WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps worldwide, with over 2 billion users. One of the main reasons for WhatsApp’s popularity is the ability to easily connect with your existing contacts. If you have someone’s phone number saved in your phone’s contacts, you can easily add them to WhatsApp as well. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to add contacts from your phonebook to WhatsApp.
Prerequisites
Before you can add contacts to WhatsApp, there are a couple of prerequisites:
- You must have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on your phone
- The contact you want to add must have an active WhatsApp account
- You need to have the contact’s mobile number saved in your phone’s contacts
As long as you meet these requirements, you can follow the steps below to add anyone from your contacts to WhatsApp.
On Android Phones
If you have an Android phone, here is how to add contacts to WhatsApp from your contact list:
- Open the WhatsApp app on your Android phone.
- Tap on the 3-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the screen.
- Select “New chat” from the menu.
- You will see two tabs at the top – “Contacts” and “Phone numbers”. Select the “Contacts” tab.
- WhatsApp will access your phone contacts and display all your saved contacts here.
- Tap on the contact you want to add to WhatsApp.
- A chat screen will open for that contact. Type out a message and hit send to start chatting!
And that’s it! The contact will now be added to your WhatsApp automatically. If they don’t have WhatsApp installed already, they will receive an SMS invite from WhatsApp to install it.
On iPhones
Here are the steps to add a contact to WhatsApp on your iPhone:
- Open WhatsApp and tap on the Chats tab at the bottom.
- Tap on the New Chat icon (speech bubble with a pen) at the top right.
- Tap on “New Contact” or “New Chat” depending on your WhatsApp version.
- You will see two options – “Contacts” and “Phone Number”. Tap on Contacts.
- Select the contact you want to message from your contacts list.
- Type out a message in the chat window and hit send.
This will send the message to your contact and add them to your WhatsApp automatically. The process works the same way as on Android.
Troubleshooting Tips
Here are some troubleshooting tips in case you face any issues adding contacts to WhatsApp:
- Make sure your contact has an active WhatsApp account linked to the phone number you have saved. If not, they won’t show up in your WhatsApp contacts list.
- Check if you have saved the right phone number for the contact in your phonebook. Even a small error in the number will prevent adding them.
- Your contact’s phone number should include the country code for best results. For example, a US number should be saved as +1XXXXXXXXXX.
- Make sure your phone’s contacts have permission to sync with WhatsApp in your phone’s settings.
- If your contact stops using their WhatsApp number, you may need to delete and re-add them with their new number.
- If all else fails, ask your contact to share their WhatsApp number with you so you can add them using that.
Following these tips should help you troubleshoot and fix any issues faced while adding contacts from your phonebook to WhatsApp.
Adding Contacts Not Saved in Your Phonebook
What if you want to add someone to WhatsApp but don’t have their number saved in your contacts? Not a problem, there are two easy ways to do this:
- Ask the contact to share their phone number with you
- Open WhatsApp > New Chat > Phone Number option
- Enter their full phone number here including country code
- Tap on the number when it appears below to start chatting
This will send them an SMS invite on WhatsApp if they haven’t registered yet. Once they sign up, your chat will be activated.
The second way is to use WhatsApp’s built-in QR code scanner:
- Ask your contact to go to WhatsApp > Settings > Profile > QR code
- Get them to share their QR code screenshot with you
- Open WhatsApp on your phone and tap on the 3-dot menu
- Select WhatsApp Web/Desktop > Scan Code
- Scan your contact’s QR code here to instantly add them
This QR method works great when you want to add someone in-person. Both these methods allow you to add anyone to WhatsApp even if you don’t have their number already saved.
Importing and Exporting WhatsApp Contacts
If you have many new contacts to add, importing and exporting WhatsApp contacts can be quite handy. Here are two useful techniques for this:
Import Contacts via .vcf File
You can export contacts from your phonebook into a .vcf file, transfer it to your phone and import it to WhatsApp:
- On your old phone, export your contacts into a .vcf file
- Connect your new phone to a computer and transfer the .vcf file
- On your new phone, import this .vcf file into your contacts
- Open WhatsApp and tap More options > Settings > Chats > Import Contacts
- Select the .vcf file to import all contacts into WhatsApp
Export WhatsApp Contacts as .vcf File
You can also export your WhatsApp contacts into a .vcf file to backup or transfer to another device:
- In WhatsApp, open the Contacts tab
- Tap More Options > Settings > Chats > Export Chats
- Tap Export Without Media to export only contacts
- WhatsApp will create a vcf file with all your contacts
- Transfer this file to your new phone and import it into Contacts
This exports your full WhatsApp contacts list making it easy to backup and restore when changing phones.
Conclusion
Adding contacts to WhatsApp from your phonebook is quick and convenient. Whether you have an iPhone or Android phone, the process is very similar and intuitive. Make sure to save numbers with country code, have the latest WhatsApp version, and that your contacts have WhatsApp activated. With over 2 billion users, chances are most of your phone contacts already use WhatsApp. So go ahead and connect with them on WhatsApp now!