How do I message a customer on WhatsApp without saving their number to my contacts?

When this comes in handy

An order lands in your online shop with the buyer's mobile number and you want to confirm the delivery address or a pickup time. A courier scribbles his number on a slip. Saving every one of those fills your contacts with names you will not need next week, and can put your number into the lists of people you do not know. A one-off link avoids all of that.

Step by step

1. Open the WhatsApp link generator in the browser on the same phone that has WhatsApp.
2. If the number is local, such as 055 987 6543, pick +966 in the country-code helper and paste it as it is. The tool drops the 0 and adds the code.
3. Leave the message empty, or type your opening line, such as 'Hello, this is the flower shop about your order'.
4. Press 'Open link'. WhatsApp opens a chat with that number and your text waits in the message box until you press send.

With that example number the result is:

https://wa.me/966559876543

Remember: this time the first message is yours

In this use you are the one pressing send, so write in your shop's voice: say who you are, why you are writing and the order number. The customer does not know your number yet, and an unexplained message from an unknown number is often ignored or blocked.

If you message from a WhatsApp Business account, make sure the shop name is filled in on the business profile, so the customer knows who is writing before reading a word.

Limits worth knowing

• The tool cannot tell whether the number has WhatsApp; it checks the format only. WhatsApp itself tells you when the link opens if it cannot find the account.
• Building and opening the link send nothing. A message goes out only when you tap send inside the app.
• Once you send, the chat stays in your chat list even though the number is not saved, so you can come back to it.
• The number you type is not stored on the site or sent to any server; the link is built inside your browser.

Several customers a day?

Press 'Reset' between customers so the previous number or message does not linger in the fields. The tool makes one link at a time and does not message a list of numbers in one go, which is deliberate: every message goes out because you decided to send it.