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· By Benjamin TESTART

WhatsApp Link Shortener: How to Create and Shorten a wa.me Link

In short: a WhatsApp link looks like https://wa.me/15555550123: your number in international format, without the plus sign, spaces or dashes. Add ?text= to pre-fill a message. That version gets long and ugly, so paste it into a free link shortener to get a short link such as msteams.link/AB12, plus a QR code.

A WhatsApp link lets anyone start a chat with you in one tap, without saving your number first. It is the easiest way to turn an Instagram bio, a website button or a printed flyer into a conversation. Here is how to build the link correctly, how to add a ready-made message, and how to shorten it so it looks clean everywhere.

How to create a WhatsApp link (wa.me)

WhatsApp has an official click-to-chat format. The link is simply https://wa.me/ followed by your phone number:

  1. Start with your country code (1 for the US and Canada, 44 for the UK, 55 for Brazil, and so on).
  2. Add your full phone number, without the leading zero of the national format.
  3. Remove everything else: no plus sign, no spaces, no brackets, no dashes.
  4. Put it after https://wa.me/, for example https://wa.me/15555550123.

Test the link on your own phone before sharing it: it should open a chat with the right number. If WhatsApp says the number is invalid, the usual culprit is a leftover plus sign, a zero or a space.

Add a pre-filled message

You can make the chat open with a message already typed, which saves your customers a step and tells you where they came from. Add ?text= and your message, URL-encoded:

https://wa.me/15555550123?text=Hi%2C%20I%20saw%20your%20flyer%20and%20I%20would%20like%20a%20quote

In URL encoding, spaces become %20 and punctuation gets its own codes. The message appears in the chat box, and the person can still edit it before sending. A link without a number, like https://wa.me/?text=..., lets the user pick a contact to forward the message to, which is handy for “share this” buttons.

Why shorten a WhatsApp link?

A bare wa.me link is fine. The trouble starts with the pre-filled message: after encoding, the link is long, full of %20, and looks suspicious to people who do not know the format. A short link fixes that:

  • Instagram, TikTok or X bio: a short link fits and looks clean.
  • Business cards, flyers and posters: msteams.link/AB12 is easy to print and to type.
  • SMS and emails: no risk of a long link breaking across two lines.
  • Shop counter or menu: print the QR code and customers scan it to start a chat.
  • Click count: see how many times the link was opened.

How to shorten a WhatsApp link with msteams.link

  1. Build your wa.me link (with or without a message) and test it.
  2. Open the msteams.link shortener and paste the long link at the top.
  3. Sign in for free with a verified email: it is required for links that are not Teams meetings, and you can create up to 30 of them a day.
  4. You get a short link with a 4-character code, such as msteams.link/AB12, and a QR code you can download.
  5. Share it. In your account, you can see how many clicks each link received.

Good to know: the code is generated automatically, you cannot choose a custom word. Visitors see a short waiting page before being redirected to WhatsApp (Premium gives an instant redirect). Links pointing to dangerous destinations are blocked.

Same idea for Teams meetings

msteams.link was built first for Microsoft Teams: long meeting links become short links, with no account needed. The QR code trick works the same way, see how to make a QR code for a Teams meeting. And if you used goo.gl in the past, read our guide to a Google URL Shortener alternative.

FAQ

How do I write my number in a wa.me link?

Use the full international format: country code, then the number, with no plus sign, no leading zero, no spaces and no dashes. For example https://wa.me/15555550123.

Can the recipient change the pre-filled message?

Yes. The text from ?text= is only placed in the chat box: the person can edit or delete it before sending.

Is the WhatsApp link shortener free?

Yes. Shortening a WhatsApp link on msteams.link is free, with a free sign-in and a verified email, up to 30 links a day. The QR code is included.

Can I choose the text of my short link?

No. The 4-character code is generated automatically, for example msteams.link/AB12. Custom aliases are not available.

Does a short link still work if WhatsApp is not installed?

The short link simply redirects to your wa.me link. What happens next is handled by WhatsApp: on a phone it opens the app, and on a computer it offers to continue in WhatsApp.

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