Unlike other similar services, in WhatsApp, we do not have a user name or similar, but everything is based on phone numbers and contacts stored in the iPhone or Android calendar.
This makes the use of the service very comfortable and that finding our contacts is automatic; As soon as they create an account in the service, we will see them appear. But it also has certain disadvantages, such as that it is not possible to start a conversation with a user that we do not have saved in the phonebook.
At least so far …
Start conversations in WhatsApp without having the number saved in the calendar
For some time it is possible to start a conversation on WhatsApp with a number that we do not have stored in the smartphone’s calendar. This is thanks to a function called “Click to chat” and to use it you will only need to resort to a web browser.
WhatsApp has developed a kind of “shortener” to make access to this service a little easier.
If you need to send a message to a WhatsApp number and do not want to save it in the phone book, you should do the following:
- Open a web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox …) on your smartphone or computer.
- Type the following URL: https://wa.me/ and end with the phone number to which you want to send the message including the country code. For example, to send to the number of Spain 666999333 you should use the URL: https://wa.me/34666999333.
- Access the URL and you will see that WhatsApp Web is opened directly in case you are doing it from a computer or the mobile app if you are doing it on iPhone or Android (in this case it will ask you for confirmation to open the app).
It is important that you write the URL as we explained, because if you include parentheses, hyphens or other symbols that are usually used in international phone numbers the “trick” will not work.
In addition, you can optionally choose to create a link that in addition to starting a conversation include a certain text. This is very useful if you need to send the same message to several numbers that are not in your calendar or if you want to create a link to send messages directly to you from your website, social networks, etc.
That is, after the phone number you should include ? Text = and the text you want, replacing the spaces with % 20. Creating the message in this way can be a bit tricky on the subject of spaces, but if you need to send it to many different people it can help you save a lot of time.
What do you think of this option to start conversations on WhatsApp with numbers that are not saved in your calendar? I hope you find it useful and you can start using it now.
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