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"dataset": "limits",
"title": "WhatsApp limits & rules",
"description": "Current WhatsApp limits: group and community size, broadcast lists, message length, media and file sizes, forwarding, calls, linked devices and WhatsApp Business app limits.",
"license": {
"name": "CC BY 4.0",
"url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
},
"attribution": "WhaTools — https://wha.tools/whatsapp-limits",
"source": "https://wha.tools/whatsapp-limits",
"verified": "2026-08-05",
"upstream": "https://faq.whatsapp.com/",
"note": "Values are English-language labels as published on the page; numbers are single-sourced.",
"areas": [
{
"heading": "Groups, communities & broadcasts",
"rows": [
{
"id": "group-size",
"label": "Members in a group",
"value": "1,024 members",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "The official group size limit in 2026, admins included — up from 512 in 2022 and 256 before that. It is the same on Android, iPhone and WhatsApp Web."
},
{
"id": "community-groups",
"label": "Groups in a community",
"value": "100 groups",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Plus the automatic announcement group that reaches every member."
},
{
"id": "community-members",
"label": "Members in a community",
"value": "2,000 members",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Counted across all of the community’s groups combined."
},
{
"id": "broadcast-list",
"label": "Recipients in a broadcast list",
"value": "256 recipients",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Only contacts who have your number saved will receive a broadcast."
}
]
},
{
"heading": "Messages & media",
"rows": [
{
"id": "message-length",
"label": "Characters in one message",
"value": "65,536 characters",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Far more than anyone types by hand — you will hit a paste limit long before normal use."
},
{
"id": "caption-length",
"label": "Characters in a media caption",
"value": "1,024 characters",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "The text attached under a photo or video."
},
{
"id": "media-size",
"label": "Photo / video / voice sent as media",
"value": "16 MB",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "WhatsApp compresses these so they load inline. Send as a document to avoid compression."
},
{
"id": "file-size",
"label": "Any file sent as a document",
"value": "2 GB",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Up from 100 MB. Documents are not compressed, so quality is preserved."
},
{
"id": "voice-message",
"label": "Length of a voice message",
"value": "No published limit",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "WhatsApp sets no time cap on a voice note in a chat — in practice the 16 MB media limit ends the recording, which is roughly an hour of audio."
},
{
"id": "poll-options",
"label": "Options in a poll",
"value": "12 options",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Voters can pick one or several depending on how you set the poll up."
},
{
"id": "edit-window",
"label": "Time you have to edit a sent message",
"value": "15 minutes",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "After that the Edit option disappears. Edited messages are marked “Edited” for everyone."
},
{
"id": "delete-everyone",
"label": "Time you have to delete for everyone",
"value": "2 days 12 hours",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "60 hours from sending. Past that you can only delete a message for yourself."
},
{
"id": "pinned-messages",
"label": "Pinned messages in one chat",
"value": "3 messages",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Each pin lasts 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days unless you unpin it sooner."
}
]
},
{
"heading": "Status & forwarding",
"rows": [
{
"id": "status-duration",
"label": "How long a Status stays up",
"value": "24 hours",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Photo, video and text updates disappear automatically after a day."
},
{
"id": "status-video",
"label": "Length of a Status video clip",
"value": "30 seconds",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Longer videos are split into several 30-second segments."
},
{
"id": "status-voice",
"label": "Length of a voice status",
"value": "60 seconds",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Voice updates posted to Status, raised from the original 30 seconds."
},
{
"id": "forward-chats",
"label": "Chats you can forward to at once",
"value": "5 chats",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "A single forward action can target up to five chats or groups."
},
{
"id": "forward-many-times",
"label": "Forwarding a “forwarded many times” message",
"value": "1 chat",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Highly-forwarded messages can only be passed on to one chat at a time."
}
]
},
{
"heading": "Calls",
"rows": [
{
"id": "video-call",
"label": "People in a group video call",
"value": "32 participants",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Includes you. Raised from 8 in 2021 and 4 before that, so older articles quote much smaller numbers."
},
{
"id": "voice-call",
"label": "People in a group voice call",
"value": "32 participants",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "The same cap as video. Very old app builds allowed fewer, so keep the app updated."
}
]
},
{
"heading": "Channels",
"rows": [
{
"id": "channel-followers",
"label": "Followers of a channel",
"value": "No limit",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "The one WhatsApp surface with no audience cap — but you cannot add people, they have to follow you."
},
{
"id": "channel-admins",
"label": "Admins of a channel",
"value": "16 admins",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Raised from a single admin, so a team can post to one channel."
},
{
"id": "channel-history",
"label": "How long channel updates are kept",
"value": "30 days",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "WhatsApp stores channel history on its servers for 30 days; older updates disappear for new followers."
}
]
},
{
"heading": "Account & profile",
"rows": [
{
"id": "linked-devices",
"label": "Linked (companion) devices",
"value": "4 devices",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Up to four linked devices in addition to your primary phone."
},
{
"id": "pinned-chats",
"label": "Chats pinned to the top of the list",
"value": "3 chats",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Separate from pinned messages inside a chat."
},
{
"id": "phone-digits",
"label": "Digits in a WhatsApp phone number",
"value": "15 digits",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "Country code included, no “+” or spaces. WhatsApp uses the international E.164 format, which the ITU caps at 15 digits."
},
{
"id": "about-length",
"label": "Characters in your “About” text",
"value": "139 characters",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "The short status line on your profile, not to be confused with Status updates."
},
{
"id": "group-name",
"label": "Characters in a group name",
"value": "100 characters",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "The group subject shown at the top of the chat."
},
{
"id": "group-description",
"label": "Characters in a group description",
"value": "512 characters",
"appliesTo": "all",
"note": "The longer text shown in the group’s info screen."
}
]
},
{
"heading": "WhatsApp Business app",
"rows": [
{
"id": "business-labels",
"label": "Labels for organizing chats",
"value": "20 labels",
"appliesTo": "business",
"note": "Colour-coded labels to sort customers and orders."
},
{
"id": "business-quick-replies",
"label": "Saved quick replies",
"value": "50 quick replies",
"appliesTo": "business",
"note": "Shortcuts for messages you send often."
},
{
"id": "business-catalog",
"label": "Products in a catalogue",
"value": "500 items",
"appliesTo": "business",
"note": "One catalogue per account, up to 10 images per product."
}
]
},
{
"heading": "WhatsApp Business API",
"rows": [
{
"id": "api-messaging-limit",
"label": "Customers you can message in 24 hours",
"value": "250 → unlimited",
"appliesTo": "api",
"note": "Unique users you can start a conversation with in a rolling 24 hours. New accounts start at 250 and scale through 2,000, 10,000 and 100,000 as quality holds up."
},
{
"id": "api-throughput",
"label": "Messages per second per number",
"value": "80 per second",
"appliesTo": "api",
"note": "Default Cloud API throughput; higher capacity can be requested. Separate from the 24-hour limit above."
}
]
}
]
}
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