Although the messaging app is undoubtedly the most used in a large part of the world to communicate with our family and friends, the truth is that there are many users who still miss certain functions in WhatsApp. One of them is that it allows you to send messages to any phone number, that is, you can send messages to a phone number, even if we don’t have it saved among our contacts. If you are one of those who think that this function should be included in the famous app, we will tell you how to send WhatsApp messages to a number without adding it to your contacts in a simple way.
Until relatively recently it was not possible to start a conversation with them without first registering them in the contacts, so the only way to “do it” was to add the person, write to them and then delete them from the contacts, but now it is possible. Thanks to the popularity of WhatsApp and the fact that many companies decided to include the service as a customer service channel, those responsible for the service created a method to be able to place a link on any website and start a conversation, something that you can use whenever you need it and without the need to have a website.
Of course, if the other person has written to you, you can reply without having to add their number at any time. With the fact that you save the conversation, even if it is archived, you will be able to establish contact again without having their number in your address book.
When can it be useful?
Adding someone to our address book can take a minute, but we may not feel like doing it or we may simply not want to store in our contact list a bunch of numbers of people we don’t know and then we will have to delete or they will simply we get confused when your name matches that of another. You can talk to someone and remove their contact immediately, but sending WhatsApp messages to a number without adding it to contacts is an option if you’re contacting someone on second-hand sales apps, for example, or if you want to contact someone you’ve met in a dating app, but without adding it to your schedule.
It may also happen that you want to talk to someone, but you don’t want them to see your WhatsApp statuses or your photo updates because you don’t want this person to see a certain part of you, but you do want to show it to other contacts. It can happen if you talk to a teacher, you are going to do some business, your landlord or there are many circumstances why you are not interested in having this person on your agenda.
You must bear in mind that the messages you send are not completely anonymous, since the telephone number that you have associated with the WhatsApp account will appear in the message. In fact, if the other user hasn’t added you to their contact list either, the phone number will be the information that will appear available as the sender in the messages you send. Even, the nick that we have determined in our account will also appear. The latter is usually very helpful when we are in a group with many people and we do not want to add them to our agenda.
What you should keep in mind
On the official WhatsApp website we can access the conditions of service, but also a series of unwanted practices that could cause the application to ban us and we could never use messaging chats again. Among these practices we find the excessive use of mailing lists or the use of contact lists that you do not know.
WhatsApp includes among its rules that you should only send messages to people who have contacted you or who have asked you to contact them through WhatsApp. If your idea is to use the following tips and tricks to send messages to people you don’t know or just have fun playing jokes, it is not something that we recommend since you can end up being banned in the best of cases, but being reported in the worst of them. As they collect from the app, “ask for permission and respect the limits” but, above all, comply with the conditions of service and do not write or call someone you do not know or who has not asked you to do so.
It is also important to know that if the other person has blocked your number on WhatsApp, you will not be able to contact them in the ways that we discuss below, even if you do not save their number because the one blocked is yours. You could do it if you share a group from the same group, although most likely you do not share any and if he has blocked you it is because he does not want any contact with you. Trying to do so can not only get your WhatsApp account disabled, but you could get into legal trouble.
Is it legit?
Beyond the ethical issues about contacting other people without including their number, this fact alone is completely legal. You have access to the number and are using it without having to add the other person to the phonebook. Good because you don’t want him to see your photo, your status or not be able to access the permissions you give to the people who are in your contacts. The message and the action would be the same if you had added the other person to your contacts. It does not change anything, therefore, the legality of this will depend on the use you make of your message.
If you are going to contact a random person, someone who does not know you, who has not given you permission to do so, another person has asked you to write to a third person or you want to do it with someone who has blocked you with another number, do not you must do it. Not even, even if you add it to the agenda. There are certain countries where spam or anonymous messaging to prank or otherwise has been prohibited.
Neither can they be used to extort, blackmail, harass someone or carry out any action that goes against the existing legality and the terms of use and conditions of the service. If you doubt that what you are going to do is legal, it is because it probably is not. It is not so much whether you add the person to the agenda or not as other issues.
