Plain answers about WhatsApp
Almost everything awkward about a WhatsApp account traces back to one design decision: your phone number is your account. Not a username, not an email address — the number. Change the number and you are changing the account identifier, which is why that process has more moving parts than it looks like it should.
This section covers the mechanics: getting registered in the first place, what the six-digit code is for, how to change your display name without changing anything else, and what actually happens to your chats when you move a number or a phone.
Each walkthrough is written for the current app on both iOS and Android, and says plainly where the two platforms differ — because on several of these tasks they do.
Setup and account
The 6-digit code is WhatsApp's registration key for your phone number. Here is what it does, why it arrives unasked, and what to do when it never turns up.
Setup and account
WhatsApp requires a phone number that can receive a code — there is no email or username signup. Here is what qualifies, what does not, and why.
Setup and account
You cannot skip verification, but you can register WhatsApp on a landline or a spare number. Here is what works, what fails, and the honest limits.
Setup and account
Changing your WhatsApp name takes four taps, but only some people ever see it. Here are the steps and which name each person is shown.
Setup and account
Changing your WhatsApp photo takes four taps on any platform. The setting that matters more is who is allowed to see it — which defaults to everyone.
Setup and account
Your WhatsApp number is shown under your name in Settings. Here is where to find it on iPhone, Android, Web and desktop, and what it is not.
Setup and account
Setting up WhatsApp takes about three minutes. Here is the whole process on iPhone and Android, plus the two settings worth changing immediately.
Setup and account
Add someone from inside WhatsApp, from your phone book, by QR code, or message them without saving them at all. Plus why a contact fails to appear.
Setup and account
No — verification cannot be skipped, and nobody at WhatsApp can waive it. Here is what can genuinely be recovered when the old number is gone.
Setup and account
The Change Number tool migrates your chats, groups and settings to a new number and tells your contacts. Do it before you lose the old number.
Setup and account
Android has an in-app language setting. iPhone does not — you change it per-app in iOS Settings. Here are both routes and what they do not affect.
Setup and account
Android tablets can run WhatsApp as a linked companion device. iPad has its own app now. Here is how each works and what the limits are.
Not in any supported way. Registration requires a number that can receive an SMS or a voice call. A landline works because WhatsApp will read the code out loud. A VoIP number sometimes works and sometimes does not — WhatsApp blocks many known VoIP ranges.
Yes. Since 2023 you can link up to four companion devices, including a second phone, to one account. The companion devices work when the primary phone is offline, but the account still belongs to the primary number.
No, if you use the built-in Change Number tool on the same phone. Your chats, groups and settings move to the new number. If you instead register the new number from scratch, you start with an empty account.
WhatsApp privacy and security
What WhatsApp actually exposes, what end-to-end encryption does and does not cover, and the settings that change who can see you.
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When WhatsApp stops working
Ordered fixes for messages that will not deliver, calls that fail, an app that will not open and updates that will not install.
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