Forwarding a WhatsApp message to another contact is easy and only takes a few taps. WhatsApp allows you to forward messages, photos, videos and other media to any of your contacts with just a couple of taps. This can be useful for sharing information quickly or forwarding something you received to another person who may find it useful. In this article, we’ll walk through the simple steps to forward any WhatsApp message on both iPhone and Android smartphones.
Requirements for Forwarding WhatsApp Messages
Before forwarding a WhatsApp message, there are a couple requirements:
- You must have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on your smartphone.
- You need an active internet connection on your phone to send and receive WhatsApp messages.
- The contact you want to forward the message to must be in your WhatsApp contacts list.
As long as you meet these requirements, forwarding a WhatsApp message takes just a few taps. Let’s look at the steps for both iOS and Android devices.
How to Forward a WhatsApp Message on iPhone
Forwarding a WhatsApp message on an iPhone is very easy:
- Open WhatsApp and go to the chat with the message you want to forward.
- Tap and hold the message you want to forward.
- Tap the Forward arrow icon in the menu that pops up.
- Select the contact or group you want to forward the message to.
- Tap the Send button to forward the message.
That’s all there is to it! The message will now be forwarded to the contact you selected.
Here are more detailed steps with screenshots for forwarding a WhatsApp message on iPhone:
- Open the WhatsApp chat with the message you want to forward and tap and hold the message.
- Tap the Forward arrow icon in the menu.
- Select a contact or group to forward the message to.
- Tap Send to forward the message.
And that’s all there is to forwarding a WhatsApp message on an iPhone!
How to Forward WhatsApp Messages on Android
The process for forwarding WhatsApp messages on Android is very similar:
- Open the WhatsApp chat with the message.
- Long press the message you want to forward.
- Tap the Forward arrow icon.
- Select a contact or group to forward the message to.
- Tap the arrow icon to send.
Here are the detailed steps with screenshots for forwarding WhatsApp messages on Android:
- Open the WhatsApp chat and long press the message you want to forward.
- Tap the Forward arrow icon.
- Select a contact or group to forward the message to.
- Tap the arrow icon to send and forward the message.
As you can see, the process is very similar on both iPhone and Android. Just open the chat, tap and hold or long press the message, choose forward, select a contact, and hit send.
Forwarding Multiple WhatsApp Messages
You can also select multiple WhatsApp messages and forward them together:
- Open the WhatsApp chat.
- Tap and hold the first message you want to forward.
- Tap each additional message you want to forward.
- Tap the Forward arrow icon.
- Select a contact and tap Send.
This will forward all the selected messages together in one go. It’s great for forwarding a conversation thread or multiple media files at once.
Forwarding Without Saving
By default, any media you forward through WhatsApp, like photos or videos, gets saved to your phone’s internal storage. If you don’t want forwarded media to save:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats.
- Turn off ‘Save to Camera Roll’ (iPhone) or ‘Media Visibility’ (Android).
With this setting off, any media you forward will not be saved locally. The recipient will still receive it normally.
Forwarding Private Messages
While forwarding can be useful, you should be careful about forwarding private messages without the sender’s consent. Since forwarding publicly shares messages, only forward private information with caution or explicit permission from the sender to avoid issues.
Some tips for responsibly forwarding private chats:
- Ask the sender if they are comfortable with you forwarding the message before doing so.
- Delete any sensitive or identifiable information from the message before forwarding.
- If you’re unsure, don’t forward the message.
Forwarding Messages Without Context
It’s also good practice to provide some context when forwarding messages to another person. Without context, they may find the message random, strange, or confusing.
Some tips for forwarding messages with context:
- Give a short 1-2 sentence explanation of what the forwarded message is about.
- Let them know why you think the message may be useful or relevant to them.
- Mention any key background information needed to fully understand the message.
Adding brief context helps the recipient understand the meaning and purpose of your message forward.
WhatsApp Forward Limits
To limit the spread of misinformation, WhatsApp has placed some limits on forwarding messages:
- Messages can only be forwarded to one group at a time, to prevent mass forwarding.
- Highly forwarded messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time.
- Forwarded messages appear with a double arrow icon and label to indicate they did not originate from the sender.
These limits help reduce the reach of spam, rumors, and fake news on WhatsApp’s private messaging platform.
Troubleshooting WhatsApp Forwarding
If you are having trouble forwarding WhatsApp messages, here are some troubleshooting tips:
- Confirm you have an active internet connection on your phone.
- Check that you have the latest version of WhatsApp installed.
- Ensure the contact you are forwarding to is in your contacts list and has an active WhatsApp account.
- Restart your phone and reopen WhatsApp to clear any software glitches.
- Verify you don’t have any third-party app blocking or restricting WhatsApp.
- Try reinstalling WhatsApp if issues persist.
Following these tips should resolve most forwarding issues. Also confirm the recipient did not block you, which would prevent them from receiving your forwarded messages.
Alternative Ways to Forward Messages
In addition to the standard forwarding method in WhatsApp, there are a couple alternative ways to forward messages:
- Forward as text: Copy and paste the text of a message into a new chat without forwarding.
- Take a screenshot: Take a screenshot of the message and send the photo to share the content.
- Save media: Save any media attachments and resend them directly to a chat.
These methods allow you to essentially “forward” content without using WhatsApp’s built-in forwarding feature. They give you some extra flexibility butalso lose features like seeing the original sender.
Conclusions
Forwarding WhatsApp messages to contacts is a quick and easy way to share useful information across your network. Now you know how to quickly forward individual or multiple messages on both iPhone and Android.
Some key points to remember:
- Get consent before forwarding private messages to respect the sender’s privacy.
- Provide context to help recipients understand forwarded messages.
- Follow WhatsApp’s responsible forwarding limits.
- Troubleshoot issues with basic steps like checking your internet connection.
- Alternatives like copying text or taking screenshots can also work.
With these tips, you can make the most of WhatsApp forwarding to conveniently share all kinds of messages while being a responsible user. Forward wisely and make your message sharing more meaningful.