How to use whatsapp on a desktop

Here's how to use WhatsApp web on your PC, laptop or tablet

View WhatsApp messages on a PC, laptop or tablet with WhatsApp Web. Here's how to get the WhatsApp desktop app.

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India Today Web Desk

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 7, 2019 15:42 IST

By India Today Web Desk: Still using WhatsApp on your phone? There are ways to get around this on your tablet and on a personal computer. Whatsapp Web syncs with the mobile app to let you send and receive WhatsApp messages from your computer. Any action you take on the phone will apply to WhatsApp on your computer and vice versa. You can access WhatsApp on both your phone and your computer.

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You can use WhatsApp on your computer in two ways:

Here's how to view WhatsApp in a web browser:

Open your PC, laptop or tablet browser and head to web.whatsapp.com
On an Android phone open WhatsApp, tap the three dots at the top right and choose WhatsApp web.
On an iPhone start WhatsApp, tap the settings icon at the bottom left and choose WhatsApp web/desktop.
You'll be prompted to use your smartphone's camera to scan the QR code visible in your computer's web browser.
Then point your phone camera at the computer screen to scan the code.
Whatsapp web will automatically launch in the browser and will remain active until you log out either from your computer or your phone.
You can select this option on your phone by returning to the WhatsApp Web menu and choose to log out from all devices.
For logging out from your PC you can do it by tapping the three dots icon at the top of the conversation thread, then choose Log out.

Here's how to install WhatsApp web on a computer:

Install the WhatsApp web desktop application, available for PC or Mac from whatapp.com/download.
Click the green download button to install the WhatsApp application on your computer.
Then find that file in your downloads folder and double-click it to install.
On a Windows computer, you should follow the steps in the installer' and on a Mac simply drag the WhatsApp icon to your applications folder.
Start the WhatsApp desktop application and the process is the same as above.
The app will keep you logged into WhatsApp until you choose to log out.
Note: Whatsapp can only be installed on your computer if your operating system is Windows 8 (or newer) or Mac OSX 10.9 (or newer).

Read: Here's how you can share your friends' Instagram stories in your own story

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Also read: Here’s how you can make a video of your screen in iPhone and Android

Edited By:

Harshita Pathak

Published On:

Jun 7, 2019

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How to Set up and Use WhatsApp Web or the Desktop App

You can use WhatsApp Web from your computer's browser by linking your account through a QR code from the WhatsApp mobile app.
You can also use WhatsApp from your computer by installing the WhatsApp desktop application.
You can open multiple WhatsApp accounts on your computer as long as you use a different browser window for each one.

Most people are familiar with using WhatsApp via a mobile app on their phone, but not everyone is aware that it's also possible to use WhatsApp on the computer desktop — either in a web browser or using a desktop app. The main difference? You still need to log into WhatsApp on the computer using your WhatsApp mobile app.

How to access WhatsApp Web or the desktop app

There are two ways to access your WhatsApp account on your PC or Mac computer:

Use the web app. Go to web.whatsapp.com in a web browser.
Use the desktop app. Install the WhatsApp desktop app on your Mac or Windows computer from the WhatsApp download page.

Click the link to install WhatsApp on your desktop and follow the installation instructions. Dave Johnson

How to set up and use WhatsApp Web or the desktop app

1. Once you've opened the webpage or installed and run the desktop app, you should see a QR code on your computer.

You'll need to scan the QR code in your WhatsApp mobile app to log in. Dave Johnson

2. Start WhatsApp on your phone.

3. Tap Settings. On iPhone, you'll find Settings at the bottom right of the screen, but on Android tap the three-dot menu at the top right and then choose Settings in the drop-down menu.

4. To the right of your account name, tap the QR code icon.

Use the QR code icon to log in to your desktop's WhatsApp. Dave Johnson

5. On the QR code screen, get ready to scan. On iPhone, tap Scan at the bottom of the page; on Android, tap the Scan Code tab at the top.

Point your phone at the QR code on the computer. Dave Johnson

6. Point your phone's camera at the QR code in WhatsApp on your computer.

7. If this is your first time using WhatsApp on the computer, you will see the Device Login Detected pop-up. Tap Continue and then tap Link a Device.

