How to Scan the WhatsApp Web QR Code

• Your phone, with WhatsApp signed in
• A computer with a browser
• Both on the internet — they do not need the same network

1. 01Open web.whatsapp.com on the computerType web.whatsapp.com into any browser on the computer — Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox. A square QR code appears on the page. This is the only place the code comes from: it is generated fresh for that browser session, so a screenshot of somebody else’s code is worthless to you and yours is dangerous to share. If you would rather use an app than a browser, download WhatsApp Desktop instead; the linking step below is identical.
2. 02Find the scanner inside WhatsApp on your phoneThe camera you need is not your phone’s normal camera app. On Android, open WhatsApp, tap the three dots in the top right, then Linked devices, then Link a device. On iPhone, open WhatsApp, tap Settings at the bottom right, then Linked devices, then Link a device. Either way your phone will ask for your fingerprint, face or PIN first — that check is what stops someone linking their computer to your account while your phone is unlocked on a table.
3. 03Point the phone at the computer screenHold the phone so the whole QR square fits inside the frame, about 15–30 cm from the monitor. It usually catches within a second or two. When it does, WhatsApp Web loads your chats on the computer and your phone shows the computer in its Linked devices list. Nothing is copied to the computer permanently — the link can be cut from the phone at any time.
4. 04If the code will not scanWork through it in this order. The code expires after about a minute: if it has gone grey or shows a refresh arrow, click it for a new one. Turn the monitor brightness up — a dim or heavily anti-glare screen is the commonest cause. Clean the phone camera lens. Move the phone slightly further back rather than closer, because most cameras cannot focus at very short range. If the browser page itself looks broken, reload it. And check you are in Linked devices rather than the normal camera, which will read the code as a plain web link and do nothing useful.
5. 05Link without a QR code, using your phone numberIf the camera is broken or you cannot see the screen clearly, there is an alternative. On the WhatsApp Web page choose "Link with phone number instead", enter the number in full international format, and the computer shows an eight-character code. Type that code into the same Linked devices screen on the phone. It ends up in the same place — same security check, same result.
6. 06Know what stays connected and what does notSince multi-device, the linked computer keeps working even when the phone is switched off or out of signal, so you no longer have to keep the phone awake beside you. Two limits are worth knowing: the phone has to come online at least once every fourteen days or the link is dropped, and you can have a handful of devices linked at once, not an unlimited number. Log out of a device you no longer use from Linked devices on the phone — that list is worth checking occasionally.
7. 07Never scan a QR code somebody sends youThis is the one security point that matters here. Scanning a WhatsApp Web QR code links your account to whatever computer generated it, and whoever is sitting at that computer can then read your messages. WhatsApp generates these codes only at web.whatsapp.com and they expire in about a minute, so anyone sending you a screenshot of one — in a chat, by email, in a "verify your account" message — is trying to take over your account. Business contact QR codes are a different and harmless thing: they just open a chat.

• The scanner is inside WhatsApp under Linked devices — your phone’s ordinary camera app cannot complete the link
• A greyed-out code has simply expired; click it to refresh rather than starting over
• Screen brightness fixes more failed scans than anything else
• On a shared or public computer, log out from the phone afterwards rather than just closing the tab
• Check the Linked devices list occasionally and remove anything you do not recognise

WhatsApp running on your computer with your full chat history, linked from your phone in under a minute — and the knowledge of which QR codes are safe to scan and which are an attack.