How to send a group message on WhatsApp, step by step

To send a group message on WhatsApp, create a group and post in it: tap New chat, then New group, choose the people, name the group and send your message. Everyone in the group, up to 1,024 members, sees it and every reply. To reach people privately instead, use a broadcast list, or forward one message to up to five chats.

Below are the steps on Android, iPhone and WhatsApp Web, checked against WhatsApp's help centre on 8 October 2026. After them: quicker ways to start a group, what to do when someone can't be added, how to keep a message in front of everyone, and when a broadcast list, a forward or a community announcement fits better.

How do I create a WhatsApp group and send a message?

A group suits people who should all see the message and each other's replies: a family, a team, a class, a residents' committee. On Android:

1. 1In the Chats tab, tap New chat (the speech bubble with a plus sign), then New group.
2. 2Search for or select the people to add, or add them later, then tap the arrow. A contact who doesn't have WhatsApp is sent an SMS invite instead.
3. 3Type a group name of up to 100 characters. If you like, add an icon, turn on disappearing messages (24 hours, 7 days or 90 days) and open Group permissions.
4. 4Tap the tick to create the group, then type your message and tap Send.

On iPhone:

1. 1Tap New chat (the plus sign in a circle), then New group.
2. 2Select the people to add, then tap Next.
3. 3Tap Group name (optional) and type up to 100 characters. Set an icon, disappearing messages or Group permissions if you need them.
4. 4Tap Create, then type your message and send it.

On WhatsApp Web:

1. 1Click New chat, then New group.
2. 2Search for or select the people to add, then click the arrow.
3. 3Add a group name (optional), an icon, disappearing messages or Group permissions, then click the tick.
4. 4Type your message and send it.

Leave the name blank and the group is named with a list of its members. On iPhone, some names won't appear when you pick people until WhatsApp has full access to your contacts: open the phone's Settings, tap WhatsApp, then Contacts.

Quicker ways to start a group

• From a group you already have: open it, tap the group name to open Group info, then tap Create Similar Group. Untick anyone to leave out, add others from your contacts, and tap Create group. WhatsApp announced this in August 2026, and its help centre gives the steps for Android and iPhone; update the app if you can't see it.
• From a one-to-one chat, on Android: open the chat, tap More options (the three dots), then New group.
• With an invite link or QR code: open the group, tap its name, then Invite via link or QR code, and share it. Admins can always do this. In groups with fewer than 33 members, everyone else can too, unless an admin turns that off.

Anyone holding an invite link can join and pass it on, so share it only with people you trust. If it leaks, an admin can reset it from the same screen; the old link stops working and can't be restored.

Why can't I add someone to my WhatsApp group?

Adding someone doesn't show them what was posted before they joined. Whoever adds them can choose to send message history: up to 100 messages from the last 14 days. Admins can stop members doing that with the Send message history switch in Group permissions. Message history for new members has the steps, and what history leaves out.

How do I make sure everyone sees the message?

• Pin it. Tap and hold the message, then tap Pin (on Android it sits under More options; on WhatsApp Web, open the message's menu), and choose 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days. A chat holds up to four pinned messages. In a group, members can pin only while Edit group settings is on in Group permissions.
• Stop it being buried. If you're an admin, tap the group name, then Group permissions, and turn off Send new messages: members still read everything, and only admins can post. Turn it back on when the discussion should start.
• Mention everyone when it's urgent. Type @all and tap the suggestion. In groups of more than 32 members only admins can use it, and every member can mute it, so save it for news that can't wait. How @all works covers when it is worth it.
• Correct mistakes in place. You can edit a text message for 15 minutes after sending, but the edit sends no new notification, and photos and videos can't be edited. Delete for everyone works for two days, and the message is replaced with "This message was deleted".

A pin is a banner for the people already in the group. Someone who joins later doesn't see a message pinned before they arrived, so repeat anything new members need in the group description or in the history you send them.

How do I send one message to many people privately?

Use a broadcast list. Each person receives your message as an ordinary one-to-one chat from you, nobody sees who else got it, and replies come back to you alone. As of October 2026, WhatsApp's help centre sets these rules:

• Up to 256 contacts per list, and as many lists as you like.
• Only people who have saved your number in their phone's contacts receive it. If someone never gets your broadcasts, ask them to save your number.
• Lists are made and sent from the phone app only, not WhatsApp Web, Windows or Mac.
• In some countries a monthly limit is rolling out: up to 35 free broadcast messages a month. Where it applies, Settings, then Broadcasts shows your limit, and WhatsApp warns you as you near it.

On Android:

1. 1In the Chats tab, tap More options (the three dots), then Broadcast lists.
2. 2Start a new list, select the contacts and tap the tick.
3. 3Open the list, type your message and send it like any chat.

On iPhone:

1. 1Tap Settings or your profile picture, then Broadcast messages, then New List.
2. 2Select the contacts, then tap Create.
3. 3Open the list, type your message and send it.

How do I send the same message to a few chats at once?

Forward it. Send the message in one chat first, then:

1. 1Tap and hold the message; on WhatsApp Web, open the message's menu. Select more messages if you want to send several.
2. 2Tap or click Forward.
3. 3Choose up to five chats or groups.
4. 4Tap Send (on iPhone, Forward).

Your own messages go out with no label. A message someone else wrote shows Forwarded, and then only one of the five chats can be a group. Once a message has been forwarded through a chain of five or more chats, it is labelled Forwarded many times and goes to one chat at a time.

How do I message several groups at once?

If you run several related groups, link them in a community. Every member is added to its Announcements group, where only community admins can post, so one message reaches all of them. A community links up to 100 groups and holds up to 2,000 people in total, its groups included. Members can reply and react to an announcement, but they can't leave the Announcements group without leaving the community.

Create one on the regular WhatsApp app, since the Business app can't: in the Chats tab, tap New chat, then New community, then Get started. On WhatsApp Web, click New chat, then New community.

Group vs broadcast list vs community: which should you use?

Sending the same message to many groups every week

Forwarding five at a time stops being practical once a notice has to reach dozens of groups on a schedule. A WavesFlo group campaign posts one message into each group you choose, from numbers that are already members, paced across those numbers and with an approval step if someone should sign it off. Sending one message to multiple WhatsApp groups walks through it step by step.

Timing matters as much as reach. WavesFlo shows each group's busiest hours in your timezone, with delivery and read rates for every group on its own, so the post goes out when members are reading. See group insights.