WhatsApp offers users an interesting but little-known feature: what it’s for and how to use Click to Chat.
A phone number and a link to edit: that’s all it takes to start using Click to Chat, WhatsApp’s new feature. The popular messaging app allows you to start a conversation via a link with a user who is not in your address book, but whose number you know.
Click to Chat, or Click to Chat, is particularly useful because it can be used from both smartphones, desktop apps and via WhatsApp Web. In addition to being able to start a chat with a click, you can set up a pre-filled message to be sent to the phone number we want to converse with, or you can set up via link a pre-filled message to be sent to any contact in our address book. To be able to use Click to Chat, it is necessary that the phone number we want to contact has downloaded WhatsApp and has an account, even if it is not among our contacts.
Click to Chat: how to start a chat with WhatsApp
We have a phone number with which we want to start a WhatsApp chat, but we do not want to include it in our contact list. The conversation can be easily started using the Click to Chat feature, where you will need to edit this link: https://wa.me/XXX, where XXX is the phone number that must be entered including the area code and without zeros or other special characters.
For example, if you want to send a message to the number +39-3331234567, you will need to edit the link like this: https://wa.me/393331234567. The link will be inserted in the address bar of your browser and with a click you will open the WhatsApp screen, which allows you to choose from PC whether to use WhatsApp Web or the desktop app of the popular chat to start the conversation.
Click to Chat: how to send a message to a number
The function of WhatsApp allows you to send a pre-compiled message automatically to the number for which you want to use Click to Chat. In this case, the link to be changed manually by the user will be https://wa.me/XXX?text=YYY, where XXX is the phone number including the area code, while instead of YYYY will be inserted the text of the pre-filled message.
To avoid that the message appears without spaces, between one word and another you must enter the code %20, so to write the phrase “Hello, nice to meet you”, the link to use will be: https://wa.me/XXX?text=Ciao%20piacere%20di%20conoscerti. After clicking on it from your PC, you can choose whether to send the message to the number via WhatsApp Web or desktop app.
Click to Chat: how to send a message to your contacts
If you want to send a pre-compiled message to one or more contacts in your address book, you can use the link https://wa.me/?text=YYY, modifying it with the text as you like, as in the example above. In this way, when you click on the link you will see the pre-filled message and starting WhatsApp you can choose which contact in your address book to send it to.