A website visitor can open a support conversation without first saving your number. The link supplies the destination. It can also suggest the first message for them to send.
What happens when someone opens the link?
WhatsApp opens a chat with the number in the link. It does not send a message automatically.
Any prefilled text appears in the composer, where the person can edit it. Treat an inquiry as received only after they send the message.
Use a destination your support team can receive messages on. A link pointing to the wrong number opens the wrong conversation even when the URL is valid.
How do I build a link with my number?
Put the full international number after https://wa.me/, using digits without the plus sign, brackets or dashes.
WhatsApp's link format uses the country code as part of the number. Convert the number to international form before removing formatting.
Add ?text=urlencodedtext when you want to prefill a message. Replace urlencodedtext with your encoded text, including encoded spaces.
The prefilled-message format puts that value in the chat's text field. It does not authorize or send the text on the person's behalf.
A link using https://wa.me/?text=urlencodedtext has no recipient number. It is a sharing form, so use the numbered form when the destination must be your business.
When should I use a short link instead?
Use a short link when you need to change the prefilled message after publishing the link.
Meta's short-link service stores that text separately from the URL. Its https://wa.me/message/<code> form uses a code in place of the number.
You can manage QR codes and their short links through the WhatsApp Business Management API or Business Manager. Editing the stored message does not require replacing a printed link.
Meta limits prefilled messages to 140 characters. Keep the suggested inquiry within that limit before creating the code.
A business phone number can have at most 2,000 combined QR codes and short links. Reuse suitable links rather than creating one for every visit.
Deleting a code makes its link unusable. Check where it is published before retiring one that customers can still scan.
Can a template URL button open another WhatsApp chat?
No. Meta refuses template URL buttons that link back into WhatsApp.
Bird checks wa.me and whatsapp.com, including subdomains such as api.whatsapp.com and chat.whatsapp.com, before submission. Changing between those hosts does not avoid the restriction.
Use a destination outside WhatsApp for that template button. For choices within a conversation, use the applicable interactive message type.
Keep template-button validation separate from link building. A valid click-to-chat URL can still be unsuitable for a template button.
What should my integration do after the customer sends?
Receive the inbound message. Handle the conversation within its customer service window.
The customer's message starts the 24-hour window for free-form replies. Opening the link alone does not establish that a message was sent.
Keep any marketing permission separate from the link tap. A person asking a support question has not thereby agreed to later promotional messages.
Before buying a destination number for Bird's setup flow, run the WhatsApp number precheck. A correctly formatted link does not establish that WhatsApp accepts its destination number.
In short
Opening the chat sends nothing.
A prefilled message stays in the composer until the person sends it. Record an inquiry from the inbound message.
Use the international number's digits.
Put the country code and number after
wa.me/. Omit the plus sign, brackets and dashes.Encode optional message text.
The
textparameter supplies the composer's initial message. Encode its value before adding it to the link.Choose a short link for editable text.
Meta stores a short link's prefilled message separately. You can change that text without replacing the published link.