How to Message Yourself on WhatsApp (and What It's For)
You want a place inside WhatsApp to park a note, a link or a file, and you've heard you can message yourself.
You can: start a new chat, search for your own name or phone number, and tap it. The result is a chat with yourself that works and looks like any other chat, and WhatsApp says the messages in it are end-to-end encrypted. It has a few limits: no calls, no mute, and no last seen.
How to message yourself
WhatsApp's help center gives the same route on Android, iPhone and WhatsApp Web.
- Open the Chats tab.
- Tap New chat: the speech bubble with a plus sign on Android and Web, the plus sign in a circle on iPhone. On WhatsApp Web, click it.
- Search for or select your own name or phone number.
- Tap your name or number to create the chat.
After that you type, send photos, documents or voice notes the way you do in any chat. To find the chat quickly, WhatsApp suggests pinning it to the top of your chats list; how pinning works is covered separately.
Forward something to yourself
You don't have to type everything. To save a message from another chat:
- Open the chat with the message.
- Tap and hold the message, then tap Forward.
- Search for your name or phone number.
- Tap your name or number, then tap Send.
On iPhone, tap and hold a message, tap Forward, and you can select more messages before you send them in one go. On WhatsApp Web, hover over the message, click the menu (the down chevron), choose Forward, tick the box next to the message, then select yourself and send. WhatsApp lets you forward a message to up to five chats at one time, so you can pick yourself and a colleague's chat in the same step. For a message you want to find later without forwarding it, see starred messages.
What it's good for
WhatsApp describes the chat as a way to keep track of notes and messages. In practice that covers a few jobs:
- A running to-do list or shopping list.
- Saving a link or an address you'll need later.
- Holding a forwarded message or document until you're ready to use it.
- Drafting a longer message in peace before you copy it into another chat.
Messages to yourself are included when you set disappearing messages: WhatsApp says they disappear for both senders and recipients, including messages you send to yourself.
What the chat can't do
WhatsApp says messages to yourself work and look like regular chats, with a few exceptions. You can't make audio or video calls, mute notifications, block or report yourself, or see your own last seen and online.
Two things the help page doesn't cover: how the chat syncs across your linked devices (it gives steps for WhatsApp Web but no sync statement), and whether it works any differently in the WhatsApp Business app. If you're not sure which devices are on your account, what a linked device is explains how to check.
If the chat doesn't show up
WhatsApp's page gives no troubleshooting for this, so there is no official fix to quote. The chat isn't there until you create it: open New chat, search for your own name or your phone number (the page allows either), and tap it. Once it exists, pin it so it stays at the top of your list instead of sliding down under newer chats.
Where Tenashi fits
Staff on a shared business number may use Message yourself as a notepad: a customer's address, a quote figure, a reminder to call back. That note then lives in one person's account, and nobody else on the team can see it.
With your number connected to Tenashi, the same note can sit on the customer's own conversation as an internal note. The team sees it, the customer never does, and it sits next to the messages it's about. You can also add a follow-up reminder or label the contact, so the next agent has the context. That covers chats on your own connected business number, from the day you connect it. Our post on internal notes in a WhatsApp inbox has the detail. For more on running a team on one number, see our guide to WhatsApp for business.
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FAQ
How do I message myself on WhatsApp?
Open the Chats tab, tap New chat, search for your own name or phone number, and tap it to create the chat. On WhatsApp Web, click New chat instead. Then type as you would in any chat. Pinning the chat keeps it at the top of your list.
Why is Message yourself not showing on WhatsApp?
WhatsApp's help page doesn't list a reason. It says to search for your name or phone number in the New chat screen and tap it to create the chat. Try that, then pin the chat so it stays visible.
Can I message myself on WhatsApp Web?
Yes. WhatsApp's help center gives Web steps: click New chat, search for your name or phone number, and click it. You can also forward a message to yourself from Web using the menu and Forward. The page doesn't say more about how the chat shows across devices.
Can I message myself in WhatsApp Business?
WhatsApp's help page for messaging yourself doesn't mention the Business app separately, so we can't confirm any difference. Try the same route: New chat, then your own name or number. If it works there, the chat behaves like any other, with no calls, mute or block.
Are messages to myself on WhatsApp private?
Yes in the sense that only you chat there, and WhatsApp says messages to yourself are end-to-end encrypted. Disappearing messages apply to them too, so a timer set on that chat removes them like it would anywhere else.
Message yourself is a handy notepad for one person. When a note is about a customer, keep it where the whole team can see it: get started with Tenashi.