Adding a friend

Your friend's phone number must be in your phone's address book in order for you to start a chat with them in WhatsApp.

If you cannot see your friend in WhatsApp, please follow these steps:

1. Ensure that your friend has WhatsApp installed on their phone.
2. Double check that your friend's phone number is entered correctly in your phone's address book.
   • Enter the number the same as you would if you were to make a phone call to that person.
   • If this is an international phone number, do not use any exit codes or leading 0s. Start all international phone numbers with a + sign, followed by the country code. For specific examples and instructions, see this article.
3. Open WhatsApp and refresh the Favorites list (Contacts tab on Android).

Contacts in your phone's address book that have WhatsApp will be displayed in the Favorites list (Contacts tab on Android). In WhatsApp, you can only start a chat with these contacts.

If you still do not see your friend in your WhatsApp list, it is possible that your friend does not have WhatsApp. It's easy to invite your friends to WhatsApp. Learn how to here.

Learn how to add a friend on: Android | iPhone | Windows Phone | Nokia S40 | BlackBerry | Nokia S60 | BlackBerry 10

Not sure how to get WhatsApp on your phone? Read this article to get started.

Cheers,
WhatsApp Support Team