Send a WhatsApp message without saving the number

To send a WhatsApp message without saving the number, open https://wa.me/ followed by the number in international format: country code first, digits only, no plus sign, spaces, brackets or dashes. WhatsApp opens the chat. Or type the number into the New chat search. Both work on Android and iPhone; the link also works on WhatsApp Web.

Below: each method step by step, how to put a ready-written message into the link, what changed in 2026 (a trust screen for unfamiliar numbers, and usernames), and what a business should know before messaging people who haven't saved its number.

Method 1: open a chat with a wa.me link

Click to chat is WhatsApp's own feature for this. It opens a chat with any number that has an active WhatsApp account, without adding it to your phone's contacts. WhatsApp's help centre is specific about the format: the full number in international format, leaving out leading zeros, brackets and dashes, and no plus sign.

1. 1Write the number in international format: the country code, then the number without any leading 0. The table below shows common cases.
2. 2Put it straight after https://wa.me/ with nothing else: no plus sign, no spaces.
3. 3Open the link on your phone. WhatsApp opens a chat with that number, and nothing is sent until you type a message and tap send.
4. 4If no chat opens, check the country code and the number of digits. The link only works for a number with an active WhatsApp account.

How do you add a pre-filled message to a wa.me link?

Add ?text= after the number, followed by your message, URL-encoded. When the chat opens, the message sits in the text box; it isn't sent until someone taps send. Encoding matters because some characters mean something in a web address:

• A space becomes %20 and a line break %0A.
• A comma becomes %2C and a question mark %3F.
• An ampersand must become %26. Left as &, it ends the message there.
• A hash must become %23, or everything after it is lost, and a plus sign %2B, or it may arrive as a space.

Number:   +91 XXXXX XXXXX
Message:  Hi, I saw your listing for the 2BHK in Baner. Is it still available?

https://wa.me/91XXXXXXXXXX?text=Hi%2C%20I%20saw%20your%20listing%20for%20the%202BHK%20in%20Baner.%20Is%20it%20still%20available%3F

Message:  Hi, I would like the fees & timetable for the May batch.
          My child is in class 9.

https://wa.me/91XXXXXXXXXX?text=Hi%2C%20I%20would%20like%20the%20fees%20%26%20timetable%20for%20the%20May%20batch.%0AMy%20child%20is%20in%20class%209.

You don't have to encode by hand. In Google Sheets, the ENCODEURL function does it, so a column of numbers and a column of messages become a column of links. To let the person choose who receives the message, leave the number out: https://wa.me/?text= followed by the encoded message opens a list of contacts to send it to.

="https://wa.me/"&B2&"?text="&ENCODEURL(A2)

Get the wording right before you encode it. The text formatter previews bold, italic, strikethrough and monospace as WhatsApp will show them.

Method 2: type the number in New chat

Since mid-2023, WhatsApp on Android and iPhone has searched beyond your contacts when you type a phone number on the New chat screen, so you can open a chat without saving anything.

1. 1Open the Chats tab and tap the new chat button: bottom right on Android, top right on iPhone.
2. 2Tap the search bar and type the number with its country code, for example +91 and the ten-digit mobile number.
3. 3If the number is on WhatsApp, it appears in the results. Tap it to open the chat.
4. 4If a screen asks whether you trust this person, check the details, then tap Continue to chat or Cancel chat.

That last screen is new in 2026. WABetaInfo reported on 24 June 2026 that WhatsApp was rolling out a warning on Android and iPhone that appears when you start a chat with a number it has no reason to trust yet, such as one you've never messaged. It shows the country the number is registered in, whether it's in your contacts and any groups you share. The other person isn't told what you chose.

Method 3: on a computer, with WhatsApp Web

WhatsApp says click-to-chat links work on WhatsApp Web as well as on phones. Open the wa.me link in the browser where you use WhatsApp Web and it leads to the chat there, which is the quickest route when the number is sitting in an email or a spreadsheet on your screen. The Windows app has a route of its own: WABetaInfo reported a Phone number option on its New chat screen in 2023.

Method 4: message yourself, then tap the link

If a number reaches you as text, in an SMS, an email or a note, your own chat is a handy place to turn it into a link without touching your address book.

1. 1In Chats, tap the new chat button, then search for or select your own name or number. That opens your chat with yourself.
2. 2Send yourself the number as a link, for example https://wa.me/91XXXXXXXXXX.
3. 3Tap the link in your own chat. WhatsApp opens a chat with that number.

The links stay in your own chat, so it doubles as a short list of people to get back to. Messages to yourself are end-to-end encrypted like any other chat.

Can you start a WhatsApp chat with a username instead of a number?

WhatsApp is adding usernames. On 29 June 2026 it opened reservations under Settings → Account → Username and said it would roll the feature out gradually over the coming months, notifying people in the app when it reaches their country. As of October 2026, not everyone can use one yet.

Once usernames reach both of you, you can start a chat by typing someone's exact username into the New chat search, with no number involved. There is no directory and no suggestions, so a partial name finds nothing, and a person can set an optional username key that you'll also need. WhatsApp says that once usernames launch, anyone who doesn't already have your number saved sees your username instead, if you've set one.

What should a business know before messaging unsaved numbers?

Opening one chat with an unsaved number is ordinary. Doing it often, as a business, changes how WhatsApp treats the messages:

• Where WhatsApp applies its monthly limit on messages to people who don't reply, tested since October 2025, every message in a new chat counts until the person answers. A reply clears it; silence doesn't. As of October 2026, WhatsApp hasn't published the number. See the unanswered-message limit.
• Broadcast lists won't help: they are built from your saved contacts, and they only reach people who have saved your number. The broadcast limit guide has the details.
• Message people who expect it. WhatsApp's guidance to businesses is that customers should expect what they receive, having opted in, with a clear way to opt out.
• Better still, let them write first. A wa.me link on your website, receipt or shop counter lets the customer open the chat, and your replies go into a conversation they started.
• Saving is a privacy choice as well. If your profile photo or About is visible to My contacts, saving someone's number shows it to them; messaging without saving doesn't.

How do you message many people who haven't saved your number?

Links and New chat searches suit a handful of people. For a list, such as enquiries from a form, parents of a new batch or buyers from an expo, a contact-list campaign sends each person their own one-to-one message, paced and spread across numbers; messaging many contacts without a broadcast list walks through it. WavesFlo runs these campaigns and enforces opt-outs at send time. It doesn't check whether numbers are on WhatsApp, so the list has to come from people who gave you their WhatsApp number. If the people belong together, a group invite link is the better tool; see adding members without saving their numbers. And if the message should go out at a set time, read whether you can schedule a WhatsApp message.

To make a link for your website or ads, use the free WhatsApp link generator. Writing to a new lead? See how to write a WhatsApp introduction message and handling IndiaMART enquiries on WhatsApp.