The official wa.me link format
WhatsApp's own help page on click to chat (faq.whatsapp.com/5913398998672934) defines the format: https://wa.me/<number>, where the number is a full phone number in international format. That means country code plus national number, written as digits only. WhatsApp's example is to use https://wa.me/1XXXXXXXXXX and not https://wa.me/+001-(XXX)XXXXXXX.
The most common mistake is keeping the trunk zero that you dial inside a country. A UAE mobile written locally as 050 123 4567 becomes 971501234567 in the link, and a UK mobile written as 07400 123456 becomes 447400123456. The exception is countries such as Italy, where the leading zero is part of the international number and must stay. This tool applies those rules per country using the same numbering-plan data that Android uses.
- UAE: 050 123 4567 → https://wa.me/971501234567
- Saudi Arabia: 050 123 4567 → https://wa.me/966501234567
- Kuwait: 5000 0000 → https://wa.me/96550000000
- Egypt: 0100 123 4567 → https://wa.me/201001234567
- United Kingdom: 07400 123456 → https://wa.me/447400123456
Pre-filled messages: encoding Arabic, emoji and line breaks
Add ?text= followed by URL-encoded text to place a message in the customer's text box. Spaces become %20, a line break becomes %0A, and every Arabic letter is encoded as UTF-8 bytes, so مرحبا becomes %D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AD%D8%A8%D8%A7. Typing these codes by hand is error-prone; the generator encodes the whole message, including emoji, ampersands, question marks and apostrophes that would otherwise cut the text short.
The customer can edit or delete the pre-filled text before sending, and the chat only starts when they tap send. WhatsApp formatting such as *bold* and _italic_ works inside the message, and the chat preview in the tool shows how it will look. Keep the message short and written in the customer's voice, because it is sent under their name.
wa.me or api.whatsapp.com: which link should you use?
Both open the same chat. The short https://wa.me/ form is the one WhatsApp documents today and the one to print, share and put on buttons. The long form, https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=<number>&text=<message>, is an older URL that still works and is useful when a website builder, ad platform or link checker rejects or rewrites wa.me links.
You can also leave out the number: https://wa.me/?text=<message> opens WhatsApp with the message ready and lets the person choose who to send it to. That suits referral and share buttons, not customer service.
Tracking clicks: why UTM tags do not work on wa.me
UTM parameters are read by your web analytics when someone lands on your website. A wa.me link takes people straight into WhatsApp, so there is no page view to record, and WhatsApp does not report clicks to you. Adding utm_source to a wa.me link therefore measures nothing.
The reliable pattern has two parts. First, send ad, email and social traffic to a landing page on your own site tagged with UTMs, and put the WhatsApp button on that page. Second, give each placement its own pre-filled message or reference code, such as [IG01], so agents can see where each chat started. The tool builds both: the tagged landing page URL and the message with the code appended.
The UTM builder also covers links you send by SMS and in WhatsApp campaigns: one click fills utm_source and utm_medium for an SMS campaign, a WhatsApp campaign, a QR code or a social bio, and you can add utm_campaign, utm_content and utm_term. It keeps any parameters and #anchor already in your URL, warns when a value has capitals or spaces (reports would split "SMS" and "sms"), and shows how many of the 160 GSM-7 characters the link takes in an SMS.
- Use one link and one reference code per placement: Instagram bio, Google ad, newsletter, packaging.
- Record each code, its placement and its start date in a simple register.
- Tag conversations by code in your inbox so you can report chats and sales by source.
What happens after the customer taps send
On the WhatsApp Business Platform, a message from the customer opens a 24-hour customer service window. Inside that window your team can reply with free-form messages, media and documents; outside it you need an approved template. Because the customer starts the chat, a click-to-chat link is one of the cleanest ways to begin a conversation, but it is not consent to marketing messages.
If one phone receives more chats than one person can answer, connect the number to the WhatsApp Business API and route conversations to a shared team inbox, where agents, chatbots and AI agents can work the same queue.