Create a WhatsApp link with a pre-filled message

01The exact format, per WhatsApp’s own help page

WhatsApp documents its click to chat links on a help page we read on October 6, 2026. The link opens a chat with a number the person clicking has never saved to their address book. It works on the phone and on WhatsApp Web, on one condition: the number has to belong to an active WhatsApp account.

The message is never sent on its own. It sits in the text field, and your contact is the one who taps Send. The no-number version is for passing a message along, say a referral a client forwards to a peer.

02The four most common format mistakes

WhatsApp’s help page puts it in one line: no plus sign, no zeroes, no brackets, no dashes in the number. In practice, these slips nearly always come from a number copied out of an email signature or a spreadsheet.

03French overseas numbers do not take +33

This mistake is easy to miss, because nothing in the number gives it away. The French national numbering plan published by Arcep, the French telecoms regulator, splits French numbers across six ITU country codes: +33 for mainland France, +590 for Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, +594 for French Guiana, +596 for Martinique, +262 for Réunion and Mayotte, and +508 for Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

A mobile number starting with 0690 still looks exactly like a mainland mobile. Written as 33690…, it produces a link that reaches nobody. Only Saint Pierre and Miquelon numbers have to be typed with their own code, +508. For Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion and Mayotte, the generator reads the first four digits and applies the right country code, even with France selected:

Landlines follow the same rule: 0590, 0594, 0596, 0262, 0263 and 0269 belong to those same country codes. A number typed with +33 when it actually starts with 690 gets corrected the same way.

04Where the link earns its keep in a sales process

The pre-filled message is the most useful part of the link, and the most overlooked. Write it in the voice of the person who will send it, and slip in a marker: the first message then tells you where the lead came from and what they want to talk about.

• Quote follow-up : “Hi, I have a question about quote Q-2026-114.” The reference pulls up the right deal before you even reply.
• Trade show or webinar : “Hi, we met at the Lyon trade show.” One link per event, and the lead source is written into the chat.
• Email signature : one link per rep, pointing at their own number, with “Hi, following up on your email.”
• Offer page or listing : “Hi, I am interested in the Pro plan.” The prospect has nothing to write, they just tap Send.

The WhatsApp Business app also creates a short link when the account is set up, under Tools then Short link, with an editable default message, according to WhatsApp’s help center. That link carries a single message. A wa.me link is built on demand: one per quote, per event or per page, each with its own reference.

05What happens after the click, inside Kasar

Whoever clicks writes to your WhatsApp. Once that WhatsApp is connected to Kasar, it feeds the CRM inbox, next to email and LinkedIn. You connect it with a QR code, the same way as WhatsApp Web: Kasar shows up in your phone’s linked devices as Kasar CRM, and you keep your number.

The number ties the chat to the record. A conversation is saved on the record as soon as the number matches a contact, or when you add it to the CRM in one click, at which point Kasar pulls in the last 30 days of messages. Record phone numbers are stored in international format, the very format a wa.me link asks for. You reply in text from the record or from the inbox.