How do I log in to WhatsApp Business Web?

Open web.whatsapp.com on the computer, then on the phone go to Linked devices, tap Link a device and scan the QR code. You can also link with your phone number and an eight-character code on WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp for Windows.

Why won't my WhatsApp Web QR code load or scan?

Usually it's the browser or the network. Use a current browser in a normal window, refresh the page for a new code, try another Wi-Fi or a hotspot, or link with your phone number instead.

How many computers can use one WhatsApp Business number?

Four at a time is WhatsApp's limit for linked devices. You keep them connected by opening WhatsApp on the main phone at least once every 14 days and using each computer at least once every 30 days.

Does my phone need to stay online for WhatsApp Business Web to work?

No. Linked devices work with the phone offline, but you still need to open WhatsApp on the main phone at least once every 14 days or the linked devices disconnect.

Is WhatsApp Web safe to use for business?

Yes, if you link only through WhatsApp's own apps and websites, check your linked devices often and log out of computers that aren't yours. WhatsApp warns that linking through unofficial apps or websites may put your account at risk.

WhatsApp Business Web: QR code login and what works on a PC

Q: Is there a WhatsApp Business web version?

Yes, but it's the same WhatsApp Web at web.whatsapp.com. You link it to the phone that runs your WhatsApp Business number, and your business chats appear in the browser.

What WhatsApp Business Web is

There's no separate WhatsApp Business website. You open the same WhatsApp Web at web.whatsapp.com, or the WhatsApp app for Windows or Mac, and link it to the phone that runs your WhatsApp Business number. The computer then shows your chats and lets you reply with a full keyboard, while the phone stays the account's main device. WhatsApp's linked devices page says you can link up to four devices at a time, and two rules keep them linked. First, open WhatsApp on the main phone at least once every 14 days, or every linked device logs out. Second, use each linked computer at least once a month, because WhatsApp disconnects a device that sits unused for 30 days.

If you sell on WhatsApp, the laptop is where the follow-ups get done. Twenty replies after a day of meetings is a sitting at the desk, not an evening hunched over a phone. Most of the trouble comes at the moment you scan the code, so start there.

How to log in with the QR code

Do this before your first block of follow-ups, not while a buyer is waiting. Have the phone and the computer side by side, then:

On the computer, go to web.whatsapp.com or open the WhatsApp app for Windows or Mac, and wait for the QR code.
On the phone, open WhatsApp Business and find Linked devices. On Android it's under the three-dot menu, and on an iPhone it's in Settings.
Tap Link a device. If your phone opens with a fingerprint or your face, it asks for that; if not, it asks for your phone's PIN.
Point the phone's camera at the QR code on the computer screen, and your chats load on the computer.

WhatsApp Web sometimes adds a step. WhatsApp's page on passkey linking says it can ask you to create or use a passkey: you click Continue in the browser and confirm with your fingerprint, face or screen lock. If the passkey isn't synced to that computer yet, you scan a second QR code.

If the code has been on the screen for a while and the scan does nothing, refresh the page and scan the new code.

Logging in without scanning

If the camera won't cooperate, link with your phone number instead, which works only on WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp for Windows for now:

On the computer, choose Link with phone number or Log in with phone number, pick your country and type your business number, and the computer shows an eight-character code.
On the phone, tap the notification that asks you to enter the code, check that the device name and place look right, and confirm.
Confirm it's you with your fingerprint, face or PIN, type the eight-character code into the phone, and the chats start loading on the computer.

If the phone shows a device you don't recognise, tap Don't link. Someone who has your number and gets you to type their code has your chats, every buyer's message included.

When the QR code won't scan or won't load

Most failures come down to the browser or the network, not the phone. WhatsApp's page on connection problems and its passkey page cover most of these:

What you see	The likely cause	What to try
The code never appears	An old or unsupported browser	Use the latest Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera or Safari; Internet Explorer won't work
Nothing happens after scanning	A stale page	Refresh web.whatsapp.com and scan the new code
It scans, then the passkey step fails	A private window, or a company browser that blocks passkeys	Use a normal window, or link with your phone number
It loads at home but not at the office	The office Wi-Fi blocks WhatsApp	Try your phone's hotspot, or ask IT to let web.whatsapp.com through
It worked yesterday and keeps dropping	Browser data	Clear the browser's cache and cookies, then log in again
The camera won't focus on the code	Glare, distance or a smudged lens	Wipe the lens, move closer, or link with your phone number instead

The office row is the one that catches reps out: the link works at home and fails at your desk. If nothing in the table helps, restart the computer. WhatsApp's page says to switch it off, wait 30 seconds and switch it back on. Still stuck? Log out of every linked device from the phone and link again from scratch. A clean link fixes more than you'd expect.

