How to share live location on WhatsApp and stop it

To share your live location on WhatsApp, open the chat, tap the paper clip on Android or + on iPhone, then Location > Share live location. Choose how long, add a comment if you like, and send. Stop it any time with Stop sharing in the chat, or for every chat under Settings > Privacy > Live location.

Below: the difference between live and current location, the steps on Android and iPhone, how to stop every share at once, why WhatsApp Web and the desktop apps can't show a live location, and what to check when the pin won't move. Menus are as of October 2026.

Live location or current location: which should you send?

WhatsApp's Location menu offers two different things. Send your current location drops a fixed pin of where your phone is at that moment, or of a nearby place you pick. Share live location keeps updating your position on a map for everyone in the chat until the time you chose runs out or you stop it.

Use current location for a place and live location for a journey. A broker in Pune sending a flat's location before Sunday's site visits needs a pin, which stays useful for days; the real estate playbook covers the rest of that routine. Live location suits the late cab ride home from Gurugram, shared with family, and it should end when you arrive.

How do I share live location on Android and iPhone?

First, let WhatsApp use your location:

• Android: open the phone's Settings > Apps > WhatsApp > Permissions > Location and allow access. The choices are Allow only while using the app, Ask every time and Don't allow.
• iPhone: open Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > WhatsApp. WhatsApp's help centre says to choose Always, which Apple describes as letting an app use your location even when it is in the background.

1. 1Open the individual or group chat.
2. 2Tap the paper clip (Android) or + (iPhone), then Location > Share live location.
3. 3If WhatsApp asks, tap Continue on Android or OK on iPhone.
4. 4Pick how long to share. Sharing stops by itself when that time runs out.
5. 5Add a comment or emoji if you want, then tap Send.

In a group, every member can follow you, and if others share too, you all appear on the same map. Live location is also one of the things left out when a group sends message history to new members, so someone who joins later doesn't get a share from before they arrived; message history for new members lists what is passed on.

How do I send my current location instead?

1. 1Open the chat and tap the paper clip (Android) or + (iPhone).
2. 2Tap Location.
3. 3Tap Send your current location, or choose a nearby place from the list.

The pin is a snapshot: it shows where the phone was when you sent it and never moves. That makes it the better choice for a shop address or a meeting point shared with someone you don't know well. If WhatsApp can't find your location or a place, note that its map and place information comes from Facebook Places and Google Maps; its help centre says to contact those providers.

How do I stop sharing live location?

• In one chat: open it, tap Stop sharing, then confirm with Stop on Android or Stop sharing on iPhone.
• In every chat at once: on Android, tap More options > Settings > Privacy > Live location; on iPhone, Settings or your profile picture > Privacy > Live location. Tap Stop sharing and confirm.
• For WhatsApp altogether: on Android, phone Settings > Apps > WhatsApp > Permissions > Location > Don't allow; on iPhone, Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > WhatsApp > Never.

Once you stop, or the time runs out, nobody in the chat can follow you. They keep a static thumbnail that opens your last updated location, so stopping doesn't erase where you were. If you think a share might still be running after a trip, Privacy > Live location is the place to check and stop it.

Can you share or see live location on WhatsApp Web or desktop?

No. WhatsApp's help centre lists viewing a live location among the features linked devices don't support, and linked devices include WhatsApp Web, the Windows and Mac apps and tablets. On the WhatsApp Business app, linked devices can neither share nor view live location, and companion phones linked to a business account can't use it either. WhatsApp's help centre describes sending a location only from the phone apps.

So if a friend says your live location shows nothing, ask whether they are looking on a laptop: they need to open the chat on their phone. And always start a share from your phone. WhatsApp linked devices limits lists what else linked devices can't do, and WhatsApp Business with multiple users covers teams sharing one number.

Why is my live location not updating or in the wrong place?

• Permission. WhatsApp needs location access: on iPhone set to Always, as its help centre advises, and on Android allowed.
• Location switched off. On Android, Settings > Location > Use location must be on for any app to get your position.
• Approximate location on iPhone. If Precise Location is off for WhatsApp under Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, Apple gives the app only your approximate position, so the pin can be noticeably off.
• No connection. Like any WhatsApp message, updates need your phone online.
• Time ran out. A share stops at the end of the period you chose. Send a new one to carry on.
• Wrong screen. The other person is looking on WhatsApp Web or a desktop app, which can't display it.

Is WhatsApp live location safe?

WhatsApp says live location is end-to-end encrypted, so neither WhatsApp nor Meta can see it: only the people in the chat you shared it with. The risk is human rather than technical, and a few habits cover most of it:

• Share in a one-to-one chat with the people who need it, not a large group where every member can follow you.
• Pick the shortest period that covers the journey, and stop when you arrive.
• Send a current-location pin, not live location, to buyers, sellers and delivery contacts you haven't met.
• Remember that people keep a thumbnail of your last updated location after sharing ends.

Businesses mostly need the pin, not the journey: a clinic or a coaching centre sends its location once and customers keep it. Teams that answer customers from a shared inbox such as WavesFlo's can include a location in a reply; live location itself stays a phone feature.