WhatsApp linked devices: limits and how they work

A WhatsApp account can have up to four linked devices at a time besides the main phone, or up to 10 on some paid business plans. WhatsApp Web, the desktop apps, tablets and second phones each take a place. The main phone must open WhatsApp at least every 14 days, or every linked device is logged out.

Below: which devices count, the 14-day and 30-day rules, what a linked device still can't do, and the steps to link, check and remove one on Android and iPhone. The paid plans that raise the limit for businesses are here too, and the last section covers teams, where a campaign or inbox tool quietly takes a place. Details are as of October 2026.

How many devices can use one WhatsApp account?

Five at once: the main phone plus four linked devices. WhatsApp's help centre gives the same figure for the WhatsApp Business app, "up to four linked devices and one phone at a time". Only the main phone can register the account and link new devices. Once linked, each device connects to WhatsApp on its own, so it keeps working while the phone is off or offline.

Paying raises the limit only for businesses. Multi-agent, a WhatsApp Business app feature sold through Meta Verified for Business plans, sets the ceiling by plan:

• Multi-agent also lets you assign chats to agents and see which agent sent a message. Customers see neither.
• Meta offers each plan only to some businesses and locations, based on the business's activity on WhatsApp. Meta One business plans include multi-agent too, where they are offered.
• With more than four devices linked, calls ring only on the main phone.
• If the subscription ends, only the four most recently active devices stay linked.
• Personal accounts can't buy more. WhatsApp Plus, a personal subscription Meta began testing in 2026 and had rolled out only to a limited number of users as of October 2026, adds themes, icons, stickers and extra pinned chats, not devices.

Which devices count towards the four?

Everything on the main phone's Linked devices screen. WhatsApp supports these:

• WhatsApp Web. Each browser on each computer is a separate linked device, so WhatsApp Web open on three computers uses three places.
• WhatsApp for Windows and Mac. The desktop apps also make voice and video calls with up to 32 people.
• An Android tablet or an iPad linked to your phone.
• A second phone in companion mode, on Android since April 2023 and on iPhone since the end of May 2023.
• A Wear OS watch, Meta AI glasses or a VR headset.

To use one account on two phones, install WhatsApp on the second phone and, instead of registering a number, choose to link it as a companion device. It shows a QR code to scan from the main phone's Linked devices screen.

Two things don't use a place. The main phone never does, and neither does a tablet registered as a main device in its own right. An Android tablet can be set up that way. WABetaInfo reported in July 2026 that WhatsApp had begun a gradual rollout of the same option for iPad, but as of October 2026 WhatsApp's help centre still lists iPad among the linked devices that can't be the main device. WhatsApp Web, the desktop apps and watches can only ever be linked devices.

The 14-day rule, and the 30-day one

Linked devices don't need the phone to be online, but they do need it to be used. If WhatsApp on the main phone goes unused for more than 14 days, every linked device is logged out at once. Opening WhatsApp on the phone resets the clock, so a phone kept in a drawer to run a shared computer needs someone to open WhatsApp on it at least once a fortnight.

A second clock runs on each linked device. WhatsApp disconnects a linked device after 30 days of inactivity, however often the phone is used, so a laptop left alone for a month needs linking again. And if you remove an account from its main phone, its companion devices are logged out 14 days later. When sessions end sooner than this explains, why WhatsApp Web keeps logging out goes through the other causes.

What doesn't work on a linked device?

Most of WhatsApp behaves the same, but the help centre lists these gaps as of October 2026:

• Live location can't be viewed. On the WhatsApp Business app it can't be shared either.
• Broadcast lists can't be created or viewed, so broadcasts go out from the phone.
• WhatsApp Flows, the in-chat forms some businesses send, don't work.
• Chats with Restricted chat turned on. As of October 2026, WhatsApp's help centre says the latest version is replacing Advanced chat privacy with Restricted chat. A group's admins, or either person in a one-to-one chat, can turn it on, and then nobody in that chat can use linked devices for it, so it opens only on the phone.
• On the WhatsApp Business app, status updates can't be added or deleted.
• History is partial. On linking, the phone sends an encrypted copy of your recent messages. The desktop app syncs more than WhatsApp Web, an iPad up to a year and an Android tablet up to two years; the full history stays on the phone.
• A second account can't be added. WhatsApp's two-account switch works only on phones; multiple WhatsApp accounts covers the ways round it on a computer.

How to link a device

Open web.whatsapp.com, the desktop app, or WhatsApp on the tablet or second phone, so it shows a QR code. Then, on the main phone:

1. 1Android: open WhatsApp, tap the three-dot menu, then Linked devices > Link a device.
2. 2iPhone: open WhatsApp, tap Settings or your profile picture, then Linked devices > Link device.
3. 3If asked, unlock with your fingerprint, face or phone PIN.
4. 4Point the phone at the QR code on the other screen.
5. 5If WhatsApp says it doesn't recognise the device, tap Link device only if you started this yourself. Otherwise tap Don't link.

WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp for Windows also offer Link with phone number. Enter your number there and the screen shows an eight-character code; tap WhatsApp's notification on the main phone, confirm the device and type the code in.

How to check and remove linked devices

1. 1Android: open WhatsApp and tap the three-dot menu > Linked devices. iPhone: tap Settings or your profile picture > Linked devices.
2. 2Read the list. Every device linked to the account is on it.
3. 3To remove one, tap it, then Log out. On iPhone, confirm with Log out again.
4. 4To end a session from the other end, open WhatsApp's Settings on the linked device and tap Log out.

A device you log out frees its place straight away, and it has to be linked again with a fresh code to come back.

Keep linked devices secure

Whoever controls a linked device can read your new messages and send as you, which is why account-takeover scams try to get one onto your account. Habits that close the usual gaps:

• Keep push notifications on. When a device is linked, the notification lets you review it and remove it if it wasn't you.
• Never scan a QR code or type a linking code because someone asked you to. A common scam sends a link to vote in a contest, then walks you through linking the scammer's device. WhatsApp now shows a warning, with the device's rough location, when a link request looks suspicious.
• Look at Linked devices every few weeks and log out anything you don't recognise.
• On a shared computer, untick Stay logged in on this browser before scanning, so the session ends when the browser closes.
• Turn on two-step verification.
• Type web.whatsapp.com yourself, and install WhatsApp only from its website or your app store. WhatsApp warns that fake WhatsApp apps and websites made by third parties can hijack an account for spam and scams, and that linking an account to one can get it banned, temporarily or for good.

Linked devices in a business: every tool takes a place

On a business number the four places go quickly. A reception computer on WhatsApp Web, the owner's laptop app and a salesperson's companion phone leave one free. Campaign and inbox tools that connect by scanning the code on Linked devices, the way WhatsApp Web does, take a place too, and the same rules bind them: the phone holding the number must open WhatsApp every 14 days, and if someone logs the tool out to make room, it has to be linked again. Chats where someone has turned on Restricted chat never reach a tool linked this way.

WavesFlo connects numbers this way, one scan per number, and shows each number's health and connection in the dashboard, where a dropped number can be reconnected; connecting a number with Linked devices shows the steps. Whatever tool you consider, check it appears under Linked devices with a name you recognise: no tool can promise a number won't be restricted. For several people on one number, WhatsApp Business with multiple users compares linked devices, multi-agent and shared inboxes. In India, the SIM binding rule may change how long web sessions last.