How to schedule a WhatsApp message: every way (2026)

As of October 2026, WhatsApp has no built-in way to schedule ordinary chat or group messages. Its own scheduler, reported in development by WABetaInfo since February 2026, hasn't been released. The workarounds are iPhone Shortcuts, Android scheduler apps, WhatsApp Web extensions, the Business app's paid broadcasts, group event reminders and campaign software, each with a catch.

Below: where WhatsApp's own scheduler stands, every workaround compared, notes for each platform, groups, and a checklist for recurring announcements.

Can you schedule a message in WhatsApp itself?

Not yet for ordinary chats and groups. WABetaInfo, which tracks WhatsApp's test builds, has reported since February 2026 that WhatsApp is building scheduled messages for chats and groups. Its reports, the latest from iOS beta 26.22.10.76 on 11 June 2026, describe the design:

• Tap and hold Send to pick a date and time, from 10 minutes to two weeks ahead.
• Scheduled messages wait in a dedicated section, where you can delete one before it goes; the recipient isn't told.
• It works in groups, but only people who were members when you scheduled the message will receive it. Anyone who joins later won't.
• You don't need to be online when it sends, and the recipient can't tell it was scheduled.

In June the feature wasn't enabled even for beta testers, and on 22 August 2026, reporting a matching feature for channel admins, WABetaInfo still described it as in development. As of October 2026 it hasn't been released, and WhatsApp hasn't announced a date; WABetaInfo expects beta testers to get it before the stable app.

Every way to schedule a WhatsApp message, compared

How to schedule a WhatsApp message on iPhone

On iPhone the workaround is an automation in Apple's Shortcuts app, which WABetaInfo and MacRumors both point to. It is set up for a contact, not a group.

1. 1Open Shortcuts and create an automation with a Time of Day trigger. On iOS 26 and earlier that starts in the Automation tab; on iOS 27, open a shortcut, tap Edit, then Automation.
2. 2Set the time. Time of Day triggers repeat daily, weekly or monthly, so for a one-off message, switch the automation off after it has run.
3. 3Add WhatsApp's Send Message action, type the text and choose the contact.
4. 4Let it run without asking: turn off Ask Before Running on iOS 16 and earlier, or choose Run Immediately on iOS 17 to 26. On iOS 27, open the shortcut, tap Edit, then Info, then Privacy, and turn on Allow Running When Locked.
5. 5Test it with a message to a colleague a few minutes ahead, phone locked.

Reports differ on the last step. Guiding Tech's guide says the message goes automatically; others, including at least one scheduler vendor, say you still have to tap Send. Apple notes that some actions need their own settings before an automation can run unattended. Results vary with iOS and WhatsApp versions, hence the test.

How to schedule a WhatsApp message on Android

Android has no built-in route. Google Messages can schedule a text if you touch and hold Send, but that schedules an SMS or RCS message, not a WhatsApp one.

The working option is a scheduler app such as SKEDit or Auto Text. Their Play Store listings say how they work: both use Android's Accessibility Services to operate WhatsApp at the set time, the way you would, and both ask for permission to disable your screen lock. That explains the catches:

• The phone has to be on and online at that minute. To send from a locked phone, both apps need your PIN or password saved in the app, or no screen lock; otherwise SKEDit can ask first, with a notification you unlock and tap to send.
• Accessibility access lets an app read and control what's on your screen, chats included. Give it only to an app you trust.
• WhatsApp's help centre says it bans accounts that send unwanted automated messages, so schedule only messages people expect.
• A WhatsApp redesign can break an app that taps through its screens until the developer catches up.
• They can post into groups too; SKEDit's listing names groups and broadcast lists.

Can you schedule a message on WhatsApp Web?

Not with WhatsApp Web alone, or the Windows and Mac apps; none has a send-later button. Browser extensions add one by running inside your logged-in WhatsApp Web tab. Three trade-offs come with that:

• The computer has to be awake, with the tab open, at send time; close the lid overnight and a 07:00 message waits until the machine wakes. Tools linked to your number as a device, like WhatsApp Web, can send from their own servers instead, so choose the company as carefully as the feature.
• An extension inside WhatsApp Web can read and send in every chat your session can. Check what it collects before you install it.
• WhatsApp Web is a linked device, and linked devices are logged out if the main phone isn't used for 14 days. The schedule stops with them; why WhatsApp Web keeps logging out covers the other causes.

Does WhatsApp Business have scheduled messages?

Not for ordinary chats. Greeting and away messages aren't scheduling: a greeting goes out automatically when someone messages you for the first time or after 14 days without a chat, and an away message replies automatically to messages that arrive while you're away, such as outside business hours. Both answer incoming messages; neither starts a conversation at a time you choose.

What the Business app can schedule is business broadcasts: one-to-one messages to many customers, with an option to schedule them for the best time. They are paid, offered to eligible accounts in some countries, and never go into groups. The broadcast limit guide covers how they are charged and capped.

How to schedule a message in a WhatsApp group

Two workarounds can't reach groups: Shortcuts is set up for a contact, and business broadcasts, like ordinary broadcast lists, arrive as one-to-one chats. Three routes reach a group today, and a fourth is on the way:

• An event, built into WhatsApp. Open the group, tap Attach (the paper clip) on Android or + on iPhone and WhatsApp Web, choose Event and add a name, date and time, plus a call link if it's a call. Members who respond Going or Maybe are notified when it starts, and since January 2026 the creator can set custom early reminders. It nudges people about a time rather than posting your text, and members who join later can't see it.
• An Android scheduler app or a WhatsApp Web extension, with the device catches above.
• Campaign software that posts into groups your numbers belong to.
• WhatsApp's own scheduler, once it ships, which will deliver only to people who were members when you scheduled.

Two rules hold whichever route you take. If Group permissions let only admins send messages, a scheduled post from anyone else fails just as a live one would. And a group post reaches every member, so a message meant for some of them belongs in their individual chats.

A checklist for recurring announcements

1. 1Pick the slot from the group's habits, not your diary. The group marketing guide shows how to find a group's busiest hours.
2. 2Keep the text in one editable place, such as a saved message or a spreadsheet row, so next week's post isn't a copy of a copy; see Google Sheets to WhatsApp.
3. 3Replace relative dates. "Tomorrow" and "this Friday" go wrong the moment a post moves; write the date.
4. 4Set quiet hours, and skip days the group doesn't want posts, such as Sundays or festivals.
5. 5Name who approves each run, and send a test to your own phone before the first one.
6. 6Check the sending number is still in every group and still allowed to post; admins can change that at any time.
7. 7After each run, compare reads per group at the same point, such as 24 hours after posting, and stop posting to groups where almost nobody reads.
8. 8Know how to stop everything at once if a price, date or link is wrong.

Scheduling posts into many groups

When the same announcement has to go into dozens of groups every week, methods that hang on one phone, one computer or one person's session start to strain. WavesFlo runs recurring campaigns into the groups its connected numbers belong to, or to each person on a contact list. Quiet hours (22:00 to 08:00 by default), allowed weekdays and an optional posting window decide when anything goes out; an optional approval step and a test send come before launch; and a randomised 30 to 300 second gap spaces the posts. It can only post into groups a number is already in, and no tool can promise a number will never be restricted. Sending one message to many WhatsApp groups walks through a campaign.

For monthly dues, see payment reminder messages on WhatsApp.