WhatsApp polls: create one in a group, read results

To create a WhatsApp poll, open the chat, tap the paper clip on Android or + on iPhone, and choose Poll. Write a question of up to 255 characters, add up to 12 options of up to 100 characters each, choose your settings and send. On a phone you can also set an end time and hide voter names, and you can edit the question for 15 minutes after sending.

Below: the steps on Android, iPhone and WhatsApp Web, what each setting changes, editing and deleting, how to read results and see who voted, the limits people run into, polls in channels and communities, three ready-to-copy polls, and how to read votes across many groups. Menus are as WhatsApp's help centre gives them on 8 October 2026.

How do you create a poll in a WhatsApp group?

On Android:

1. 1Open the group, or any chat: polls work in one-to-one chats too.
2. 2Tap the paper clip, then Poll.
3. 3Choose the settings: Allow multiple answers (on by default), Hide voter names and Set an end time.
4. 4Under Question, type your question, up to 255 characters.
5. 5Under Options, add up to 12 answers of up to 100 characters each. To reorder them, tap and hold the handle beside an option and slide it up or down.
6. 6Tap Send.

On iPhone:

1. 1Open the chat and tap +, then Poll.
2. 2Choose Allow multiple answers, Hide voter names and Set an end time as you need them.
3. 3Type the question, up to 255 characters, and up to 12 options of up to 100 characters each. Drag the handle beside an option to reorder it.
4. 4Tap Send.

On WhatsApp Web:

1. 1Open the chat, click + in the message bar, then Poll.
2. 2Type the question and up to 12 options, with the same character limits.
3. 3Leave Allow multiple answers on, or turn it off so each person picks one option.
4. 4Click Send.

How do multiple answers, end times and hidden voter names work?

Mind the default. Because Allow multiple answers starts switched on, a yes-or-no poll sent as it is lets someone vote yes and no at once. Switch it off for any either-or question.

Hidden names are total. The creator can't see them either, and no setting can be changed after sending, so don't hide names on a poll where you need to know who answered, such as an RSVP list.

Can you edit or delete a WhatsApp poll after sending it?

• Edit the question within 15 minutes of sending. On Android, tap and hold the poll, then the pencil in the top bar; on iPhone, tap and hold, then Edit; on WhatsApp Web, click the poll, then Edit. Update the question and confirm.
• Options and settings can't be edited. To change them, delete the poll and send a new one, which starts with no votes.
• To delete, tap and hold the poll (on WhatsApp Web, open its menu), tap Delete, then choose Delete for everyone or Delete for me.

How do you see WhatsApp poll results and who voted?

Counts show on the poll and update as people vote. For detail, tap View votes on the poll (click it on WhatsApp Web): it shows how many members have voted and, unless names were hidden, who chose each option. Anyone in the chat can open it.

• Changing a vote: tap your choice again to remove it, then pick another. With multiple answers off, tapping a new option replaces the old one.
• Closing: once the end time passes, voting is locked.
• Finding old polls: on Android or iPhone, tap the search bar in the Chats tab and choose the Polls filter.
• Vote alerts: you hear about new votes only if WhatsApp's push notifications are on for your device. On WhatsApp Web, the help centre says you get one push notification for each poll you create.
• Exporting: WhatsApp's help centre describes no way to download votes, so note the counts before the chat moves on.
• Voted isn't read: a poll shows who voted, not who saw it. Message info shows which members opened the post.

What limits and edge cases trip people up?

What changed in August 2026

On 4 August 2026, WhatsApp announced three poll upgrades: an end time that locks voting, hidden voter names, and editing the question within 15 minutes of sending. Before that, polls had no end time, every vote was visible by name, and a typo meant deleting the poll and starting again. If you don't see the new settings, update the app.

The same announcement brought @all, which pairs well with a poll: post it with an end time and, if turnout is low, send one @all reminder before it closes. How @all works explains who can use it and how members mute it.

How do polls work in channels and communities?

• Channels: polls are public, and anyone viewing the channel can vote. Followers see only how many people chose each option. Channel admins may see details next to a vote, such as a profile photo, depending on the voter's privacy settings, or the name they saved that person under. Channel polls can use photos as options, channels also offer quizzes, and a channel poll can't be edited, only deleted, for up to 30 days.
• Communities: in a community's Announcements group, only admins can send announcements and start polls; members can vote, reply and react. A community holds up to 2,000 members.

Ready-to-copy polls for group admins

Three polls that do real work in a busy group, each inside the 255-character question and 100-character option limits.

Question: Saturday site visit, 10:00 at the main gate. Are you coming? Voting closes Friday 18:00.

Options:
Yes, just me
Yes, with one guest
Not this time

Question: Which slots could you make for next week's parents' call? Tick every one that works.

Options:
Monday 19:00
Tuesday 19:00
Wednesday 20:00
Thursday 20:00
None of these

Question: How was today's workshop? Names are hidden, so be honest.

Options:
Useful, keep the format
Useful, but too long
Too basic for me
Too advanced for me

Two habits help. Put the deadline in the question as well as setting the end time, because the question is what people read first. And add a way out, such as None of these or Not this time, so a no is counted rather than left as silence.

Reading votes across many groups

View votes works for one poll in one chat. Across twenty groups it means twenty screens and a tally kept by hand, so it pays to post each poll when the group is awake. WavesFlo shows each group's busiest hours in your timezone, with delivery and read rates for every group on its own, so a poll can go up when members are around to answer it. See group insights.

For developers, WavesFlo emits a signed poll.vote webhook event when someone votes in a poll or changes their vote, carrying the poll message id, the voter, the options selected and the poll question. The event can start an n8n workflow through n8n's own Webhook node, for example to write each vote to a spreadsheet with n8n's Google Sheets node.

• Delivery is at least once, so deduplicate on the event identifier.
• Order isn't guaranteed, so keep the latest event per voter per poll, going by the event's own timestamp. A changed vote replaces the earlier one.
• Treat hidden-name polls as counts only, whatever tool you use. They exist so no one can link a person to a choice.

Signatures, retries and the n8n set-up are covered in WhatsApp automation with webhooks and n8n.