WhatsApp is simple, secure, reliable for messaging and calling, available on phones and devices all over the world.

WhatsApp is available for Android, iPhone, iPadOS, and Windows & Mac. WhatsApp is a cross-platform messaging service, so those devices can all message each other. Because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing, there is no cost to message and stay in touch with your friends.

In addition to basic messaging WhatsApp users can create groups, send each other unlimited images, video and audio media messages.

How to transfer your chats to a new iPhone?

Can I use WhatsApp on a PC without my phone?

WhatsApp Web and the desktop app require an initial connection to your phone for setup. After linking, they can function independently for a limited time. However, for full functionality and to maintain end-to-end encryption, periodic reconnection with your phone is necessary.

How can I format text in WhatsApp messages?

WhatsApp supports text formatting using specific characters:

  • Bold: Wrap text with asterisks (*).
  • Italic: Wrap text with underscores (_).
  • Strikethrough: Wrap text with tildes (~).
  • Monospace: Wrap text with backticks (').

How can I use WhatsApp's "Message Yourself" feature effectively?

WhatsApp's "Message Yourself" feature allows you to send notes, reminders, or files to yourself. This can be particularly useful for daily journaling, task lists, or saving important links. To use it, simply open a new chat and select your own contact.

Can WhatsApp read my messages?

No, WhatsApp cannot read your messages because it uses end-to-end encryption, meaning only you and the recipient can access the content of your chats. However, WhatsApp does collect metadata such as your phone number, device info, and usage patterns.

Is WhatsApp available for Windows?

Yes, WhatsApp has a desktop version for Windows and Mac, so you can use it on your desktop PC or laptop to message with friends and share photos as well.

Features

  • Voice and Video Calls: Make free one-on-one or group voice and video calls across iOS and Android devices.
  • Cross-Platform Messaging: Send messages and make calls seamlessly across different devices.
  • End-to-End Encryption: All messages and calls are secured with end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only you and the person you're communicating with can read or listen to them.
  • Privacy Controls: Manage your privacy settings, including who can see your personal information and last seen status.
  • Group Chats: Easily create and manage group conversations with friends, family, or colleagues.
  • Group Calls: Initiate group voice or video calls directly from group chats.
  • Stickers and GIFs: Enhance your messages with a variety of stickers and GIFs.
  • Voice Messages: Quickly send voice messages for more personal communication.
  • Media Sharing: Share photos, videos, and documents effortlessly.
  • Business Profiles: Create a professional presence with a business profile.
  • Customer Engagement: Reach and interact with your customers efficiently.
  • Automated Messages: Set up automated greetings and away messages to manage customer expectations.

What's New

We're excited to announce that WhatsApp is now available on iPad. Bringing all your favorite features to a larger screen, WhatsApp for iPad makes keeping in touch with friends and family even easier. Make video and audio calls with up to 32 people, share your screen, and use both front and back cameras.

We've made WhatsApp for iPad ideal for multitasking so you can get more done. Take advantage of iPadOS multitasking features such as Stage Manager, Split View, and Slide Over to view multiple apps at once, so you can send messages while browsing the web, or research options for a group trip while on a call together. WhatsApp also works with your Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil.

Previous Release Notes:

Introducing Advanced Chat Privacy: Enhanced Protection for Your Most Sensitive Conversations

The foundation of privacy on WhatsApp is that your personal messages and calls are protected by end-to-end encryption so that only the sender and recipient can see, listen to or share them. From there, we've built multiple layers of privacy, like disappearing messages and chat lock, that take privacy one step further.

Today we're introducing our latest layer for privacy called "Advanced Chat Privacy." This new setting available in both chats and groups helps prevent others from taking content outside of WhatsApp for when you may want extra privacy.

When the setting is on, you can block others from exporting chats, auto-downloading media to their phone, and using messages for AI features. That way everyone in the chat has greater confidence that no one can take what is being said outside the chat.

WhatsApp groups are increasingly an extension of our real world networks, some of which are far closer than others. We think this feature is best used when talking with groups where you may not know everyone closely but are nevertheless sensitive in nature, like talking about health challenges in a support group or organizing your community about something important to you.

You can turn this on by tapping the chat name, then tapping on Advanced Chat Privacy. This is the first version of this feature and we're planning to add more to it so that it will eventually include even more protections.

This new setting is rolling out to everyone on the latest version of WhatsApp.

Improved calling on WhatsApp this holiday season

Calling on WhatsApp continues to grow in popularity around the world. Now, over 2 billion calls are made on WhatsApp every single day. Ahead of the holiday season, we're introducing new calling features across desktop and mobile, so that connecting with your loved ones is easier than ever.

Select call participants: Now when you start a call from a group chat, you can select specific participants, so you call exactly who you want without disrupting the rest. Ideal for planning surprise parties or presents.

  • New effects for video calls: Choose between ten effects that transform your video calls into even more fun conversations, from adding puppy ears, to taking you underwater, or handing you a microphone for karaoke.
  • Improved calling on desktop: Now when you click the calls tab on the WhatsApp desktop app, you'll easily find everything you need to start a call, create a call link, or dial a number directly.
  • Better quality video calls: Whether you're calling from desktop or mobile, calls are now more reliable, and you can enjoy higher resolution video with a clearer picture on both 1:1 and group calls.

