URL Short How do I make a free WhatsApp Business QR code that opens a chat?
Build a wa.me link with your number and an optional ready-made message, shorten it in URL Short and save the QR code the app draws: whoever scans it lands in a chat with you, message already typed. A 75-character link shrinks to 20 characters, which takes the code from 29 squares a side down to 21.
Build the wa.me link first
The link is wa.me/ followed by your full number in international format, digits only. A Spanish mobile 612 34 56 78 becomes wa.me/34612345678.
- No plus sign, no spaces, no dashes, no brackets.
- No leading zero after the country code.
- Use the number registered on your WhatsApp Business account, not the landline on your sign.
To pre-fill a message, add ?text= and the message with spaces and punctuation encoded. "Hi, I'd like to book a table" turned into Hi%2C%20I%27d%20like%20to%20book%20a%20table, and with the https prefix the whole link came to 75 characters. That length is the reason to shorten it.
Shorten it and get the QR code
- Paste the full link into Enter URL on the Shorten tab. Pick is.gd or v.gd in Shortening Service; neither needs a key.
- Tap Shorten URL. The Shortened URL and its QR Code appear below.
- Tap More, then Test Scan, and scan the code on a second screen or a printed proof. The app checks the code reads back the exact short link.
- Scan the same proof with another phone's camera to see the chat open with your message typed in. Test Scan checks the link, not the chat app.
- Set the size (below), then Save to Photos or Share QR to send the image to your printer or sticker shop.
How big should the sticker be?
It depends where it goes. A counter sticker is read at arm's length; a window sticker from the pavement. In Print Optimizer those match Sticker and Poster, and the link length changes the answer a lot:
| Intended Use | 75-character wa.me link | 20-character short link |
|---|---|---|
| Sticker (0.7 mm squares, 300 DPI) | 20.3 mm, 239 px | 14.7 mm, 173 px |
| Poster (3.0 mm squares, 150 DPI) | 87.0 mm, 513 px | 63.0 mm, 372 px |
Here is a quirk to watch for. For the long link on Poster, the app recommends 513 px, but the Size slider under Customize Colors stops at 500 px. You can't meet its own advice without shortening first.
For a window sticker 80 mm wide, at 150 DPI that needs 472 px, so set Size to 480 px. The app does not add any white margin to the saved PNG, so leave about 9 mm of extra white around it on the sticker; scanners need clear space on every side, and the printer's own trim line can eat into some of it.
Colors: keep the green for the frame
A bright chat-app green (#25D366) as the Foreground Color on white tests at 2.0:1 by the contrast formula Print Optimizer uses, below its 3.0 cut-off, and comes back Needs Optimization. A dark green (#075E54) gives 7.7:1 and passes. Put the bright green on the sticker around the code, not in it.
Free, Premium and the limits
All of the above is free, with ads. Premium removes ads and adds a Custom Alias so the link can end in your shop's name instead of random letters (on is.gd, v.gd, Spoo.me and a few others), plus saved QR Templates if you print codes for several numbers.
What it won't do: it has no connection to WhatsApp, so it can't read your profile, count chats or scans, or edit the link later. Change your number and you need a new short link and a new sticker. WhatsApp Business also makes its own QR code; if yours only lives on a screen, that one is enough. URL Short is the better choice when the code is going to print and the size needs checking and the scan needs testing before fifty stickers come back from the shop.
Questions and answers
What is the wa.me link format?
Is a wa.me link safe to scan?
Why is my WhatsApp QR code not working?
Can I make a QR code for a WhatsApp group?
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