Why is it so hard to add someone to your WhatsApp account? One reason is that by default WhatsApp mines information from your phone and sometimes can’t find what it wants. Especially if you don’t use the default contacts function. Here’s how to add a new contact to your WhatsApp app.
Adding Contacts Using Your Phone’s Contact List
When you start using WhatsApp, they ask if they can use your phone book list. If you tapped “Yes”, they can take your contact list and add it to WhatsApp. Contacts may not appear as immediately available members on WhatsApp, but you will be able to add them fairly easily.
Tap on the “Contacts” icon and press the small orange button usually located in the lower right corner of the screen.
Choose where you want to save the number on your SIM, phone or Google.
Note: It’s probably best to save it on your phone or SIM.
Now you need to add the number and the name of the new contact. If you are adding a phone number from someone living in your country, add that number as normal. If it is a foreign phone number, you must include the country code. It goes a bit like this:
+ [Country Code] [Full Phone Number].
Skip the leading 0s from the phone number itself.
Go back to your WhatsApp and open the “Chats” tab. Tap the “New Chat” icon and tap the “More Options” tab, then tap the “Refresh” button.
Adding Contacts While Using Your WhatsApp
For some people, the methods listed above won’t work. There are a number of reasons for this. Maybe you did not agree with WhatsApp to use your contact list, or your phone book is a directory that WhatsApp cannot read, etc.
In this case, you can manually add your contacts to your WhatsApp application. Open your WhatsApp. Near the bottom you will see a small circle with a strange icon that looks like a speech bubble with lined note paper inside.
Tap this button and then tap the “New Contact” tab that appears. This will take you to the phone book/contacts list that WhatsApp has access to. Enter the number and name of your new contact, and then save.
Some People Still Not Appearing
Go to your phone’s default address book and go to its settings. On this screen, it will say something similar to “People to View”. Tap on this option and it may show that some of your contacts are hidden. Your hidden contacts are contacts that may not be visible in your WhatsApp contacts.
If you’re trying to add a contact via the desktop version of WhatsApp, you may be out of luck as it’s just a webcast of what you’re running on your phone. At most, you can add a new group only in the desktop version.
How to Create WhatsApp Groups
WhatsApp group allows many different members to see and join WhatsApp chat on a single screen. It’s a similar premise to the chat room genres popular in the late 90’s. How to create a WhatsApp group:
- Start by tapping the “Chats” tab in WhatsApp.
- Look for the function that says “More Options” and tap the icon that shows three dots in a vertical line. This icon is what you tap to find “New Group”.
- Alternatively, tap the chat icon, which is the weird looking icon in the lower right corner of the screen. It’s the same icon you used to add a contact before. Then tap on “New Group”.
- Select the people you want to include in your group. They can be invited in many ways, but most people add those automatically added to the group to their contact list.
You can now also enter the group subject and subject line, which is the name of your group. This will be your group description. It’s also important that you add a group picture that will become your group icon. Make sure you choose something that people can easily distinguish from their other connections. Also, unofficial groups are just annoying. They open with an unobtrusive generic icon. This can be particularly irritating and confusing when there are multiple groups without an icon. Additionally, you want people to have some kind of commitment and connection with your group to become more active members.
final thoughts
If your contacts are not visible in WhatsApp, try adding them manually via the WhatsApp app. This is the only truly foolproof way to add contacts to allow the app to use them. If all else fails, you can always have the other person add you to their WhatsApp and then send you a message. This will automatically add that person to your account unless that person is blocked; at this point you may want to check your archived conversations to see if that person has been blocked there.
Still having problems with your WhatsApp? Having trouble adding contacts? Why not share your experiences in the comments section below?
