WhatsApp Web

WhatsApp Web is not a messenger of its own but the browser client for an existing WhatsApp account, which is why opening it means scanning a code with your phone rather than signing up. WhatsApp describes it as letting you message privately from any browser on your desktop, with the convenience of a larger screen and no desktop app to install, and it notes that calls made this way run over your internet connection. Everything it shows belongs to the account on your phone, so the phone number is still what owns the account, and there is no way to create one from the browser.

Getting in means opening the web address, following the on-screen instructions and scanning a QR code with the WhatsApp app on your primary phone, under the Linked devices section, with the phone asking for your fingerprint, face or unlock PIN before it hands the account over. A second route suits a phone that is not to hand, with the page showing an 8-character code that you type on the phone instead, a method WhatsApp says works only for WhatsApp Web and the Windows app. One phone can carry up to 4 linked devices at once, and WhatsApp says those devices keep working without the phone staying connected, but the phone has to open WhatsApp at least once every 14 days or the linked devices are disconnected. If WhatsApp sees a device it does not recognise, it asks the phone's owner to confirm before the link completes, and the help centre currently carries a notice that some linked devices are not showing up to a year of chat history while that is being fixed. Messaging, calls, folders, pinned chats, groups and file sharing all work in the browser, and which features do not work there is not published.

No price is published for the web client and none is charged: the terms put the cost of carrier data plans and internet access on the user rather than on WhatsApp, and they forbid selling, reselling or charging for the service or for data obtained from it. The help page calls calling through the web free, which is WhatsApp's own description of a feature rather than a published price list. There is no subscription, tier or paid feature for the consumer web client anywhere in the pages read.

Messages between WhatsApp users are end-to-end encrypted by WhatsApp's own account, meaning they are scrambled so that neither WhatsApp nor third parties can read them. In ordinary operation the service says it does not keep messages: they live on your device and are deleted from the servers once delivered, with two exceptions, undelivered messages held in encrypted form for up to 30 days and forwarded media stored temporarily. Using the browser client means cookies, which WhatsApp says it uses to provide the web service and to remember choices such as your language, and the connection data it collects includes the browser, IP address, language and time zone. The age limit is 13, or higher where local law sets a higher bar, and accounts for younger users exist only under a parent or guardian's management. Two rules a browser user should hold on to: WhatsApp does not provide access to emergency services, so it cannot be used to call the police, the fire service or an ambulance, and the account holder is responsible for the security of the phone and the account, including reporting unauthorised use. What the browser stores locally, and what logging out clears, is not published on the pages read.

Anyone who already uses WhatsApp on a phone and wants it on a bigger screen without installing a desktop app, which is the audience the help page addresses, along with the productivity details it lists, keyboard shortcuts and multiple tabs. It also suits people who move between machines, since the account follows the phone to up to 4 linked devices, as long as they accept the housekeeping rule that the phone must open WhatsApp once every 14 days. Anyone hoping to use WhatsApp without a phone number is out of luck: the account belongs to the number, and the browser is only a window onto it.

A companion client rather than a service of its own, and it does its one job well: the account you already have, on a larger screen, with a smaller footprint than a desktop app. The security posture is the most clearly stated of the products in this batch, with end-to-end encryption, messages kept off the servers once delivered, and an age floor written into the terms. The friction sits in the linking rules, which are the ones users actually notice: a phone that must come out to scan, a fresh login every 14 days, and a ceiling of 4 linked devices. The known issue on chat history is WhatsApp's own notice rather than an outside finding, and it is worth knowing about before linking a second device.