WhatsApp QR Code Generator
A WhatsApp QR code is an ordinary web link to wa.me with your number in the path, so scanning it opens a chat with you without anyone saving your number first. The number has to be digits only — country code included, no plus sign, no spaces. An optional first message can be written into the chat box for them.
Opens a chat with you, optionally with the first message written.
Appearance — all of it free
Caption
Print sizing
Both matter. Distance decides how big the code has to look; the printer decides how small a module it can hold. Whichever asks for more is the size to print.
Your code
Fill in the fields above and the code appears here.
What is actually inside this code
A number and an opening line. Note what happened to the punctuation and the spaces on the way into the URL.
- Number
- +1 555 123 4567
- Opening message
- Hello, I would like the project brief.
encodes as
https://wa.me/15551234567?text=Hello%2C%20I%20would%20like%20the%20project%20brief.
83 bytes — a version 5 symbol, 37 modules a side. The phone opens a WhatsApp chat with that number, message already typed.
The number format is stricter than it looks
Everything after `wa.me/` must be digits. Not the plus sign you would write on a business card, not the `00` you would dial from abroad, not the spaces, dashes or brackets that make a number readable. `+1 (555) 123-4567` becomes `15551234567`, and this tool strips it for you — but it is worth knowing, because a number that looks right in the form and wrong in the URL is a code that opens an empty chat.
The country code is not optional, and the temptation to skip it is strongest exactly where it matters. A sticker in a shop window feels local. It also gets photographed, forwarded and carried abroad, and without a country code there is nothing for WhatsApp to resolve.
The opening message
The optional message is added as a query on the end of the URL and percent-encoded on the way, which is why the comma in the example became `%2C` and every space became `%20`. That encoding is required — it is what keeps the message from breaking the link — and it is also why a long message makes a noticeably denser code.
Encode wa.me directly, not a shortened version of it
A wa.me link is already short — around thirty characters with a number in it — so there is nothing to gain from running it through a link shortener, and something specific to lose.
A shortened link puts a third party between the printed sticker and WhatsApp. That service can change where it points, meter it, put an ad in front of it, or stop existing. Firebase Dynamic Links shut down on 25 August 2025, and per Google’s own deprecation notice every `page.link` address stopped resolving and returned HTTP 404 — taking every printed code that contained one with it.
None of that is a criticism of shorteners in general — they are useful for things you can reissue. It is specific to print, where the code goes out of your hands the moment it is on the wall.
Frequently asked questions
Should the WhatsApp number include the plus sign?
No. Include the country code but drop the plus, and drop any 00 prefix, spaces, brackets and dashes with it. Everything after wa.me/ must be digits. This tool strips the formatting for you, and the encoded string it shows is the place to confirm the result before printing.
Does the person need to save my number first?
No, and that is the main reason to use one of these. A wa.me link opens a conversation with the number in the URL, so the scan goes straight to a chat without anyone adding a contact first. It works the same way whether or not they have ever messaged you before.
Is the opening message sent automatically?
No. It is typed into the chat box and waits there. The person reads it, edits it if they want, and presses send — or does not. Write it as an opening line rather than as a statement of agreement, because whatever it says will appear to have come from them.
Can I put a longer message in the code?
You can, but it goes into the URL percent-encoded, where every space costs three characters instead of one. A long message makes a visibly denser symbol that needs to be printed larger to stay scannable. Keep the encoded message to an opening line and put the detail in the printed copy beside the code.
Other things a QR code can do
Every type, one tool
QR Code Generator
Colours, shapes, a logo, a caption, a print-size check and an A4 sheet — all of it free, none of it behind an account, and the code stays yours because the data is inside it rather than on our server.
Open the full QR code generator →