How to send messages
How can we send messages to that person without adding it to the agenda ? There are several methods that we can use, so we are going to tell you about the most important ones, whether you share a group with this person or if it is the first time you establish contact or contact someone again for something, but you do not want them to know anything else of you.
Someone you share groups with
One of the aspects that you must take into account is that if you want to talk to someone with whom you share a group, you will not even need to follow these steps, but simply go to the group information, search for that person among the members and touch in “send a message” (no need to add to existing contacts) to contact without having to do something more complicated.
Immediately, the option to write to him privately will appear and you will be able to start the conversation. You can follow it for as long as you want, if the other person answers you, without having to add it to the agenda. If you need to make specific contacts with someone, you may be interested in this option. The other person probably knows that you are sharing a group, but it doesn’t hurt to tell them so they know where you got their number from and what you want, since sharing the same group does not mean that the other person consents or wants you to contact him.
There is also another way to talk to someone with whom we share a group. We can select the message of the person with whom we want to speak privately, and we will go to the three points on the top right. The menu will give us the option to ” Reply privately “. This will open a new conversation with a phone number that we do not have saved in the agenda.
However, we can only create a WhatsApp group with people who are in our contacts. So the administrator must add the users in a classic way, saving the number in the phonebook and adding it in the app.
Start WhatsApp chat without saving the number
The best thing about this method is that it is compatible with Android, with iPhone and also with WhatsApp Web and desktop versions. Also, they are all tools provided by WhatsApp so you don’t need to use any modified apps or strange software. Thanks to this there is no risk of suspension of the account or similar.
Specifically, these are the steps we must follow:
- We open the browser on our mobile.
- We write the url https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=USXXXXXXXX
Where US we must replace it with the country code of the telephone number, 01 in the case of USA. Where it says XXXXXX we must replace it with the phone number to which we want to send the message without having to add it to our contact list. That is, following the previous steps we would have an example like: https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=120646202493561.
Once you have it copied to your smartphone (you can also use it on your computer if you use WhatsApp Web or the desktop application for Windows or macOS) paste it into your favorite browser and before accessing it, remember to modify the XXXXXX at the end of the URL for the phone number to which you want to send a message preceded by the country code (US).
When you have it, access the URL and a website owned by WhatsApp will load. In it, it will ask you if you really want to start a conversation with that phone number and if you confirm it, the WhatsApp app (or WhatsApp Web / Desktop if you are doing it from a computer) will automatically open with the chat for that open phone number.
At this point you just have to write the message and send it as you would in any conversation. Until you delete it completely or archive it, it will remain open and you will always have it available in the chat list to send new messages to the phone number in question.
Another alternative, also using the WhatsApp API, is to type or paste this link in the address bar https://wa.me and after a slash / you must indicate the phone number to which you want to send a message with its corresponding code country. For example: https://wa.me/91123456789. There is no advantage over the previous format, but it may be easier for you to remember this link format.
Apps to send WhatsApp to unsaved numbers
As you have seen, opening a direct chat on WhatsApp with an anonymous number, a number that we do not have in the agenda, is a very simple possibility and it does not infringe the rules of use of the messaging App. To avoid having to enter the personalized url, there are several applications that allow us to open conversations directly with the phone number we want without having to go through the phonebook to add it to our contacts.
We can also find certain applications that give us the option of sending messages to phone numbers that we don’t have in our contacts and without having to add them to the phonebook. Two of the most popular and used are WhatsDirect and Direct Message for WhatsApp. In this way, with any of the apps installed on our mobile, we will not have to use the API of the famous app, which requires us to remember the url, have it saved in favorites or have to also use the browser.
On Android
Depending on your operating system, you can access one or the other applications with which you can send messages to other people without having their number, among other features, so we are going to tell you about the most popular ones in the Android os and how they work. In addition, we will tell you each of the steps that you will have to follow to use these apps on your mobile.
- Whatsdirect
- wassapeame
- EasyMessage
On iOS devices
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you will be able to access applications that will allow you to do this with total security, so you will be able to talk to other people without even having to save them in your contacts, with the benefits that this implies. For this reason, we will tell you about some of the most popular ones.
- WhatsApp Direct Chat
- Direct Message for WhatsApp