What carries over to the computer, and what doesn't

Your chats, your contacts and your labels show up on the computer, and a reply you send from the laptop appears on the phone too. The phone doesn't have to stay online for this: WhatsApp's linked devices page says linked devices work without it. A few gaps are worth knowing before a buyer's message depends on them:

Some older messages don't show. The linked devices page lists a known issue where some linked devices don't display up to a year of chat history, so check the phone when you need last year's quote.
Broadcast lists stay on the phone. The same page lists creating and viewing broadcast lists as unsupported on linked devices, along with live location, so send the monthly update to your client list from the phone.
Every device needs updating. WhatsApp's linking pages ask you to keep WhatsApp current on all of them, because the updates carry its bug fixes.
The 14-day rule applies to every device at once. If the business phone sits in a drawer for two weeks, every linked computer loses the connection together, usually on a Monday morning.
The 30-day rule applies to each device on its own. The office desktop you only open for the month-end pipeline review drops off if it goes a month unused.

None of this needs changing day to day. It's the reason "the laptop stopped showing chats" is almost always solved on the phone, not on the laptop.

WhatsApp Web or the desktop app?

Both show the same chats from the same number, and both count towards your four linked devices. WhatsApp's page about WhatsApp Web says the browser version makes calls over your internet connection, and the linked devices page says the Windows and Mac apps take voice and video calls with up to 32 people. The real difference is what's installed:

	WhatsApp Web	WhatsApp for Windows or Mac
Where it runs	A browser tab	An app you download
Best for	A shared or borrowed computer	Your own laptop, all day
Calls	Yes, over your internet	Voice and video, up to 32 people
Logging in by phone number	Yes	Windows, yes

If the computer is yours and you answer chats for hours a day, install the app. If you're on someone else's machine, at a client's office or a shared hot desk, use the browser tab and log out when you leave.

What the Business tools do on a computer

The two tools you'll use most come with you. WhatsApp's announcement of Business features on Web and desktop brought quick replies and labels to the computer: type a forward slash in a chat to pick a quick reply, and use labels to sort chats so you can find them again.

That changes how fast you can answer. On a phone, the same price question typed eight times a day is eight small interruptions. On a laptop with a quick reply saved as /price, it's a few keystrokes.

Made-up example: Priya sells a 12-week coaching programme and gets 20 enquiries a week, most of them in the evening after her posts go out.

Before, she answered on her phone between sessions, and the same four questions about price, start dates, refunds and the call link ate most of her evening.

She links WhatsApp Business to her laptop and saves four quick replies: /price, /dates, /refund and /call. Each new enquiry gets the right one in seconds, plus a line of her own.

She labels every chat "new", "call booked" or "paid". On Sunday she opens the "call booked" label and sends each person the next step, which used to slip until Tuesday.

Save a quick reply for each question you answer more than twice a day, such as price, dates and the call link. They're plain text you pull up with a slash, not the tappable quick reply buttons a business sends through software.

Sharing one number across a team

Four linked devices means a small team can answer one business number from four computers, and everyone sees the same chats and the same labels. Agree who answers which chats, by label or by hour, or two reps end up replying to the same buyer while a third chat waits. The app wasn't built as a team inbox, which is why WhatsApp sends businesses with many people on one number to its paid platform. Before you pay for that, compare the three ways small teams share one number.

Some software links your number as a device, the same way WhatsApp Web does, and builds a team inbox on top. ActivityTracker's WhatsApp integration is one: you link your current number with the same QR scan, and each chat then shows on the client's record. It isn't one of WhatsApp's own apps, and WhatsApp's linked devices page warns that "linking your device through unofficial apps or websites may put your account at risk." For that reason ActivityTracker spaces out the messages your number starts on its own, and stops them if WhatsApp warns the number. Ask that question of any tool that asks you to scan a code.

Outgrown one shared laptop? ActivityTracker's team inbox puts every number you use in one list and shows which chats are waiting on a reply.

See the team inbox

Logging out, and keeping it safe

A linked computer stays logged in until you log it out or it goes 30 days unused. WhatsApp's page on unlinking a device gives two ways: log out on the computer itself, or on the phone go to Linked devices, tap the device and tap Log out. The phone route works even when the computer isn't with you, so use it if a laptop goes missing.

Four habits keep a business number safe on the web:

Link only where WhatsApp's linked devices page says to: WhatsApp Web, its apps for Windows and Mac, an Android tablet or a companion phone.
Turn on push notifications on the phone. The linked devices page says the notification is how you review and remove a device you don't recognise.
Open Linked devices on the phone every Friday and log out anything you don't recognise.
Log out of WhatsApp Web on any computer that isn't yours before you walk away.