WhatsApp Web login

How the login works

A WhatsApp account lives on a phone. A computer never gets its own username and password; it is added to the account as a linked device, and the phone has to approve it once. That approval is what people call the WhatsApp Web login.

After the computer is linked it connects to WhatsApp by itself. Your phone can be in another room, in flight mode or switched off, and messages still arrive on the computer.

Log in with the QR code

1. On the computer, open web.whatsapp.com in an up-to-date browser. Check the address bar: it should show exactly that address, with a padlock.

2. On your phone, open WhatsApp.

   Android: tap the three dots at the top right, then Linked devices, then Link a device.
   iPhone: open Settings (or tap your profile picture), then Linked devices, then Link device.

3. If the phone asks, confirm it is you with your fingerprint, face or the PIN you use to unlock the phone.

4. Point the phone at the QR code on the computer screen. If the code has expired, reload it on the page.

5. Wait while recent chats sync. Large accounts take a minute or two the first time.

More detail, including what to do when the camera will not focus: how to scan the WhatsApp Web QR code.

Log in with a phone number instead

If the phone's camera is broken, or the computer is somewhere you cannot point a phone at, WhatsApp can link with a code instead of the QR image. This works on WhatsApp Web and in the Windows app.

1. On web.whatsapp.com, click Link with phone number (some versions say Log in with phone number), select your country, enter the number of your WhatsApp account and click Next.

2. The page shows an eight-character code.

3. Your phone gets a WhatsApp notification to enter a code to link a new device. Tap it. The phone shows the name and location of the device that is asking; if that is your computer, tap Confirm and type the code.

4. No notification? Go to Linked devices, tap Link a device (Link device on iPhone), then Link with phone number instead, and type the code there.

Staying signed in

WhatsApp Web keeps you logged in in that browser until one of these happens:

• you log out, on the computer or from your phone;
• the browser's cookies and site data for WhatsApp are cleared (many work computers do this on exit, and private or incognito windows always do);
• your phone has not used WhatsApp for more than 14 days;
• the linked computer itself has not been used for 30 days.

If you are asked to scan again every morning, the browser is wiping site data on close. Allow web.whatsapp.com to keep its data in the browser's privacy settings, or use the desktop app, which keeps its own session.

Logging in on a shared or public computer

• Before you scan, untick Stay logged in on this browser on the WhatsApp Web start page. The session then ends by itself when the tab or browser closes.
• Log out when you finish: in WhatsApp Web open Settings, then Log out. Closing the tab is otherwise not enough.
• Forgot? Log it out remotely from your phone under Linked devices.