Nithya, a tailor in Madurai, types her number as 098765 43210 and adds a message for her Instagram bio. Which chat does her link open?
+91 98765 43210the chat her link opens, with the message ready
- She typed
- 098765 43210
- Link
- wa.me/919876543210?text=…
- Message
- Typed in, ready to send
A WhatsApp link is https://wa.me/ followed by your full number in international format: the country code and number together, with no +, no zero in front, no spaces or dashes. Add ?text= and a message to have it typed in for the customer. An Indian number 098765 43210 becomes wa.me/919876543210.
Try your own numbers- The link format is wa.me/ + country code + number, all digits: no +, no leading zero, no spaces.
- ?text= adds a ready message; spaces and symbols must be encoded, which a generator does for you.
- Use one link everywhere people find you: website, Instagram bio, Google Business Profile and a printed QR.
- Use WhatsApp’s own green or white button as it is: Meta’s brand rules say not to change the logo’s colours.
- Anyone with the link can see your number, so use a business number you are happy to share.
A customer finds your shop on Instagram and wants to ask a price. If she has to save your number, open WhatsApp, search for you and type “Hi”, many people simply give up. A WhatsApp link removes all of that: one tap, and a chat with you opens, often with the first message already written.
This guide shows how to make a WhatsApp link with your number and a message, how the number must be written for any country, where to put the link (website, Instagram bio, Google Business Profile, a printed QR code), the official button, and the small mistakes that break it. The WhatsApp link generator beside the guide follows along, so you can make your own link as you read.
How to create a WhatsApp link for my number
WhatsApp calls this click to chat. The link is written like this:
https://wa.me/ + your full number in international format
International format means your country code and number together, as digits only. WhatsApp’s help page says to leave out the plus sign, any zero in front of the number, brackets and dashes.
Take Nithya, who runs a tailoring shop in Madurai. She writes her mobile number the way people in India often do, 098765 43210. For the link:
- Start with India’s country code, 91.
- Drop the 0 in front: 98765 43210.
- Remove the space: 9876543210.
- Put them together: wa.me/919876543210.
The link works with a normal WhatsApp number and with WhatsApp Business. You don’t need an app, an account or any code. If you want a free business profile, catalogue and quick replies on the same number, see our guide to WhatsApp Business for shops.
How to make a WhatsApp link with a message
Add ?text= after the number, then the message. When someone taps the link, WhatsApp opens the chat with that message typed in. They can change it, then press send.
A link can’t hold spaces or some symbols as they are, so they are “encoded”: a space becomes %20, an & becomes %26, and so on. You don’t need to do that by hand. The generator does it, and it works for Tamil, Hindi, emoji and every other language.
A ready message also tells you where the customer came from. Nithya uses a different message in each place:
| Where | Ready message |
|---|---|
| Instagram bio | Hi Nithya! I saw your Instagram. I want a blouse stitched. |
| QR at the counter | Hi! I saw the QR at your shop. Is my order ready? |
| Website | Hello! I’d like a quote for school uniforms. |
When a chat starts with “I saw your Instagram”, she knows her bio is working.
Keep the message short. A long message makes a long link and a crowded, harder-to-scan QR code.
The right format for any country
The rule is the same everywhere: country code, then the number without its first zero. A few examples:
| Country | Number as people write it | In the link |
|---|---|---|
| India | 098765 43210 | wa.me/919876543210 |
| United Kingdom | 07700 900123 | wa.me/447700900123 |
| United Arab Emirates | 050 123 4567 | wa.me/971501234567 |
These are made-up example numbers. The mistakes that most often stop a link from opening the right chat:
- A plus sign in the link: wa.me/+919876543210.
- The zero kept after the country code: wa.me/9109876543210.
- Spaces, dashes or brackets left in.
- The country code missing, so the number is read as some other country’s.
91 India’s country code, written without the +
0 zeros in front of the number in the link
1 tap to test the link on your own phone
How to add a WhatsApp link to Instagram, Google and your website
Make the link once, then use it everywhere people find you:
- Instagram or Facebook bio. Paste the link into your profile’s links. Add a short “Message us on WhatsApp” line so people know what it opens.