We'll continue making improvements to calling on WhatsApp so you can make the best quality, private calls from all around the world. Happy holidays!

Express Yourself with More Stickers

People love using stickers to express themselves and add personality and fun to their chats. Sometimes a sticker can communicate emotions and moods better than words ever could and today, we're adding new ways for you to personalize and enjoy stickers.

People love using stickers to express themselves and add personality and fun to their chats. Sometimes a sticker can communicate emotions and moods better than words ever could and today, we're adding new ways for you to personalize and enjoy stickers.

New and searchable GIPHY stickers: We've partnered with GIPHY to bring their extensive collection of stickers directly to WhatsApp. This integration lets you find and share relevant and engaging stickers, without having to leave the app. To access these stickers, simply tap the sticker icon and search using text or emoji.

Custom Sticker Maker is now available on Android so you can easily create, edit and share your own stickers. iOS users have been loving this feature and we're excited to expand it to everyone. Turn your photos into personalized stickers, or customize existing ones using editing tools like crop, text, and draw. Once created, the stickers are automatically saved in the sticker tray for easy access so you can share with family and friends.

AI Stickers: If you can't find the perfect sticker for the moment, don't forget that you can also use Meta AI to create more custom stickers. At this time, AI sticker creation is available on iPhone and Android in the U.S. Android users can also test creating AI stickers in Spanish, and Bahasa Indonesia.

Sticker Organization: You'll now be able to easily discover new sticker packs from WhatsApp by previewing them in the sticker tray below your downloaded ones. To organize your sticker tray, you can also tap and hold a sticker to move to top or delete it.

Meta AI on WhatsApp - Now Multilingual, More Creative and Smarter

As Meta AI continues to improve with new useful features and languages, we're excited to bring this helpful and creative assistant to more countries starting today.

Continued International Expansion

Meta AI can help you with answers, ideas and inspiration. It's now available in 22 countries, with the newest additions rolling out now including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Cameroon in several new languages including French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish with more to come.

Imagine Edit

We are also making it easier to create your ideal image with Meta AI by making it possible to easily change and edit an image, including adding or removing objects within it. To start, type "imagine" to describe your image and then respond to what Meta AI provides by asking it to add, subtract, or animate the image to your liking. Imagine Edit is available in English at first, with more languages coming soon.

Imagine Yourself

If you've ever wondered what you might look like as a superhero, or wanted to try out different hair or outfits - you can now imagine yourself doing just about anything. Simply type "Imagine me" in chats with Meta AI to get started. After a quick set up, you'll be able to add a prompt like "Imagine me in a retro pink and green ski outfit" and Meta AI will generate an image of you in that personalized scene. You can reset or delete your setup photos at any time. This is available in beta in the U.S. for now, with more languages and countries coming soon.

We are excited to continue to share new capabilities and advancements from Meta AI with more and more people on WhatsApp. As always, your personal messages and calls remain end-to-end encrypted, meaning not even WhatsApp or Meta can see or listen to them. The team is working on improving responses to Meta AI rapidly and introduces improvements every two weeks. We would love to hear from you, and see how Meta AI has helped you be more creative and expressive. Tag us on Threads and share what you've imagined.

Choose your favorites on WhatsApp

Focusing on your favorites just got a lot easier on WhatsApp. Starting today, you can quickly find the people and groups that matter most at the top of your calls tab and as a filter for your chats.

Whether it's your family group chat or your best friend, your 'favorites' will be the same across your chats and calls, so you can speed dial them from your calls tab too.

To add to your 'favorites':

  • From your chats screen, select the 'favorites' filter, and select your contacts or groups there.
  • From the calls tab, tap 'Add favorite' and select your contacts or groups.
  • Or, simply manage your 'favorites' in your settings by going to Settings > Favorites > Add to Favorites, and you can reorder them at any time.

We're rolling out to users today, and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.

Better calling across desktop and mobile

Since we brought Calling to WhatsApp back in 2015, we've continued to improve it with the introduction of group calls, video calls, and multi-platform support.

Today we have several updates that will make calls across your devices even bigger and better, rolling out over the next few weeks:

  • Screen sharing with audio: Ideal for watching videos together, now when you share your screen, you can share your audio too
  • More participants: Now you can have up to 32 people on a video call across all your devices
  • Speaker spotlight: Easily see who's talking with the speaker automatically highlighted and appearing first on screen

We also remain relentlessly focused on audio and video quality, for clearer calls no matter where you are. We recently launched MLow codec which improves call reliability. Calls made on mobile devices benefit from improved noise and echo cancellation, making it easier to have calls in noisy environments, and video calls have higher resolution for those with faster connections. Audio is crisper overall, even if you have poor network connectivity or are using an older device. You can read more about the MLow codec and listen to the difference in audio quality here.

We'll continue making improvements to calling on WhatsApp so you can make the best quality, private calls wherever you are in the world.