WhatsApp Desk is a fast, ultra-lightweight, privacy-respecting desktop client for WhatsApp Web.
Built with native operating system web engines — WebKit on macOS, WebView2 on Windows, and WebKitGTK on Linux.
Zero Electron bloat • Zero telemetry • Zero message relay servers • Complete local privacy.
Get the latest stable release for your operating system (updated automatically):
| Platform | Recommended Installer | Portable / Archive | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| macOS | Universal DMG | Universal ZIP | macOS 12.0+ (Apple Silicon & Intel) |
| Windows 10 / 11 | Setup Wizard (.exe) | Portable EXE | Windows 10/11 x64 (WebView2 runtime) |
| Linux (x64) — via v1.5.9.9 | DEB (WebKitGTK 4.0, Ubuntu 22.04) · DEB (WebKitGTK 4.1, Ubuntu 24.04+) | tar.gz 4.0 · tar.gz 4.1 | GTK 3 & WebKitGTK 4.0 / 4.1 |
Tip
Download links point automatically to the latest release assets. You can also view all past versions and architectures on the Releases page.
Linux note: the 1.6.2 pipeline builds macOS and Windows only. Linux packages keep riding with v1.5.9.9 until the next Linux build; their fixed links above always resolve.
- Two Accounts, One Window: Link a second WhatsApp account with a fully isolated browser profile and switch from the account dock (
Ctrl+Shift+1/2/Cmd+Shift+1/2) — with per-account unread badges and a seamless, blink-free swap. One live engine at a time keeps memory low. - Ultra-Lightweight Engine: Built directly on native OS webviews (WebKit on macOS, WebView2 on Windows, WebKitGTK on Linux). Minimal RAM and battery footprint compared to Chromium/Electron apps.
- Zero Telemetry & Private by Design: Communicates straight with
https://web.whatsapp.com. No analytics tracking, no user profiling, and no proxy or relay servers. - Instant Privacy Mode & Auto-Lock: Quickly redact chat previews, sender names, and media thumbnails with a shortcut (
Ctrl+Shift+P/Cmd+Shift+P) or automatic lock on idle. - Built-in Document & Office Preview: Instant in-app previews for PDFs, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint slides, and text attachments without cluttering your drive with duplicate files.
- Windows Setup Wizard: Per-user installer with branded artwork, Start Menu and desktop shortcuts, and clean uninstallation in Windows Apps & Features.
- Unified Settings & Module Guard: Single accessible settings control (
Ctrl+,/Cmd+,) protected by runtime module isolation (waRunModule) against unexpected DOM changes. - Built-in Self Updater: Automatic update notifications with cryptographic
SHA256SUMSvalidation before applying updates. - Per-Monitor Window Memory: Automatically remembers window position and dimension across multi-monitor setups.
Note: Screenshots use blurred chat content to protect personal information.
| Feature | macOS | Windows & Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Open Settings | Cmd + , | Ctrl + , |
| Toggle Privacy Mode | Cmd + Shift + P | Ctrl + Shift + P |
| Toggle Always on Top | Cmd + Shift + T | Ctrl + Shift + T |
| Mute / Unmute Audio | Cmd + Shift + M | Ctrl + Shift + M |
| Open Downloads Folder | Cmd + Shift + D | Ctrl + Shift + D |
| Check for Updates | Cmd + Shift + U | Ctrl + Shift + U |
| Hard Refresh Web View | Cmd + Shift + R | Ctrl + Shift + R |
| Zoom In / Out / Reset | Cmd + + / - / 0 | Ctrl + + / - / 0 |
- Download WhatsApp-Desk-macOS-Universal.dmg.
- Open the DMG and drag WhatsApp Desk into Applications.
- First launch: If macOS Gatekeeper alerts you, right-click the application and select Open.
- Download and run WhatsApp-Desk-Windows-x64-Setup.exe.
- The setup wizard installs WhatsApp Desk per-user (no Administrator rights required) and adds Start Menu and desktop shortcuts.
- SmartScreen Note: Since community binaries are unsigned (no EV certificate), choose More info → Run anyway.
Note
The latest Linux packages are published with v1.5.9.9 — download them from that release's Assets section, then follow the steps below.
# Debian / Ubuntu (x64)
sudo dpkg -i WhatsApp-Desk-Linux-amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f
# Fedora / RHEL (x64)
sudo dnf install ./WhatsApp-Desk-Fedora-x64.rpmNote
Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble), Linux Mint 22.x, Fedora 39+ ship WebKitGTK 4.1 only — use the
-webkit4.1 assets: WhatsApp-Desk-Linux-amd64-webkit4.1.deb (or the portable
WhatsApp-Desk-Linux-x64-webkit4.1.tar.gz on Fedora/RHEL, where DEB does not apply).
Older distros (Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12) use the default 4.0 assets. Verify a package
before installing: dpkg-deb -f <deb> Depends (expect libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 for the 4.1
variant) and ldd dist_linux/whatsapp-desk | grep webkit for the portable archive.
RPM packages and arm64 Linux builds are not currently published; build them with
bash build_linux.sh (see Building & Releasing).
Every release ships with a signed SHA256SUMS checksum list:
# macOS
shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS
# Linux
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS
# Windows PowerShell
(Get-FileHash .\WhatsApp-Desk-Windows-x64-Setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()WhatsApp Desk loads https://web.whatsapp.com directly. Session and cache data remain inside the application's local profile. The application does not add an analytics service or a message relay server.
Errors and crash logs stay on your machine. Nothing is ever uploaded automatically: the Control Center's Report button (or the post-crash nudge) only opens a pre-filled GitHub issue in your browser, which you review before submitting.
Default profile locations:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/WhatsAppDesk/UserData/ - Windows:
%APPDATA%\WhatsAppDesk\UserData\ - Linux:
~/.config/whatsapp-desk/
Every version's changes are recorded in CHANGELOG.md, which follows the Keep a Changelog format. The published release notes are generated from it, so the two can never disagree.
Read the Changelog · View All Releases on GitHub
Releases are built and published from a local machine, not from hosted CI. This keeps the release path independent of any runner account and makes every published artifact reproducible on the maintainer's machine.
bash release.sh --check # verify the toolchain
bash release.sh 1.5.9.9 --dry-run # build and checksum, publish nothing
bash release.sh 1.5.9.9 # build, publish, and verify the downloadrelease.sh refuses to publish unless updater.go already declares the same
version, so a release can never advertise a version its binary does not report.
It builds the macOS universal DMG/ZIP and the Windows portable EXE, ZIP, and
Setup wizard, generates SHA256SUMS from the published asset list, and finally
re-downloads an artifact to verify its digest.
Individual targets are also available: build_mac.sh, build_windows_installer.sh,
and build_linux.sh (Linux packaging is currently maintained separately).
The Release workflow in .github/workflows/build.yml is manual-only for this
reason; its job definitions are kept for use on a host with working runners.
Licensed under the MIT License.
This is an independent project and is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by WhatsApp or Meta Platforms, Inc. WhatsApp is a trademark of its respective owner.