- Google Business Profile. In Edit profile, Contact, Chat, Google lets some businesses choose WhatsApp and paste a click-to-chat link. Google says this is available in select regions only, so it may not show for you yet. Our Google Business Profile guide covers the rest of the profile.
- Your website. A “Chat on WhatsApp” button on the contact page, or a small one in a corner of every page.
- Print. The same link as a QR code on your counter, menu, delivery box or visiting card. Phones read it with the normal camera.
Make one link, test it once, and put it everywhere a customer might have a question.
The official “Chat on WhatsApp” button
WhatsApp offers ready Chat on WhatsApp buttons in green and white, and asks businesses to use them as they are. Meta’s brand rules also say not to change the colours of WhatsApp’s logos or mix the logo with your own.
So it is tempting to recolour the logo to match your brand, but don’t: use the green or the white version. The generator’s website button keeps WhatsApp’s own look, in small, medium or large, floating in a corner or inside the page. It is a single link with its style written in, so it works on WordPress, Wix, Shopify or plain HTML without a plugin. If you’d rather have us build the whole site, our website service starts from ₹7,999.
Privacy: anyone with the link has your number
The number is written in the link itself, so anyone who sees the link can see your number, and anyone can save it. That is fine for a shop, but think before you put a personal number on a public page or poster.
- Use a separate business number if you can.
- WhatsApp Business lets you set away messages for closed hours.
- A link only opens a chat. It doesn’t send anything by itself, and a generator that works on your device never sees your chats.
Before you share the link anywhere, tap it once on your own phone. If the chat opens with your shop’s name, you are ready.
Questions
How do I create a WhatsApp link for my number?
Write https://wa.me/ followed by your country code and number as digits only, with no plus sign, no zero in front and no spaces. For India, 098765 43210 becomes wa.me/919876543210. The WhatsApp link generator does this for you.
How do I make a WhatsApp link with a message?
Add ?text= after the number, followed by your message encoded for a link (a space becomes %20). The chat then opens with the message typed in. A generator encodes it for you, in any language.
Can I create a WhatsApp link without showing my number?
No. A click-to-chat link always carries the number, so anyone who sees it can read it. If you don’t want to share a personal number, use a separate business number.
How do I add a WhatsApp link in my Instagram bio?
Copy your wa.me link, open Edit profile on Instagram and add it as a link. A short line like “Message us on WhatsApp” next to it tells people what the link does.
Why does my WhatsApp link not open the chat?
Usually the number is written wrong: a plus sign, the zero kept in front, spaces, or a missing country code. It also won’t open a chat if that number isn’t on WhatsApp. Test the link on your phone.
Can I change the colour of the WhatsApp button?
It is best not to. WhatsApp asks businesses to use its green or white Chat on WhatsApp button unchanged, and Meta’s brand rules say not to modify the logo’s colours.
Can I make a WhatsApp link for a group?
Groups use their own invite link, made inside WhatsApp from the group’s info screen. A wa.me link always opens a chat with one number, not a group.
Sources
Checked 28 Oct 2026WAHow to use click to chat · WhatsApp Help Center2026
The wa.me link format, the full number in international format without +, zeros, brackets or dashes, ?text= for a ready message, a link with no number, and the green and white Chat on WhatsApp buttons to use unaltered. The page loads with a script; we read it in a browser and through a search summary. checked 28 Oct 2026
METAWhatsApp brand resources · Meta2026
Don't modify the colours of WhatsApp's logos, don't combine the logo with other marks, and use logos only from the official brand resources. checked 28 Oct 2026
GOOGChat with customers from your Business Profile · Google Business Profile Help2026
Edit profile, Contact, Chat: choose WhatsApp and paste a click-to-chat link. Available in select regions only; if text messages are also added, only those show. checked 28 Oct 2026
WATIHow to create WhatsApp click to chat links · WATI (secondary explainer)2026
The same format with worked examples: no plus signs, hyphens or brackets, and the message URL-encoded. A WhatsApp partner's help page, so a secondary source. checked 20 Oct 2026
Founder of Elathi, Kallakurichi. Writes our guides and builds the free tools that go with them.