Straight into a chat, no save-my-number step
Scanning opens WhatsApp with your number and an optional message already filled in. The guest types nothing before the conversation starts.
Your WhatsApp code
PNG is exported at 1024×1024. Print at 2 cm minimum for a sticker or business card, 4 cm for a flyer, 8 cm for a wall sign.
How big should you print it?
A code that opens a real chat
Booking enquiry
Encoded on this page. Scanning opens WhatsApp with the number and the booking message already in the box.
Where the time actually goes
The save-my-number dance costs more than it looks. A guest has to open WhatsApp, tap the new chat icon, look up your country code, type your number, save it, then come back and find the conversation. Six steps, each one a chance to abandon.
A code collapses that to two: point the camera, tap open. The prefilled message then removes the remaining decision — what to write in the first box, which is where a lot of first messages die.
What to put in the prefilled message
Name the business and the ask
"Hi, this is about the Saturday booking" gets a useful reply. An empty box gets a thumbs-up emoji and nothing else.
Give the two details you always need
Date and party size for a booking. Model or budget for a shop. Ref for an order. Whatever you would otherwise ask for in the first reply.
Keep it to one line
A long message reads as a form. Short prefilled text gets sent and edited; long text gets deleted and retyped.
Leave the message off for a first impression
If you genuinely do not know what someone wants to say, an empty chat box is friendlier than a pre-typed request they did not make.
Number format
Include the country code, digits only. The generator strips spaces, dashes, brackets, and a leading plus, so you can type the number however it is normally written. If a guest in another country scans a code with your local number and no country code, WhatsApp will not connect — that is the single most common failure with this format.
Test the printed code with a phone on a different network before a print run. WhatsApp links occasionally get mangled by aggressive PDF compression or by chat apps that rewrite pasted links.
The number and message are in the code, not sent to us. The code is assembled in your browser from a wa.me link — the official WhatsApp entry point. Nothing is uploaded, and the conversation happens entirely between the guest and you.
WhatsApp code questions
Do I need WhatsApp Business for this?
No. The code is just a wa.me link. WhatsApp Business adds a catalogue and quick replies in the app, but the link itself works with a normal WhatsApp account.
Will the message be sent automatically?
No, and it should not be. WhatsApp opens with the message in the compose box and the guest taps send. Auto-sending on scan would be spam, and WhatsApp would treat it as such.
Why does the code not connect for some guests?
Almost always a missing country code. Someone scanning a code with a local number will not reach you from abroad — include the country code and digits only.
Can the message be changed after printing?
No. The message is part of the encoded link. If you reprint with a new message, the old cards still open the old text — the same trade-off every static code carries.
Does this work on desktop WhatsApp?
The link opens the web version with the number prefilled. Phones are the intended target — that is where a printed code gets scanned.