8 WhatsApp Web Tips and Tricks

WhatsApp Web Tips and Tricks
WhatsApp Web Tips and Tricks

Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned WhatsApp Web user, here are some helpful WhatsApp Web tips & tricks!

WhatsApp Web is a simple method to use WhatsApp on any computer, anywhere in the world, as long as you have your phone to sign in with. These tips and methods will make utilizing WhatsApp Web on your PC even easier after you’ve figured out how to do so.

Now that you’ve learned the fundamentals of WhatsApp Web, such as what it can and can’t do, it’s time to improve your experience with some simple tips and tricks.

1. Become familiar with WhatsApp Web’s keyboard shortcuts.

You’ll need to learn some keyboard shortcuts to get the most out of WhatsApp Web on your computer. These can turn you into a typing ninja who can get things done a little faster.

The following is a list of keyboard shortcuts for WhatsApp Web:

  1. Mark as unread with Ctrl + Alt + Shift + U.
  2. Mute (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + M)
  3. Ctrl + Alt + E: Archive the conversation
  4. Backspace + Ctrl + Alt + Backspace: Delete the conversation
  5. Pin chat with Ctrl + Alt + Shift + P.
  6. / (forward slash) + Ctrl + Alt + / (forward slash): Search
  7. Search conversation with Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F.
  8. New chat with Ctrl + Alt + N.
  9. New group: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + N
  10. Ctrl + Alt + P: About and Profile
  11. Settings: Ctrl + Alt +, (comma)

2. Use a keyboard to type and search for emojis

Emojis make instant messaging feel more complete. However, switching from the keyboard to the mouse, clicking the emoji symbol next to the text box, and then finding the proper emoji takes an eternity. Thankfully, there is a WhatsApp Web technique that is faster.

Type (colon) followed by the first two letters of the emotion you want to express in the standard text box. You’ll be presented with a list of emojis that vary with each letter you write.

  1. This is what :th will show you:
  2. Emoji for WhatsApp on the Web:
  3. This is what thu will demonstrate:
  4. To switch between the emojis displayed, use the arrow keys on your keyboard. To accept, press Enter.

By clicking Shift + Tab in any chat window, you can get to the emojis, stickers, and GIFs buttons. The emoji icon will be highlighted, so hit Enter to access the emojis, stickers, and GIFs menu. To cycle back and forth between the three options, press Tab and Shift + Tab. Using the arrow keys, navigate through their menu.

It’s a much faster way to type, and familiarizing oneself with the emoji to English dictionary can assist.

3. Emoticons to Emojis Conversion (or Not)

As a terrific keyboard shortcut, Whatsapp Web automatically converts a set of text emoticons to emojis.
Because one of the best advantages of WhatsApp Web is that it auto-converts emojis from traditional text emoticons, some emojis don’t require the colon-and-type method. The full list of auto-converted emoticons is shown above, thanks to a helpful redditor.

If you use these WhatsApp Web shortcuts for the keyboard on a daily basis, you will notice a significant improvement in your typing speed.

However, some people find this auto-conversion bothersome, therefore there’s an easy way to preserve them as emoticons. All you need is WhatsApp Emoticon Preserver, a userscript.

  1. Tampermonkey, a cross-platform userscript manager, should be installed on your preferred browser.
  2. Go to WhatsApp Emoticon Preserver to save your emoticons.
  3. Select the Install option from the drop-down menu.
  4. In your browser, refresh the WhatsApp Web tab.
  5. While emoticon characters will appear on your screen, the receiver will still see them as emojis.

4. Using Multiple WhatsApp Accounts on a Single Computer

Some people use two phones, each with its own WhatsApp account, while others use a dual-SIM phone with numerous WhatsApp apps. You can’t merely start two tabs in Chrome and sign in separately if you want to run two WhatsApp Web accounts on your PC.

To use multiple WhatsApp accounts on the web, launch an incognito window or a different browser. So, if you just have one Chrome account, open a new window in Incognito Mode. Alternatively, you can open a second browser and use it to access WhatsApp Web. Log in as usual, and then scan the QR code with your other account.

You can use WhatsApp Web for an hour in Incognito Mode before it shuts you out automatically.

5. Read Messages Without Being Warned by Blue Ticks

People can see the exact time you read your WhatsApp text if you have those blue tick marks enabled. If you want to disable this, you can turn off read receipts on your phone, but there’s a cool WhatsApp Web technique to get around that.

If you’re on WhatsApp with someone and want to read their messages without them receiving a read receipt, follow these steps:

  1. In your WhatsApp Web window, open the chat.
  2. Change the size of another program window so that you can see the entire WhatsApp Web conversation in the background (or place them side by side).
  3. Keep your cursor in the new window after clicking. Because the computer thinks you’re working in a different window, this is the most important phase.

Messages will load in the WhatsApp chat window, which you may view, without the blue ticks indicating that they have been read. They’ll be double grey ticks right now. This indicates that you have received but not read the message.

When you’re finished marking them as read, click the WhatsApp Web chat window, and the ticks will turn blue right away.

This method has the drawback of only allowing you to read the content of one chat at a time. But, let’s face it, how often will you actually need to use this WhatsApp Web trick?

6. Install the WAToolkit Message Previews Extension.

Chrome users have a nice addon called WAToolkit that adds new features to WhatsApp Web. It adds two fascinating techniques to WhatsApp’s built-in Web features, one of which allows you to skim through conversations without triggering the read receipt.

Background notifications: You no longer need to move to the WhatsApp Web tab to read new messages in WhatsApp. The badge on the WAToolkit icon indicates how many unread messages you have. When you hover your cursor over the icon, you’ll be able to preview the messages without them being marked as read in your main conversation.

Chat bubbles with full width: WhatsApp does not stretch a person’s conversation bubble across the entire chat window by default. That’s why you get multi-line messages in your huge desktop window when they could easily fit in a single line. The text bubbles in WAToolkit are now full-width, which solves the problem.

WAToolkit for Chrome is available for download (Free)

7. Turn on WhatsApp Web’s Dark Mode.

WhatsApp Web’s dark mode was previously a hidden function that wasn’t made public. To make it work, you had to tamper with the browser’s coding. Dark mode is now available in Settings, so that’s no longer the case. To enable it, follow these steps:

  1. To access the menu, click the three vertical dots.
  2. Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select Theme from the drop-down menu.
  4. Choose Dark.
  5. Click the OK button.

8. Modify the Chat Background (and Remove the Doodles)

You should modify the chat wallpaper color from the usual beige if you want to spice up your WhatsApp Web chat windows. If you like, you may even remove the WhatsApp drawings from the backdrop.

  1. To access the menu, click the three vertical dots.
  2. Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
  3. To change the wallpaper, click Chat Wallpaper.
  4. Choose a color tile to work with.
  5. Uncheck Add WhatsApp Doodles if you want to get rid of them.

Get More WhatsApp Help and Advice

You must use WhatsApp Web on a desktop computer to use any of these tips and tricks. It works in all major web browsers, including Chrome and Firefox.

You probably use WhatsApp a lot on your phone as well. Don’t miss out on the wealth of information available there, such as how to increase conversation privacy and how to regulate where photographs are saved.

Mark Funk
Mark Funk is an experienced information security specialist who works with enterprises to mature and improve their enterprise security programs. Previously, he worked as a security news reporter.