How to Message Many WhatsApp Users Without Making a Group Chat

If you’re like me, you’re in more WhatsApp groups than you can possibly keep track of. Sports teams, groups of old friends, family members, neighbors, online communities, the list goes on.

Frankly, it’s an awful experience. It’s so awful that I just mute them all. It’s easy to do: open the group in question, tap on the three vertical dots in the upper right-hand corner, and select Mute notifications.

But alas, there’s another way to quickly communicate with a large number of users on WhatsApp—and you won’t need to use groups at all. The feature is called Broadcast Lists.

How to Use Broadcast Lists in WhatsApp

The methodology for creating Broadcast Lists differs slightly between Android and iOS. Both operating systems let you message up to 256 people at the same time.

Note: Only people who have your number saved in their address book will receive the message.

Using WhatsApp Broadcast Lists on Android

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Click on the Chats tab at the top of the app window.
3. Tap on the three vertical dots in the upper right-hand corner.
4. Choose New Broadcast.
5. Tap on the people’s name that you want to include.
6. Tap on the green tick in the lower right-hand corner.

Using WhatsApp Broadcast Lists on iOS

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Click on the Chats tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Broadcast Lists in the upper right-hand corner.
4. Select New List.
5. Mark the checkboxes next to people you want to include.
6. When you’re ready, tap Create in the top right-hand corner.

If you’d like to learn more, have a look at some other must-know WhatsApp features.