For a rundown on all the different ways to use WhatsApp, see our guide to the popular messaging app.

How WhatsApp Web differs from the mobile app

Once you've linked your computer and mobile app, you should see your WhatsApp Chats page in the web app or desktop app. Everything you do on either the computer or mobile app will be kept in sync and mirrored on the other device. New messages will appear in bold and you'll hear a notification on your computer. Click any conversation to reply from your computer.

WhatsApp web replicates the chat conversations from your mobile app. Dave Johnson

WhatsApp offers other features on the computer as well:

Click your own account icon to change your profile details like display name and About message.
Click any contact icon to control your interactions with that user. You can start an audio or video call, for example, mute notifications, block or report the user, and delete the chat.
At the top of the window you can also start a new chat (including start a new group chat) and see starred messages.

There are some significant advantages to using WhatsApp Web or the desktop app. It's often easier to type using a real mouse and keyboard, for example, and you can keep WhatsApp on the screen, side by side with other windows to copy and paste information into chat messages. And you can easily log into more than one WhatsApp account at the same time just by opening them in different WhatsApp Web browser windows.

On the other hand, be aware that you always need your phone to log into WhatsApp on the computer — there's no way to use WhatsApp Web without your mobile app.

Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

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How to add a WhatsApp chat icon to the desktop on Android

Despite all the shortcomings of WhatsApp, it is the most popular instant messenger in the world. Its combined audience of users has long exceeded a billion people, many of whom use WhatsApp as the main way to contact family, friends and work colleagues. And to make it easier for users to search for acquaintances, the developers came up with the idea of automatically adding users from your address book to the contact list, which often leads to the appearance of many unused chats, in which finding the right one becomes a non-trivial task. But we have a solution.

WhatsApp for Android allows you to bring any chats to your smartphone desktop. They have the form of applications, integrating into the general grid and not at all out of the general style. And to make it easier for you to distinguish them from each other, the photo of the interlocutor is used as an icon, the joint chat with which you bring to the desktop.

Read also: How to hide WhatsApp profile picture from all or some contacts

To bring the chat to the desktop, launch the WhatsApp application on your Android smartphone;
Find the desired one in the list of chats and select it by placing your finger on it and holding it for one and a half to two seconds;
Press the context menu key (three vertical dots) in the upper right corner;

Select the "Add a chat icon to the screen" option;
Minimize WhatsApp and return to the desktop - there you will see the avatar of your interlocutor;
Click on it - this action will take you to a joint chat.

If necessary, you can repeat this procedure with an unlimited number of chats. In this case, you will be able to launch the Chats without going to the WhatsApp application.

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How to add WhatsApp icon to desktop

January 8, 2021

By Adriano De Luca

Although WhatsApp is an application born for smartphones, over time it has become more and more ingrained in the habits of every person, so much so that now it has become a must to have it on your computer.

WhatsApp Web was born to meet this need: take advantage of the messaging services usually included on mobile devices - because they are associated with a mobile phone number - as well as on your computer screen.

Whatsapp is now much more than a platform for sending and receiving messages: it is a real social network through which you can interact with your contacts. Stories, calls and video calls are all features that expand the range of this application, making it even more important in the daily life of each of us.

The convenience of WhatsApp Web is that you can easily stay away from your phone without the risk of losing important messages, as it is obviously easier to send or receive files and documents in a secure, fast and informal way.

Download Whatsapp to have it also on the desktop of our computer, really very simple, but above all very, very convenient.

Download Whatsapp to have it also on the desktop of our computer, really very simple, but above all very, very convenient.

That's why now I'm going to tell you exactly how to put the Whatsapp icon on your PC desktop in order to use it safely even in this “new” formula.

If you have a Windows device , to put the WhatsApp icon on the desktop, just right-click on the desktop of the PC and, once the drop-down menu opens, select the item " New link " . A screen will appear where you will need to enter the link to WhatsApp Web , press forward. Enter the name of the link ( WhatsApp ) and click Done.

Instead, the desktop application automatically creates an icon on the desktop. You just need to click on this link, click the Download button for Windows and double click on the EXE file you just downloaded.

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