How many chats can I pin on WhatsApp?

Three, at the top of your chats list, so you unpin one to make room for a fourth. Pay for WhatsApp Plus, where it's offered, and you get extra pinned chats.

How do I pin a chat on WhatsApp on an iPhone?

Tap and hold the chat, tap More, then Pin, and choose how long the pin should last.

How long does a pinned message stay pinned?

For 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days, whichever you chose when you pinned it. It unpins itself when the time runs out.

How many messages can I pin in one WhatsApp chat?

Four per chat, shown as a banner at the top with the most recent pin first and the next one a tap away.

Why can't I pin a message in a WhatsApp group?

Because the group's admins have turned it off, under the group's name, then Group permissions, then Edit group settings.

Can I pin a chat on WhatsApp Web?

Yes: click the chat, open its menu with the small down arrow, then click Pin and choose how long it should last.

How to pin a chat in WhatsApp (and pin messages inside it)

How to pin a chat

To pin a chat in WhatsApp, tap and hold it in your chats list, tap Pin and choose how long the pin should last. The chat then stays at the top of the list while newer chats line up below it. WhatsApp's page on pinning chats sets the limit at three pinned chats at a time.

On Android:

Tap and hold the chat in your chats list.
Tap the pin icon, then Pin.
Choose how long the pin should last, and tap Pin.

On an iPhone:

Tap and hold the chat, then tap More.
Tap Pin.
Choose how long the pin should last.

On WhatsApp Web or the Windows and Mac apps, click the chat, open its menu with the small down arrow, click Pin and choose how long. To unpin on any device, take the same path and pick Unpin.

The top of your chats list is the first thing you see. The chats parked there get your attention first, so treat the three slots as this week's three priorities. Your best friend and the family group can live in Favorites instead.

Channels have pins of their own, in the Updates tab. WhatsApp's page on pinning channels lets you pin two channels you follow to the top of your channels list.

How to pin a message inside a chat

Pinning a message keeps one message at the top of a single chat, as a banner. It's the fix for a chat where the price or the address is 200 messages up. WhatsApp's page on pinning messages sets the rules:

What	The rule
How many	Up to four per chat
How long	24 hours, 7 days or 30 days
Which shows first	The latest pin; tap the banner for the next
When it ends	When you unpin it, or the time runs out

On Android, tap and hold the message, tap the three dots, then Pin, pick the duration and tap Pin. On an iPhone, tap and hold the message, tap Pin and pick the duration. On a computer, hover over the message, click its menu and choose Pin. A tap on the banner takes you to the message inside the chat, and the same menu unpins it.

Pinning in a group chat

In a group, the admins decide whether members can pin. The switch is under the group's name, then Group permissions, then Edit group settings. Each pin posts a note in the group saying a message was pinned and who pinned it.

A sales manager can pin this week's target or the new price sheet in the team group, and when someone asks for the price, it's already at the top. One catch: people who join the group after a message was sent, or who cleared their chat history, won't see that pin. When a new rep joins, send the price sheet again and pin the new copy.

Pin, star, list, archive or mute?

Pinning is one of six tools WhatsApp gives you for keeping chats in order, and each does a different job:

Tool	What it does	Limit
Pin a chat	Keeps a chat at the top	Three chats
Pin a message	Keeps a message at the top of a chat	Four per chat
Star	Saves a message to Starred	None stated
Lists	Filters your chats	Four built in, plus yours
Archive	Hides a chat from Chats	None stated
Mute	Silences a chat's alerts	8 hours, 1 week or Always

Starring is the one people forget. A starred message works like a bookmark, saved in Starred until you go looking for it. Star the things you'll want once, like a client's company registration number or a delivery address, and pin the things you'll want every day this week.

Archiving hides a chat without deleting it. WhatsApp's archive page says an archived chat stays archived when a new message comes in, and it won't alert you unless someone mentions you or replies to you. That makes the archive a bad home for a lead who's gone quiet: when they write back, nothing buzzes. Archive finished deals and groups you read once a week.

Muting keeps the chat where it is and stops the noise. WhatsApp's page on muting offers 8 hours, 1 week or Always. You still get the messages and the unread count, and the other person isn't told. Mute the busy groups for the length of your prospecting block, so the buzz you do hear is a client.

