WhatsApp. The code that links WhatsApp on a computer is scanned only from inside the app, under linked devices, and only from a screen you opened yourself. If you scan one that a stranger sent you, their computer gets your chats. Check your linked devices from time to time and log out of any you do not recognise. - Watch for stickers over your code. A scammer can stick a code to a fake chat or page over yours. Check your printed codes now and then. Writing your number next to the code also lets customers notice a mismatch.
- For customers: before you open a scanned code, look at the address. A business chat starts with
wa.meorapi.whatsapp.com. Our Android app SafeScan QR shows the address in the code and where its redirects end before you open it, and our guide to fake QR codes covers the rest.
Questions and answers
Is a WhatsApp QR code free?
Yes. The wa.me link is a free WhatsApp feature, and a static QR code of it costs nothing and needs no subscription. You only pay for printing.
Does a WhatsApp QR code expire?
A static code of a wa.me link does not expire. It stops working only if the number leaves WhatsApp. A dynamic code from a generator's trial can stop at any time, and WhatsApp's own codes stop when they are reset.
Why does the code open WhatsApp but say the number is not on WhatsApp?
The number in the link is written wrong. The usual causes are a missing country code, a leading 0 that was not removed, or a plus sign, space or dash left in.
Can a QR code open a WhatsApp group?
Yes. In the group's info, a group admin can copy the group invite link and make a QR code of it. Anyone who scans it can ask to join, so use it only where you would share the invite link itself, and reset the link if it spreads further than you wanted.
Will the customer see my phone number?
Yes. The number is in the link, and the chat opens with your number. If that is a problem, use a separate business number for the code.
Does the customer need to save my number first?
No. That is the point of a click to chat link: the chat opens without saving the contact.