How To Create An Invitation Link For Your WhatsApp Group

Tech

Creating invitation links for your WhatsApp group is a phenomenal way to delegate control over who joins the group to others. It can also serve as a great way to expand the reach of the group outside your friendship circle, to other people who might be interested in joining. To do so is easy, but be aware that you must be an admin to generate an invitation link.

To learn how to create an invitation link for your WhatsApp group, follow our step-by-step instructions below. For all other information, please refer to our FAQ section at the end of this article.

How to create an invitation link for a WhatsApp Group (digital link)

  1. Open up the WhatsApp app on your device, then locate the group in question using the search function (magnifying glass in the top-right of the home page), or by scrolling through your Recent or Archived chats

  2. Tap or click on the group chat to open it, and then tap/click the group name at the top of the chat window to open ‘Group Info’
  3. Scroll down to the list of participants at the bottom of the ‘Group Info’ page, and then tap/click on ‘Invite via link’
  4. You can now choose from 1 of 3 options for generating a digital link:
    1. ‘Send link via WhatsApp’ – choose this option to directly forward the link to another group, single, or multiple WhatsApp contacts; simply select the contacts from the next page (tap each contact/group in turn) and then tap the green ‘Send’ arrow in the bottom right to confirm
    2. ‘Copy link’ – choose this option to copy the link to your device’s clipboard; to then send it on, paste it into a message of your choosing (email, text, etc.) and send it to however many people you want
    3. ‘Share link’ – choose this option to directly share the invitation link via some other app on your device (Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Gmail, Outlook, etc.), and follow the on-screen instructions accordingly for each particular app to send the link to your chosen contacts.
  5. Having sent your invitation link on, your contacts simply have to tap/click on it to join your group.

How to create an invitation link for a WhatsApp Group (physical link)

  1. Open up the WhatsApp app on your device, then locate the group in question using the search function (magnifying glass in the top-right of the home page), or by scrolling through your Recent or Archived chats

  2. Tap or click on the group chat to open it, and then tap/click the group name at the top of the chat window to open ‘Group Info’
  3. Scroll down to the list of participants at the bottom of the ‘Group Info’ page, and then tap/click on ‘Invite via link’
  4. Select ‘QR code’ from the options on the next screen
  5. You can now share this QR code digitally, if you wish, by tapping the ‘Share’ icon in the top right of the next page. Alternatively, of course, you can screenshot it and use it in a design which you intend to print out and use physically.
  6. To do so, use the screenshot/screen grab function on your device, and then crop it appropriately to leave only the QR code for use in your physical design
    1. Alternatively, tap the ‘Share’ icon and share the QR code to an image creation/design app on your device
  7. Once finalised, the printed QR code can be scanned by other devices for their participants to join and thus take part in your group (see below for all the reasons this might prove useful),

That’s all there is to it! For any further information, or if you have further questions, please see our FAQ section below.

FAQs

Can anyone create an invitation link for a WhatsApp group?

WhatsApp is advertised as a highly-secure messaging service providing end-to-end encryption so as to keep its users’ information private and secure. What this means for the average user is that there is only so much they can do in a group chat, without being the admin.

Admins are typically the original creators of group chats, but may also have been made admin by said creator. The role of admins is pretty simple: they decide who to add and who to remove from groups, and whether to block members of the group who they deem deserve blocking. You don’t need to be a WhatsApp group admin to take part in all the fun of group messaging, but you do have to be an admin if you want to bring more people into the group.

The same goes for generating invitation links for a WhatsApp group. An invitation link is a link which someone can click on to be added to a WhatsApp group. It can be sent to anyone, and doesn’t have to be sent through WhatsApp. In fact, it can be sent to people who don’t currently use WhatsApp – if those people click on it, part of the invitation process will involve urging them to download the app and create an account.

Only admins can create invitation links for WhatsApp groups.

Why would I want to create an invitation link for my WhatsApp group?

There are lots of reasons why you might want to create an invitation link for your WhatsApp group. Before the option was available, you could only add people to WhatsApp groups who were already using WhatsApp, and already saved to your phone’s Contacts.

The invention of the invitation link changed that. Now, with the link, you can invite anyone, across any platform. You can send the link over email or text, over a different messaging service, share it over social media, post it on Reddit, tweet it, you name it! This opens up the potential for reaching the people you want in your group exponentially. 

But there’s another great reason too. Just because you created a WhatsApp group, or were made admin of it, doesn’t mean you necessarily want full and total responsibility for who is a part of that group. Maybe, having created the group, you want to allow anyone in it to invite anyone else they like.

That’s where the invitation link comes in. Generate one and send it to your group, and they can forward it on indefinitely, inviting whoever they like to join! 

How many times can an invitation link for a WhatsApp group be used?

Whilst group chat sizes are usually capped at 256 people, when using an invitation link, this cap blooms to 3,000! Technically, therefore, the invitation link could be used 2,999 times (that’s for everyone up to the 3K limit, plus you, the admin!) 

Does an invitation link for a WhatsApp group expire?

No, not ever. Once you’ve generated the invitation link for your WhatsApp group, it can be used indefinitely. Until, of course, the group is deleted by you, or another admin in future, or you choose to ‘reset’ the link, thus rendering the first one void. To do so, simply follow the steps above to generate the group link again, and then select ‘Reset link’ from the menu.

How would the QR code invitation link work?

One of the coolest ways to share an invitation link to a WhatsApp group is by QR code. Generating a QR code would allow you to share the WhatsApp group link in a physical format – on a poster, for example. 

If you’ve created a WhatsApp group for a local community, say, or for a volunteer organisation, you could create a QR code invitation link and put it on posters up around your community. Technically, anyone with a smartphone that wanted to get involved could then simply scan the QR code and (provided they have WhatsApp installed) join your group.

You could then use the group chat to plan meetings, discuss events, and organise your community toward action. Of course, people may join who aren’t actually serious about taking part – who may even be there to be counter-productive – but at the end of the day you’re still admin, which means you still have the power to remove anyone acting inappropriately…

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