One of the limitations of WhatsApp is that you can only use it on your phone. If you are not carrying your phone, you're stuck without WhatsApp.
There
are several reasons why you'd want to use WhatsApp on a PC running
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1. Checking your
phone is a distraction that you might want to avoid while working. It's
inconvenient to switch to another device just to send a couple of quick
messages. And if you've lost your phone, then you might want a quick way
to message people and let them know. No matter what your reasons are,
you can run WhatsApp on a PC. Here's how.
Note that while this
guide is for WhatsApp, you can run almost any Android app using this
method. Just replace the apk file in step 5, with the apk of the Android
app you want to run. Here's a good
source to download apk files.
(
Also see:How to Run Android Apps on a PC)
1. You're going to need an Android emulator app to accomplish this. We've tried it with
Bluestacks App Player but it should work with any other emulator too. You'll also need a mobile phone to verify the WhatsApp account.
2. Download
Bluestacks App Player on your computer.
3.
Run the setup file to install it. During installation, Bluestacks will
ask for App Store Access and App Notifications. You can uncheck both
while installing.
4. Wait for the installation to finish (it
takes several minutes). During the final stages of installation,
Bluestacks will run in full-screen mode. Tap the diagonal line icon on
the top-right to run it in windowed mode. This makes the next few steps
easy.
5. Leave Bluestacks App Player running and go to your browser. Download the
WhatsApp apk file.
6.
Double-click the WhatsApp.apk file that's saved on your PC. The app
will automatically install itself in Bluestacks App Player.
7. In Bluestacks, you'll see a grid of apps you've installed. Find and launch WhatsApp.
8. Enter your phone number and click Verify.
9. Now wait for 5 minutes as WhatsApp tries, and fails, to automatically verify using SMS.
10. After 5 minutes, WhatsApp will offer you an option for voice verification. Click Call me.
11. You'll get a phone call. Answer it and you'll hear the verification code being spoken in loop.
12. Enter the verification in WhatsApp (running in Bluestacks) and you're good to go.
13.
None of your existing contacts will show up in WhatsApp if you use
this method. You can still reply to any messages you receive.
14. You can add contacts individually to WhatsApp by clicking on the three dots icon on the top-right >
Contacts.
Click the contact icon on the top-right, next to search. These contacts
will be saved locally and will not show up on other devices. You can
then start sending messages to these contacts as well.
15. Any
groups you're a part of will also not show up on the PC. You will have
to ask the group admin to add you to the group again.
If you're
hoping to use WhatsApp on both your PC and your phone at the same time,
you are out of luck. One phone number can be associated with only one
device at a time - your phone will stop receiving WhatsApp messages when
you're using it on the desktop. Another limitation is that you can't
switch between the two devices instantly. WhatsApp imposes a 20-minute
delay between two verification attempts (this delay keeps increasing
with each verification attempt on the same day), so keep that in mind
when setting it up on any device.
Did this help you install WhatsApp on a PC? Let us know via the comments. For more tutorials, visit our
How to section.
