Save and use quick replies

A quick reply is a saved message you pull into a reply by typing / and its shortcut. The list belongs to the WhatsApp number a conversation replies from, so everybody answering that number shares the same set.

Anyone who can reply to a conversation on a number can add, change and delete that number’s quick replies.

Use a quick reply

To put one into a message:

1. Open a conversation in Conversations.
2. Type / at the start of the message box, or after a space.
3. Keep typing to narrow the list, or move through it with the arrow keys.
4. Press Enter or Tab, or click the reply you want.
5. Read the message, change anything you like, and press Send.

Picking a reply puts its words where the / was and adds its files beside the box. Nothing goes to the lead until you press Send.

The lightning button beside the paperclip opens the same list, which is quicker on a phone keyboard. Escape closes it. While the list is open, Enter picks a reply rather than sending the message.

Shortcuts that start with what you typed come first. Next are shortcuts with it anywhere inside. Last come replies whose words match, which finds the one whose shortcut you forgot.

Fill in the lead’s details

{{Name}}, {{Number}} and {{Source}} fill themselves in from the conversation the moment you pick the reply. The list previews each reply as this lead will read it.

A conversation still named with a phone number has no name to use. A greeting like Hi {{Name}}, keeps its hello and loses the name, and any other sentence that needed the name is dropped. What’s left sits in the box for you to read first. The first message a new lead gets reads the same tokens.

Add a quick reply

To save a new one:

1. Type / in the message box of any conversation on that number.
2. Press the pencil beside Quick replies.
3. Press Add quick reply.
4. Type the Shortcut, without the slash.
5. Write the Reply message.
6. Add any pictures or PDFs under Files.
7. Press Save.

A shortcut is one word of up to 25 characters, and /Price and /price count as the same shortcut. A reply holds up to 4,000 characters and up to 10 files. Files can be JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or PDF, each under 15MB, and a screenshot pasted anywhere in the form is added as a file.

There’s a faster way. Type the shortcut you want straight into a reply, such as /visa. The list reads Nothing matches /visa and offers Save /visa as a quick reply, which opens the form with the shortcut filled in.

Ctrl and Enter, or Cmd and Enter on a Mac, saves from inside the Reply message box.

Change or delete one

Press the pencil beside Quick replies to see the whole list. Press a reply to edit it, or the bin beside it to delete it. The message that follows a delete offers Undo.

Note

Closing the form by accident keeps what you’d written, so it’s still there when you open it again. Cancel is what throws it away.

On a contact’s record

A contact’s Chat tab in Contacts has the same / list. It offers the quick replies saved on the number that chat goes out from.

FAQ

Can my colleagues use the replies I save?

Yes, anyone who answers the same number. The list belongs to the number rather than to you.

Why is my quick reply missing from another conversation?

That conversation replies from a different WhatsApp number, and every number keeps its own list.

Does picking a quick reply send it?

No. It fills the box, and you still press Send.

Can a quick reply be just a picture?

Yes. A reply needs words or at least one file, and either is enough.