How to Use WhatsApp on Computer-A Comprehensive Guide

Many of us may find it bothersome to pick up the phone and send or receive WhatsApp messages while doing some important work on the computer, as it can distract your focus from what you are doing actually. But did you know? You can get rid of this distraction by using WhatsApp right on your computer – so that you don’t have to look at your phone to send or receive WhatsApp messages. There is a couple of official ways you can use WhatsApp on your computer. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to use WhatsApp on a computer.

How can You Use WhatsApp on Computer:

Though WhatsApp was first intended to be a personal messaging app, it has become a versatile instant messaging platform over the time. These days, many of us use WhatsApp not only for personal use but also for workplace communication. Hence, it elevated the demand for cross-platform compatibility, unlike only Android or iOS.

Back in 2010, when WhatsApp was new in the digital industry, it was only available for Android and iOS. Though, those days many of us would have used emulators to install and use WhatsApp on computers. But nowadays, we don’t have to rely on the emulator to use WhatsApp on computers as WhatsApp has officially launched two computer-based extensions of the WhatsApp mobile application. These are – WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp Desktop. Both of them makes WhatsApp available on the computer. Hence, there are two ways you can use WhatsApp on your computer, either by using WhatsApp Web or by using WhatsApp Desktop.

WhatsApp Web:

What Is It?

WhatsApp Web is a virtualized web extension of the WhatsApp mobile application. It can run on all major internet browsers except Internet explorer. WhatsApp Web basically makes a carbon copy of WhatsApp chats, contacts, etc., from the phone and present them on the computer through a web browser. Also, WhatsApp Web enables seamless synchronization between the phone and computer. That means any action you take on either device will be reflected on both devices in no time. However, for this, both device needs an active internet connection.

WhatsApp Web Features:

Most of the basic features which are necessary for sending and receiving messages, are there in WhatsApp Web, like-

• Send videos, photos, documents and contact.
• Add new contact.
• Send audio messages, Stickers, Emoji.
• Create new group.
• Search, pin, and archive chat.
• Gif and Emoji and Sticker panel access. 
• Mute, delete, and mark as unread chat.
• Disappearing messages.
• Profile and about info.
• Theme and chat wallpaper settings and so on.

WhatsApp Desktop:

What Is It?

WhatsApp Desktop is also another computer-based extension of the WhatsApp mobile application. It makes WhatsApp available by mirroring and synching all the chats from WhatsApp on your phone. However, unlike WhatsApp Web, a web client, WhatsApp Desktop is a standalone application which can run natively on Windows 8.1 and macOS 10.10 or newer versions. Also, in the case of WhatsApp Desktop, both phone and computer must have an active internet connection while using it.

WhatsApp Desktop Features:

WhatsApp Desktop also offer almost all features as WhatsApp Web. In addition to that, WhatsApp Desktop support voice and video call. Hence you can make voice or video calls to your WhatsApp contact from your computer, which is surely a huge advantage of WhatsApp Desktop over WhatsApp Web.

Limitation of WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp Desktop:

Though WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp Desktop have most of the features which should necessarily have in any instant messaging platform. But if you compare these two extensions with WhatsApp mobile applications, you will find some useful features are not there. Like-

• You can’t share your location as you do on the mobile application.
• Either of the WhatsApp extension won’t let you upload/update status. However, both of the web interfaces allow you to view your contact’s status update.

In addition to that, both WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp Desktop doesn’t support any advanced settings such as account privacy and security, chat history, backup and restore, Storage and data settings, etc. Hence, if you want to use any of the above features, you have to depend on the WhatsApp mobile application.
However, both extensions support keyboard shortcuts, which I find very useful as it saves lots of time for me.

