WhatsApp link generator: make a wa.me link with a pre-filled message

The wa.me link format, explained

A WhatsApp link is https://wa.me/, then the phone number in full international format, then optionally ?text= and a URL-encoded message. WhatsApp’s click to chat help page documents this format and asks you to leave out any zeroes, brackets and dashes, so https://wa.me/1XXXXXXXXXX works and https://wa.me/+001-(XXX)XXXXXXX does not.

The customer doesn’t need your number in their contacts. They tap the link, WhatsApp opens the chat, and the message is waiting in the text field. Nothing is sent until they tap send.

How to write your number in international format

Start with your country code and drop the 0 you dial at home. A German mobile number dialled as 015X XXXXXXX becomes 4915XXXXXXXX in the link, and a UK number dialled as 07XXX XXXXXX becomes 447XXXXXXXXX. The generator does this when you pick a country, and it keeps the 0 for Italy, where numbers keep it after the country code.

If you sell in several countries, use one number for the link and keep it the same everywhere, so customers always reach the same chat. Your country code is the code of the number itself, not of the country your customers are in.

How the pre-filled message is encoded

Links can’t contain spaces or some symbols, so the message is URL-encoded: each special character becomes a % code. If you build a link by hand, an unencoded & starts a new URL parameter and an unencoded # starts a page fragment, so the message stops at that character. The generator encodes everything for you.

Any language works: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and more. Accented letters, non-Latin scripts and emoji take more characters once encoded, so a long message in Greek or Arabic makes a long link. That doesn’t matter for a link, but it does for a QR code, which gets denser as the link grows.

Where to use your WhatsApp link

Put the link where customers have questions before they buy, and pre-fill a message that tells you where they came from.

• Your Shopify store. Paste it into a menu item, a button or the footer in your theme editor. For a floating button, a popup and a newsletter signup, use the Whapi WhatsApp chat button for Shopify.
• Social profiles. Add it to your Instagram, Facebook and TikTok bios with a message such as “Hi, I found you on Instagram”.
• Emails and invoices. A “Questions about your order? Chat with us on WhatsApp” line in order emails gives customers a fast way to reach you.
• Printed material. Packaging inserts, flyers and shop counters need a code to scan. Make one with the free WhatsApp QR code generator.
• Facebook and Instagram ads. Use Meta’s Click to WhatsApp ads instead of a plain link. If your number is on the WhatsApp Business API and you reply within 24 hours to a chat that started from one of these ads, Meta opens a free entry point window of up to 7 days in which your messages to that customer are free.

A WhatsApp link vs the WhatsApp Business API

A wa.me link only opens a chat: the customer writes first, and nothing is sent automatically. To message customers when something happens in your store, such as a new order, an abandoned cart or a shipped parcel, you need the WhatsApp Business API. Whapi, a Shopify app for WhatsApp automation, connects your store to it.

When a customer writes to you from your link, your replies within 24 hours of their last message are service messages, and Meta gives each business phone number 1,000 free service messages per month. Outside that window you need a template. A WhatsApp order confirmation sent as a Utility template costs $0.0550 in Germany and $0.0220 in the United Kingdom (Meta rates checked October 20, 2026). See every country on the WhatsApp API pricing page, and read how to keep your phone app with WhatsApp coexistence.

Why a WhatsApp link isn’t working

Most broken links have a formatting problem in the number or a message that wasn’t encoded.

• The number has a +, 00, a leading 0, spaces or dashes. wa.me expects digits only, starting with the country code. Generate the link again above.
• The country code is missing. Without it, WhatsApp reads the number as a different one or can’t find it.
• The number isn’t on WhatsApp. Click to chat only works for numbers with an active WhatsApp account. Check the number in WhatsApp itself.
• The message is cut off. An & or # was typed into the link by hand. Use the encoded version from the generator.
• It opens WhatsApp Web on a computer. That is expected: click to chat works on phones and on WhatsApp Web.
• You use an older api.whatsapp.com link. WhatsApp’s help center documents the wa.me format, so use it for new links.