The WhatsApp Mac app, and the one thing it will not do

Yes, there is an official WhatsApp Mac app, and it costs nothing. It comes from the WhatsApp download page or the Mac App Store listing, it needs macOS 12.1 or newer, and it is set up by scanning a QR code with the phone that already runs WhatsApp. That covers most people who type this search. The rest arrive with a narrower question: they have a personal number and a work number, and they want both on the Mac. The official app cannot do that, and WhatsApp says so in its own help centre. This guide covers the install, what the app adds over a browser tab, the rules every Mac session has to live with, and the routes that give a second number its own window. All figures were checked on the vendors' pages on October 18, 2026.

This site is run by the developer of a tool that turns websites into Mac apps, which is one of the routes compared near the end.

Installing it and linking it to the phone

There are two official sources, and they install the same thing. The WhatsApp download page has a Mac tile that reads "Get calling, screen sharing and faster experience with the Mac app. Requires macOS 12.1 or newer." The App Store listing, published by WhatsApp Inc., is a single entry covering iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. On the day of checking it showed the price as free with in-app purchases, a size of 402.2 MB and version 26.40.77. The App Store route has one practical advantage: updates arrive through the same mechanism as every other App Store app, so there is nothing separate to keep current.

The Mac app does not create an account. It becomes a linked device of the account on the phone, so the phone has to be at hand for the first launch.

1. Open the Mac app. It shows a QR code.
2. On an iPhone, open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Linked devices > Link device. On Android, tap the three dot menu, then Linked devices > Link a device.
3. Unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or the phone's PIN when asked.
4. Point the phone at the QR code on the Mac screen.

If WhatsApp does not recognise the device, the phone asks for confirmation with two buttons, Don't link and Link device. These menu names come from the help centre article on linked devices, which is also where the limits in the next sections are written down.

One source of confusion is worth clearing up. The help centre page titled How to download WhatsApp Desktop still describes a desktop download only for Windows 10 64-bit version 1903 or later, and sends "all other operating systems" to WhatsApp Web. The download page and the App Store both list a current Mac build. Readers who land on the older help page first sometimes conclude there is no Mac app. There is.

What the app adds over WhatsApp Web

WhatsApp Web is the same product in a browser tab at web.whatsapp.com, linked the same way with a QR code. For reading and replying, the two look and behave almost the same. The differences are specific, and they decide whether the app is worth keeping.

History. WhatsApp's article on message history on linked devices states that not every message syncs to a linked device, and that "WhatsApp Desktop syncs more message history than WhatsApp Web." For anyone who searches old conversations from the Mac, this is the strongest reason to use the app.

Calls and screen sharing. The download page names calling, screen sharing and speed as what the Mac app adds. Calling is not exclusive to it, though. The help centre's About WhatsApp Web page lists calling as a Web feature, and the supported browsers page says calling works best on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari and Opera. The practical difference is dependence: a call in a tab shares the browser with everything else open in it, while the app runs on its own.

Browser floor. WhatsApp Web has its own minimum browser versions: Chrome 100, Edge 100, Firefox 115, Safari 15 and Opera 86. Those are low enough that almost any Mac browser in use today qualifies.

Everything else, from chats and groups to channels, status and media, is the same service in both places. That is why the browser routes later in this guide are realistic for this service in particular. The gap between app and web is narrow. Someone who mostly types will barely notice it. Someone who takes daily calls on the Mac, or depends on search across long history, should keep the official app as the main session.

The rules every Mac session inherits

Whichever route ends up in the Dock, the account sees it as one linked device, and linked devices follow rules set on the phone.

The first rule is a ceiling. The help centre says the primary phone can link "up to four devices". The Mac app, a WhatsApp Web tab, a second phone and an iPad each take one of those four slots. A home Mac, a work Mac, a browser on a shared laptop and a tablet fill the budget, and adding a fifth means unlinking one of the others.

The second rule is a clock. Linked devices stay connected only if WhatsApp is opened on the primary phone at least once every 14 days. The login has to happen on the phone, not on the Mac. A phone left switched off in a drawer for two weeks will quietly disconnect every session on every Mac, and the failure looks like a bug when it is not.

The third rule is about history. The same page carries a standing notice that some linked devices do not display up to one year of chat history, with the full history still on the phone. No Mac window should be treated as the archive.

The fourth rule is how sessions end. The help centre's unlink a device article gives two ways: open Linked devices on the phone and log out the session there, or choose Settings > Log out > Log out on the linked device itself. Closing the Mac app or a browser tab is not logging out, and the session survives. Logging out frees the slot and requires a new QR scan to come back. On a shared Mac, that is the right habit. On a personal Mac, it is an easy way to undo a setup by accident.

The one thing it will not do: a second number

WhatsApp supports two accounts on one phone, each with its own number, and lets the user switch between them. The help centre article on switching accounts also draws the boundary:

Secondary accounts can only be created from your primary mobile device. Only mobile companion devices can switch between accounts. This feature is not available on linked devices. Multiple accounts are currently only supported on mobile devices.

