Â
About creating a WhatsApp Channel
Create a channel to use WhatsApp to share updates and information with your current followers and connect with new ones. With a channel, you can share one-way updates to an unlimited audience.
Use your channel to share things like:
- Text
- Images
- Videos
- Stickers
- Links
- Audio
- Polls
While some features might feel familiar to WhatsApp chats, channel updates are a one-way broadcast rather than a conversation. Followers can’t reply directly to updates or send messages to channel admins. Instead they can show their interest in a channel’s content by adding emoji reactions to channel updates or voting on polls.
Updates are sent from your channel, which is in a separate part of the app away from chats and calls. Followers won’t see your WhatsApp profile name, picture, or your phone number.
Channel admins are visible to each other. Learn more about safety and privacy as a channel admin.
As the channel owner, you and all channel admins are responsible for keeping the content on your channel safe, relevant, and age-appropriate for your followers, learn more in the Channels Guidelines.
Attract new followers
People can find your channel several ways.
- External link: Share a link to your channel on other websites or apps. Your channel and updates will be viewable in WhatsApp.
- In-app sharing: Followers can share channels they like with their WhatsApp contacts.
- Browsing in the app: WhatsApp users can search for channels or find them by browsing the directory. For easier browsing, some channels are sorted into categories within the directory.
- Insights about your channel’s growth and reach for the last 30 days like:
- Accounts reached
- Top regions
- Number of follows/unfollows
- Number of channel followers. Also see which followers are contacts by viewing your channel follower list.
- Update reaction details like number and type of emoji reactions and poll vote results.
- We’re rolling out WhatsApp Channels gradually and in a limited number of countries, so channel creation isn’t available to everyone yet. In the meantime, feel free to join the waitlist to get notified when WhatsApp Channels is available to you.
- We’ll continue to add new features for channel admins as we grow.
Measure engagement
See metrics about your channel like:
Learn more about channel metrics here.
While WhatsApp Channels is still new and evolving, here are some things to keep in mind:
Get started by creating a channel and see the resources linked below to learn more.