Create a WhatsApp chat QR code
A scan opens WhatsApp on your number, first message optional.
Your code appears here.
Underneath, this is an ordinary link code. It encodes a wa.me address, which is the click-to-chat service WhatsApp themselves run, and the phone hands that link to the installed app instead of the browser. What the person scanning sees is the chat with you, open and waiting, with no number to save first and no scrolling through contacts to find you.
Getting the number right
- Give the number in full international format with the country code, but without the plus sign and without the leading zero.
- Paste it however you have it stored. Spaces, dashes and brackets are stripped out for you.
- The prefilled message is optional, and it is sent only when the person scanning presses send.
- Keep any prefilled message short and worth sending unchanged, such as a table number or an order reference.
- Test the finished code on a phone that does not already have your number saved.
Who prints these
Restaurants put one on each table so an order arrives as a message with the table number already in it. Small shops print one beside the till for questions after the sale. Support desks add one to a delivery note with the order reference prefilled, which means the first message already says which order it is about. Market stalls and pop-ups use them instead of chalking a number on a board, where one digit gets misread and the enquiry goes to a stranger.
The number is turned into a link and encoded on your device. Nothing is registered with WhatsApp, no account is created and nothing is uploaded here, so this page has no idea whose number it is or how many people ever scan the result.
Frequently asked questions
No. The wa.me link is encoded in the image, so it keeps working for as long as the number is active on WhatsApp. There is nothing to renew and no expiry date.
No. It is used only inside this browser tab to assemble the link, and the pattern is drawn locally. Nothing is uploaded, to us or to WhatsApp.
No. The one in the app adds you as a contact and can be reset from your settings. This one is a plain link that opens a chat, which is why it also works printed on a poster for somebody who has never had your number.
The link opens in their browser and WhatsApp offers a download page rather than a chat. Nothing breaks, but the conversation does not start, so keep a phone number or email visible as well.