How to run WhatsApp desktop app in Windows 7
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Even tho’ a Desktop version of the frantically popular WhatsApp mobile messaging app has been released, its developers claim that the app is supported only on Windows ten and Windows 8/8.1. If you are a Windows seven user, your operating system does not support it officially. Regardless, you can lightly get WhatsApp working in Windows seven for now.
The installer of WhatsApp for Desktop as of this writing doesn’t check the operating system version and can be launched in Windows seven too. So, do the following.
- Point your browser to this page and download the installer for Windows ten and Windows 8. It is a 61.Four MB file as of this writing.
- Dual click it to run and install the app. After a few seconds, WhatsApp’s shortcut will emerge directly on the Desktop and in the Commence Menu, and the app will open:
- It shows a QR code, which you need to read using the mobile WhatsApp app. On your phone, open its menu by pressing the button with three dots and select WhatsApp web to scan the QR code on your computer screen using the phone’s camera. The Desktop version is only a wrapper for the web version.
- Once this is done, you can begin talking directly. The app requires you to keep mobile WhatsApp running on your phone, exactly like the Web version does. Also, it does not support voice calls yet.
By using it shortly I found it flawlessly usable in Windows 7. When someone messages you, it draws a crimson overlay icon on its Taskbar button indicating unread messages just like Skype for Desktop does.
Toast notifications which are available only in Windows eight and Windows ten will not work obviously but this is not a big deal, because toast notifications showcase anyone looking at your screen all the WhatsApp messages that you receive, violating your privacy.
So, if you are a Windows seven user, you can get WhatsApp working with very minor limitations. Another issue is the app itself. Compared to similar solutions like Viber or Telegram, it is a very basic app and lacks many features suggested by contesting apps in their Desktop versions. These contesting apps do not require the mobile version to be running on your phone. In case of Viber or Telegram, your phone is required only for a 1-time SMS verification. Other than these issues, WhatsApp runs fine.
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