How to Message Yourself on WhatsApp (iPhone, Desktop and Web)

To message or text yourself on WhatsApp, use Message yourself. Start a new chat and pick your own name or phone number. The chat works and looks like a regular chat, so you can type a note, paste a link or forward a message, then send it. Messages to yourself are end-to-end encrypted.

Below are the exact steps for each device, a few ways to keep the chat organized, and where it falls short if you use it as your notes app.

How to message yourself on WhatsApp on iPhone

1. Open WhatsApp and go to the Chats tab.
2. Tap New Chat (the plus sign in a circle).
3. Search for or select your name or phone number.
4. Tap your name or phone number to create your chat.
5. Type your note and send it, just like in any other chat.

To find the chat quickly later, pin it to the top of your chats list. The steps are in the tips below.

How to message yourself on WhatsApp Desktop (Mac or Windows)

1. Open WhatsApp for Mac or WhatsApp for Windows. If it isn’t linked yet, scan the QR code on screen with your phone: on iPhone, tap Settings or your profile picture, then Linked devices > Link device.
2. In the Chats tab, click New Chat (the square with a pencil).
3. Search for or select your name or phone number to create your chat.
4. Type your note and send it.

How to message yourself on WhatsApp Web

1. Go to web.whatsapp.com in your desktop browser.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to scan the QR code with your phone.
3. In the Chats tab, click New Chat (the speech bubble with a plus sign).
4. Search for or select your name or phone number, then click it to create your chat.
5. Type your note and send it.

How to forward or share a message to yourself

Your chat with yourself also works as a place to keep things other people send you.

On iPhone:

1. Open the chat with the message you want to keep.
2. Tap and hold the message, then tap Forward. To forward more than one, select additional messages.
3. Tap the Forward arrow.
4. Search for your name or phone number and tap to select yourself.
5. Tap Forward.

On WhatsApp Web, Mac or Windows:

1. Open the chat with the message you want to keep.
2. Hover over the message, click the Menu arrow (down chevron), then Forward.
3. On WhatsApp Web and Mac, check the box next to the message, then click the Forward arrow.
4. Search for your name or phone number and check the box next to it.
5. Click Forward, or Send on WhatsApp Web.

Tips to organize your chat with yourself

• Pin the chat. On iPhone, tap and hold the chat > More > Pin, then choose how long the pin lasts. On WhatsApp Web, Mac or Windows, click the chat, click the Menu arrow, then Pin.
• Star important notes. On iPhone, tap and hold a message and tap Star. On WhatsApp Web or Mac, hover over it, click the Menu arrow > Star. To see everything you’ve starred, on iPhone tap Settings or your profile picture > Starred. On Mac, click the star next to your chats list. On WhatsApp Web, open the menu above your chats list > Starred messages.
• Search the chat. On iPhone, open the chat, tap its name, then tap Search. On WhatsApp Web, open the chat and click the magnifying glass.
• Jump to a date. In the chat’s search, use Search By Date (the calendar icon) to go to a specific day.
• Filter by type. From the search bar in the Chats tab on iPhone, tap Photos, Links, Documents, Audio and more to browse that kind of content.

Where Message yourself falls short for notes

Message yourself is good at what WhatsApp built it for: keeping track of notes and messages next to your other chats. It gets harder when it becomes your main place for notes and tasks.

• Your notes live among your chats. Messages to yourself work and look like regular chats, in the same list as your group chats and conversations. Pinning keeps the chat near the top, but it is still one chat among the rest.
• No reminders or to-dos in the chat. WhatsApp’s help article for Message yourself covers sending and forwarding. It does not describe reminders, checklists or to-do lists for that chat.
• Export is a copy, not a sync. You can export the chat as a ZIP file with a text file inside. It can’t be re-imported, WhatsApp Web exports leave out media, and nothing reaches Apple Notes, Obsidian, Notion or wherever you keep the rest of your notes.

If you keep moving notes out of WhatsApp by hand, or you never look at them again, an app built for notes can keep the same habit and fix the rest.

Alternatives: Better way to send yourself apps that feel like texting yourself

WhatsApp’s Message yourself is a good way to message yourself. If you also use it for notes, you can make it better. These apps keep the same open, type, send habit and add what a notes app needs: separate spaces, to-dos and reminders, with no group chats pulling you away.

	WhatsApp (Message yourself)	tetrify	Strflow	Qept
Built for notes (no group chats or channels)	No, works like a regular chat	Yes	Yes	Yes
Separate spaces for topics	—	Yes, chat Spaces	Yes, tag timelines	Yes, group by topic
To-dos	—	Turn a text into a task	Checklists in a to-do timeline	Checkboxes
Reminders	—	Time-based notifications	Scheduled notes	—
Export	Export chat as a ZIP text file	To other productivity apps	Markdown	—

tetrify: Text Yourself Notes

tetrify looks like a messaging app, but every chat is yours. Notes, tasks and journal entries each get their own Space, so they don’t run together the way they do in one WhatsApp chat with yourself.

• Separate chat Spaces for notes, tasks and a journal
• Turns a text into a task with a time-based notification
• Export to other productivity apps, plus the Share Sheet

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac.

Strflow: Text Yourself Notes

Strflow is a chat-style timeline for notes and to-dos. You type and send, then add structure when you need it.

• Tags that turn into topic timelines
• Checklists collect in a to-do timeline, and scheduled notes show up as reminders
• Share Sheet and Shortcuts on iOS, and a shortcut key on Mac
• Stored on your device, with optional encrypted iCloud sync and Markdown export

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac.

Quick Capture & Notes - Qept

Qept presents itself as a replacement for messaging yourself. You write notes like texts, then come back later to refine them or tick them off.

• Notes that look and feel like texts
• Group notes by topic
• Checkboxes for to-do lists
• A Safari extension

Platforms: iPhone, iPad.

For more options, see the best note to self apps for iPhone.

Many people use both. WhatsApp stays the place for things other people send you, and a send yourself app takes the notes you write for yourself.