A Mac is a linked device, so the account switcher on the phone has no counterpart on the Mac. The same article adds that account switching is not available in the WhatsApp Business app at all.

Put that against common working setups. A freelancer with a personal number and a client number. A shop owner whose staff line is separate from the family group. A consultant who carries a second SIM for one engagement. All of them can switch on the phone and none of them can switch in the Mac app. Installing the app twice does not help, because both copies would read the same stored session.

What does work is a second session container. WhatsApp Web treats every separate browser session as its own linked device, so the second account can be linked to a different container from its own phone, and both stay connected at the same time. Each account still follows its own four device ceiling and its own 14 day clock. The question is only which container to use, and how to tell the two apart once both are open.

Three ways to give the second account its own window

A second browser profile. Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox all support separate profiles with separate cookies. Open web.whatsapp.com in the second profile, scan the QR code from the second account, and both sessions coexist. The downside is visual: both appear as the same browser in the Dock and in the Cmd+Tab switcher, and the WhatsApp tab sits among whatever else that profile has open.

A Safari web app. Apple's guide to Safari web apps describes the Add to Dock feature, available from macOS Sonoma 14. In Safari, open web.whatsapp.com, choose File > Add to Dock, give it a name and click Add. Apple states that a web app "shares no browsing history, cookies, website data, or settings with Safari", which is exactly the separation a second account needs. It can have any name and icon, it is saved to the Applications folder inside the home folder, and it supports Safari extensions, which can be switched on or off per web app.

A site to app tool built on Chrome or another Chromium browser. These tools create a standalone app for one site, using a browser already installed on the Mac, and give each app its own profile. The difference from a Safari web app is the engine: Chrome Web Store extensions such as a password manager work inside the window, because it is running on the installed browser. Whether WhatsApp is offered as a ready made preset, rather than a URL to type, is listed on the supported services page.

	Official Mac app	Browser profile	Safari web app	Site to app tool
Minimum macOS	12.1	Depends on the browser	14 Sonoma	Tool and browser both apply
Cost	Free	Free	Free	Free tier, paid tier for more apps
Holds a second number on the same Mac	No	Yes, one per profile	Yes, one per web app	Yes, one per app
Own Dock icon and Cmd+Tab entry	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Custom name and icon	No	No	Yes	Yes
Extensions inside the window	No	Chrome or Firefox add-ons	Safari extensions	Chrome Web Store extensions
Counts as one linked device	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

The most useful arrangement for many readers combines two of these: the official app for the main number, where history sync and calls matter most, and a separate window for the second number. The name and icon rows matter more than they look. Two windows that both say WhatsApp, with the same green icon, are a reliable way to reply from the wrong number.

Older Macs change the answer

Line up the version floors and the usual advice turns around on older hardware. Google's Chrome system requirements list macOS 13 Ventura and later for current Chrome on Mac. Safari web apps need macOS 14. The official WhatsApp app needs only macOS 12.1.

On a Mac running Monterey, then, the official app installs and is fully supported, while Add to Dock does not exist in Safari and current Chrome is out of reach. A plain Safari tab still works for WhatsApp Web, because the Safari that runs on Monterey meets the Safari 15 minimum, but that tab cannot have its own Dock icon. On such a machine, the official app is the main route, and a second number is best handled in a second browser that still supports the installed macOS. Site to app tools also depend on the browser underneath, so the browser's own requirement decides what is possible. Check the macOS version under Apple menu > About This Mac before choosing anything.

On a current Mac, every route in the table is open, and the decision comes down to how many numbers need a window and whether extensions matter.

Settings to check before relying on a second window

Notifications are granted per window. Apple's guide is specific: for the unread count badge on a web app's Dock icon, respond to the site's notification request inside the web app, not in Safari. A permission already granted in the browser does not carry over to a separate session. In site to app tools the same principle applies under a different switch. In some tools, notification requests are denied by default until notifications are turned on for that app, as the Guide describes for each setting. The first symptom of a missed setting is a window that receives messages silently.

Do not use a private or incognito mode for WhatsApp. A session that clears cookies whenever the window closes also clears the WhatsApp link so every launch means a new QR scan from the phone.

Name the window after the number. Use something like WhatsApp Work and WhatsApp Personal, and a different icon or colour for each. This is the step people skip and regret.

Decide where downloaded files land. Media saved from a chat goes to the download folder of that session. A separate profile can have its own folder, which avoids searching two Downloads folders a month later.

Remove cleanly when finished. A Safari web app is deleted by dragging it from the Applications folder inside the home folder to the Trash. Unlink the session from the phone's Linked devices screen as well, so the slot is freed.

What to change first

Check the macOS version first, because on Monterey the official app is the route and the browser options are limited. If one number is all that is needed, install the official app from the App Store and stop there. If a second number has to be reachable from the Mac, give it its own window with its own profile and a name that says which number it is, which is what a tool such as Kagemusha is built for. The free tier limit and the price of the paid tier are in the pricing section.