Aslo Read: How to Add Telegram Stickers to WhatsApp

WhatsApp Web Vs WhatsApp Desktop:

WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp Desktop let you use WhatsApp on your computer in an efficient way. However, they have some similarities and dissimilarities between them.
Let’s begin with the user interface, WhatsApp offers the same user interface as WhatsApp Desktop. The user interface is based on default Android One, and on both interfaces, buttons, tools, and icons are arranged similarly.
There is also another similarity between these two extensions in terms of accessibility. You can’t access WhatsApp on your computer using either of these two extensions if you don’t have a WhatsApp account on your smartphone, iPhone or tablet. Additionally, both mobile and computer must have an active internet connection while you are using this extension.
Though from January 2021 onward, the limited Android beta version allowed users to use WhatsApp Web without having to keep the mobile app connected to the Internet. However, linked devices (using WhatsApp Web, WhatsApp Desktop) will become disconnected if you don’t use your phone for over 14 days.
In terms of functionality, both the extension offers almost same numbers of features including keyboard shortcut. But still, WhatsApp Desktop trumps WhatsApp Web. For latter words, voice and video calls are not supported. Only WhatsApp Desktop users can use this feature.
However, in terms of usability, WhatsApp Web is one step ahead of WhatsApp Desktop. Being a web client of WhatsApp mobile application, WhatsApp Web can be used on any computer or even on any mobile device. On the flip side, WhatsApp Desktop is a standalone application, and hence it can run only on the compatible operating system.

How to Use WhatsApp on Computer Using WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop[Step-by-Step Guide]:

You can get access your WhatsApp account from your phone on the computer either by using WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop just in two simple steps, given below.

STEP 1 [Download & Install] 

As WhatsApp Web runs on the web browser, you don’t have to install anything and worry about the system requirements. Hence to access WhatsApp on your computer via WhatsApp Web

• Open any internet browser like Chrome, Mozilla, Safari etc. on your computer
• Type “web.whatsapp.com” on the address bar and then press Enter to load the WhatsApp Web on your browser.

For WhatsApp Desktop, you have to download and install a setup file on your computer. For this

• Open any web browser on your computer.
• Visit the link given below.

• Download the installation file according to the computer’s OS.
• Install and open it.

STEP 2 [Granting Access]

Once you open WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop, you will see a QR code on your computer screen. You have to scan this QR code using the WhatsApp account on your phone in order to grant access to WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop. To scan the QR code

• Open WhatsApp on your phone.
• If you are an Android user, tap on “Three Dots”, and the iPhone user needs to tap on “Settings”.
• Tap on “Linked Devices > LINK A DEVICE > OK.

• Now focus your phone’s camera on the QR code and bring the QR code inside the box that appears on your phone.
• Wait for a while and let WhatsApp scan the QR code successfully for granting access to WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop.

Boom!!!!! Your entire WhatsApp chat is loaded on your computer screen, and you can now send and receive WhatsApp messages from your computer as well.

How to Log out from WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop:

If you want to log out from WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop

• Click on “Three Vertical Dots” on WhatsApp Web or click on “Three Horizontal Dots” on WhatsApp Desktop.
• Click on “Log out” to log out of your WhatsApp account from WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop.

Which One You Should Use:

Now you might be thinking about which extension you should use? Well, it depends on how often you use and why you need to use WhatsApp on your computer.

If you need to make voice or video calls often besides receiving and sending text or voice messages, WhatsApp Desktop makes more sense for you.
On the other hand, WhatsApp Web is a quick and easy to use web extension of WhatsApp. Hence, it is suitable for instant or occasional use. Let say you need to send a file on your computer to your coworker via WhatsApp, or you need to download some important MS Office documents on your computer from WhatsApp chat – in both cases, I would like to use WhatsApp Web. Finally, it’s up to you which extension you want to use.

Wind Up:

Let’s wind up the post with a bonus tip. As I mentioned, both WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp Desktop support keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts will definitely speed up your WhatsApp activities on the computer once it has become your wont. But where did you find the list of those keyboard shortcuts?

To see the list of keyboard shortcuts 

• Open WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop.
• Click on Three dots> Settings> Keyboard Shortcuts.

That’s it. Does this post help you? let me know through our comment section below. Also, don’t forget to share your suggestions with our audience.