When three pinned chats aren't enough

Three is the limit, so a fourth pin means unpinning one first. The rest of your chats stay in reach with these:

Lists are filters above your chats. WhatsApp's page on lists names the four built in (All, Unread, Favorites and Groups) and lets you add your own, such as "Quote sent" or "Went quiet". Tap and hold a chat and choose Add to list to file it there.
Favorites is a list for the people you talk to every week, like your manager and your five biggest clients. Add them from the Chats tab and keep the pins for what's moving.
The WhatsApp Business app has labels too. You can make up to 20 labels, but WhatsApp now says labels are turning into lists, a change it's rolling out gradually. If your Business app shows lists instead, use them the same way.
WhatsApp Plus is a paid monthly subscription, and extra pinned chats are one of its benefits. You buy it inside WhatsApp Messenger on an iPhone or Android phone, and what you get depends on your region and account.

Lists hold more than pins do. A chat can sit in "Quote sent" for two weeks without pushing anything off the top, and one look at that list shows everyone you're waiting on. What is WhatsApp Business? covers the rest of the Business app's tools, and WhatsApp quick reply buttons the one that saves the most typing.

WhatsApp also lets you message yourself, and suggests pinning that chat so it's easy to find. Forward a quote or an address to yourself and the self-chat turns into the day's notepad, one tap from the top.

What a seller should pin

Pins are scarce, so spend them on the chats that would cost you most if they slid down the list. Set them in your Monday pipeline review and check them again on Friday:

The deal closest to signing, until it signs.
A client with an open problem you've promised to fix.
Your team or manager chat, if a missed message there costs you a lead.

Inside a client's chat, pin the message you both keep scrolling back to, like the agreed price or the documents they still owe you. Then match each pin's length to the deal: 24 hours for tomorrow's meeting address, 7 days for a quote you expect an answer to this week and 30 days for a longer setup with a new client.

Two habits waste pins. Pinning a chat that's at the top every day anyway, like a family group, spends a slot on nothing. Pinning a quiet lead as a reminder fails too, because a pin shows you the chat and never tells you what to say or when. Put that lead in "Went quiet" and give it a follow-up day.

If you manage a team, ask in your next 1:1 which three chats the rep would pin today. A rep who answers in five seconds knows their pipeline. One who can't name three needs the pipeline review before anything else.

Farah's week with three pins

Made-up example: Farah sells office fit-outs to small firms, and she has usually lost track of which of her 35 WhatsApp chats are waiting on her.

Monday, after her pipeline review, she pins the two firms with quotes out and her sales team group. In each firm's chat she pins the quote for 7 days, so the price and scope are one tap away when they ring.

Everyone else goes into three lists she made: "Site visit booked", "Quote sent" and "Went quiet". She mutes two supplier groups for 8 hours so they don't buzz through her 9am calls.

Tuesday, her first call of the day is the top pinned chat. Wednesday, she opens "Went quiet", works down it from the top and sends four follow-ups.

Friday, one firm signs. She unpins it and pins the firm with Monday's site visit in its place.

Farah didn't add a single tool that week. She decided on Monday what deserved the top of her screen, and the phone stopped deciding for her.

When pins stop being enough

Pins and lists show you a chat, but they never say what you promised someone or when to follow up. You've outgrown them when:

More people are waiting on you than three pins and one list can show.
You promise a date in a chat and only find it again by scrolling.
A teammate covers your chats while you're on leave.
You sell from two numbers, or the team shares one.

From then on, give every person a next step and a date, and keep both in a CRM that puts the follow-up on the right day's list. If the team shares one number, WhatsApp Business multiple users walks through the options.

ActivityTracker's WhatsApp integration links the number you already use as a device. Its inbox puts every number in one list, and its Needs you filter shows the chats a person has to answer: the customer sent the last message and no AI agent is replying, or the agent handed the chat over. It isn't one of WhatsApp's own apps. WhatsApp's linked devices page warns that "linking your device through unofficial apps or websites may put your account at risk." So ActivityTracker spaces out the messages your number starts on its own, and stops them if WhatsApp warns the number.

When three pins can't hold everyone waiting on you, ActivityTracker's WhatsApp team inbox puts every number you use in one list and shows which customers sent the last message.

See the team inbox

When pinning doesn't work

If a pin won't stick or a chat goes missing, it's usually one of these:

You can't pin a fourth chat. Three is the limit, so unpin one first.
A pinned message vanished. Its time ran out. Pin it again and pick 30 days if you still need it next month.
You can't pin in a group. The admins have turned it off under Group permissions, then Edit group settings.
A new teammate can't see the pinned price sheet. People who join after a message was sent don't see its pin, so send it again and pin the new copy.
A lead wrote back to an archived chat and you missed it. Archived chats stay archived and quiet, so turn off Keep chats archived in Settings, then Chats, and new messages bring them back out.
A muted chat still shows a number. That's the unread count, which muting keeps.