How to Create a Direct WhatsApp Link with Pre-filled Message (wa.me Guide)

What is a WhatsApp Click-to-Chat Link?

WhatsApp's Click to Chat feature allows you to begin a chat with someone without having their phone number saved in your phone's address book. When someone clicks or taps a wa.me link on their phone, the WhatsApp application immediately opens with a chat window directed to that number — and optionally populates a pre-written message ready to send.

Why Businesses & Creators Need Pre-filled WhatsApp Links

Reducing friction is the golden rule of online conversions. Requiring a prospective client to manually copy a 10-digit number, save it as a new phone contact, wait for contacts to sync, and then find the contact in WhatsApp results in an estimated 60% to 70% drop-off rate.

A direct click-to-chat link eliminates all friction:

• Zero contact saving required.
• Instant one-tap messaging on iPhone, Android, and Desktop.
• Pre-filled greetings identify which ad, reel, or bio page the inquiry came from.

The Anatomy of a wa.me URL

The standard syntax for a WhatsApp link is:

https://wa.me/<phone_number>?text=<encoded_message>

Key rules for formatting the phone number:

• Include your full international country code (e.g., 91 for India, 1 for the United States).
• Do NOT include any plus signs (+), spaces, brackets, or hyphens.
• Example for India: https://wa.me/919876543210

Adding a Custom Pre-Filled Message

To pre-fill the chat box with text, append ?text= followed by URL-encoded text. For example, if you want the user to start with "Hi, I want to inquire about your freelance design services", the link becomes:

https://wa.me/919876543210?text=Hi%2C%20I%20want%20to%20inquire%20about%20your%20freelance%20design%20services

The Easy Way: Use the Free Tolinks WhatsApp Generator

Manually encoding text can lead to broken URLs if punctuation isn't handled correctly. Use the free Tolinks WhatsApp Link Generator (located at tolinks.in/tools/whatsapp-link):

1. Select your country code and enter your phone number.
2. Type your message naturally with spaces and emojis.
3. Copy your one-click link or download an instant high-resolution QR code!