Send a WhatsApp message from an email

How it works

1. 1

   Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with some simple instructions, like "WhatsApp Dan on +44 7700 900164: the template visit is confirmed for Friday at 8:30".

2. 2

   ForwardThis writes the message from what the email actually says and sends it from your own WhatsApp sender, the number registered for WhatsApp on your Twilio account. If several are registered it asks which one, and if there are none it tells you rather than guessing at a number.

3. 3

   Before anything goes out, you read it. ForwardThis shows you the destination number and the full message, and nothing is sent until you approve, because a WhatsApp message cannot be unsent. One message to one person, never a list.

4. 4

   It replies to confirm once the message has gone. There is no undo from here: nothing can take a message back off somebody's phone, which is exactly why you read it first.

FAQs

How do I send an email to WhatsApp?

Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with some simple instructions, like "WhatsApp Dan on +44 7700 900164: the template visit is confirmed for Friday at 8:30". ForwardThis writes the message, shows you the number and the exact words, and sends it once you reply yes. The first time, you will need a free ForwardThis account with Twilio connected, and a WhatsApp sender registered on that Twilio account. The ForwardThis side takes about 30 seconds.

Do I need a WhatsApp Business account for this?

Yes, in effect. The message goes out through Twilio, and Twilio can only send on WhatsApp from a sender you have registered with it, which means going through Meta's WhatsApp Business approval once. ForwardThis does not supply WhatsApp numbers and cannot send from your personal WhatsApp. If the connected Twilio account has no registered WhatsApp sender, ForwardThis says so plainly instead of failing halfway.

Can I message anyone on WhatsApp?

No, and this is Meta's rule rather than ours. WhatsApp only lets a business send a free-form message to someone within 24 hours of that person's last message to you. Outside that window Meta requires a message template it has approved in advance, and ForwardThis sends the words you wrote rather than a template, so Twilio refuses it and the refusal comes back in the reply. In practice this is for answering someone who has already messaged you, not for starting a conversation cold.

Can it be undone if the message is wrong?

No. A WhatsApp message is on someone's phone within seconds, so ForwardThis does not offer an undo it could not honour. What it does instead is check with you first, every time, restating the full number and the full message so you are approving the actual thing rather than a summary of it.

Can the forwarded email decide who gets messaged?

No, and this is deliberate. A phone number sitting inside a forwarded message is just text that somebody else wrote. The number and the wording have to come from your own instructions, so an email cannot talk ForwardThis into messaging a stranger.

Can it send to a WhatsApp group or a list of people?

No. One message goes to one number, and messaging a second person is just another forward. ForwardThis is for passing a message on, not for groups, broadcasts or campaigns.

Can it send the attachment too?

No. The message goes out as text. ForwardThis reads the email and the names of anything attached to it, so it can tell the person a drawing or an invoice exists, but the file itself stays in your inbox.

Can I schedule the WhatsApp message for later?

Yes, from 15 minutes to 35 days ahead: add a time to your instructions and Twilio holds the message until then. Scheduling sends through a Messaging Service on your Twilio account rather than the sender directly, so that Messaging Service needs your WhatsApp sender in it, and ForwardThis tells you if the account has no Messaging Service at all. A scheduled message can still be cancelled right up until it goes out.

Can I forward an email to WhatsApp from Outlook or Gmail?

Yes. ForwardThis works with any email provider: Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and everything else. If it can forward an email, it works, and there is nothing to install on your phone or your computer.

Why not just copy the email into WhatsApp myself?

For one short line, copying is quicker. This is for the long email where the person waiting only needs one sentence of it: forward it, say who to tell, and the message comes back written and waiting for your yes. It also goes out from your business sender rather than your personal WhatsApp.

What happens to my email afterwards?

It gets deleted. ForwardThis holds your email briefly, then removes it completely. Nothing is stored long term.