Most WhatsApp conversations still happen on phones, but a significant share of customers — especially B2B and customer-service-led use cases — reply to your messages from WhatsApp Web or the WhatsApp Desktop app. Up until late 2025, Flows opened on a phone only: a customer on Desktop would see a placeholder telling them to switch devices. Since the rollout of Flows on WhatsApp Web and Desktop, customers can complete forms in the same window as the conversation, which removes one of the biggest friction points in WhatsApp data collection. This page covers what to expect on each surface, what’s not yet supported, and how to design Flows that work well on a laptop.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://knowledge.flowella.io/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Where Flows render now
| Surface | Flows render natively | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp mobile (iOS, Android) | Yes | The original surface, full feature support |
| WhatsApp Web (web.whatsapp.com) | Yes | Modal opens inline; the conversation stays visible |
| WhatsApp Desktop app (Windows, macOS) | Yes | Same as Web; modal inside the desktop window |
| WhatsApp for Linux | Partial | Via web.whatsapp.com in a browser |
| WhatsApp Business app (older versions) | No on desktop companion | Some companion apps still ask the user to open on a phone |
The Web/Desktop rollout has been gradual. Some users on older WhatsApp client versions may still see the legacy “please open on mobile” prompt. The system falls back gracefully — they can complete the Flow on their phone when ready — but if you’re seeing this in testing, ask the user to update WhatsApp Desktop or refresh WhatsApp Web.
What changes for your customers
The practical effects of Flows being usable on Web/Desktop:- Faster form completion. Customers don’t have to switch devices to fill in their address or pick a date. A typing-heavy form is much faster on a keyboard.
- Higher completion rates. Older data showed roughly 30–40% of Flow opens on Web/Desktop being abandoned because of the device-switch friction. That recovers when the form opens in-place.
- More flexibility around longer forms. A 6–8 field Flow that would be painful on mobile is fine on a keyboard. You can split fewer forms across multiple screens.
- Copy/paste works. A customer pasting a long order number, address, or VAT number into a Flow field can do so naturally.
What still changes between mobile and Web/Desktop
There are visual and interaction differences you should design around:Screen real estate
Screen real estate
The Flow modal on Web/Desktop is a fixed-width panel inside the WhatsApp window. It’s narrower than a typical web form and roughly the same width as a mobile screen, so single-column layouts continue to work best. Don’t design a Flow that needs side-by-side fields.
Native pickers vs custom UI
Native pickers vs custom UI
Date pickers, dropdowns, and other native form controls use the desktop client’s UI on Web/Desktop, which looks different from a phone but behaves the same. Test that any date or time fields render acceptably in both.
Photos and document attachments
Photos and document attachments
Customers on Web/Desktop attach photos or documents from their file system, not from a camera roll. If your Flow asks for “a photo of the damage” expecting an instant camera capture, set expectations in the prompt copy that they may need to take it on their phone first.
Location sharing
Location sharing
Browser geolocation works differently to mobile GPS. If your Flow requests a location, expect lower precision on Web/Desktop and consider an address input as a fallback.
OTP autofill
OTP autofill
On mobile, WhatsApp can autofill an OTP from a recent SMS. On Web/Desktop, this doesn’t happen — the customer types the code manually. Make sure the entry field is clearly labelled as “6-digit code from SMS” or similar.
Design implications
With Flows running on Web/Desktop, the design decisions worth revisiting:- Field count. You can ask for more fields per screen than was sensible when 30%+ of Web/Desktop users were going to abandon. A 5–7 field screen is reasonable now.
- Address forms. Multi-line address forms (street, city, postcode, country) work well on a keyboard. Don’t squash these into one line out of habit.
- Copy-paste fields. Order numbers, booking references, VAT numbers — fields where the customer is more likely to be on a desktop than a phone — can stay in single inputs rather than being broken up.
- Confirmation screens. The end-of-Flow confirmation screen now has more room for a meaningful summary. Use it to confirm the data they entered, not just “thank you”.
How Flowella handles cross-device
From Flowella’s perspective, a Flow submission is a Flow submission regardless of which surface the customer used. The webhook payload, the HubSpot form submission event, and the inbox notification are identical. If you need to know which surface the customer used — for analytics or for routing — the response webhook includes a device hint in some message types. Most reporting doesn’t need this distinction.Testing on Web/Desktop
A quick checklist when building or revising a Flow:Send the Flow to a test contact's WhatsApp Web
Use Flowella’s Templates → Test Send or a test contact, with WhatsApp Web open on a second monitor or browser.
Open the Flow on Web/Desktop
Confirm the Flow modal opens inline, not with a “open on mobile” placeholder.
Fill in every field as a real customer would
Use Tab between fields, paste long values where realistic, and check that error states (invalid email, missing required field) display readably.
Check date and dropdown behaviour
Open the date picker, scroll the dropdowns. Confirm anything that’s been tested only on mobile still feels natural with a mouse.
Older clients and fallbacks
If a customer is on an older WhatsApp version that doesn’t support Flows on their current surface, WhatsApp typically renders a placeholder asking them to update or open on a phone. The Flow itself is still valid — the customer can complete it later by re-opening the chat on a supported surface. For business-critical forms, two safeguards:- Always include a follow-up message after a Flow send, asking the customer to confirm they completed it. If they didn’t, the auto-reply can prompt them again.
- Set a reasonable Flow expiry so the form invitation doesn’t sit indefinitely. See Template reference for the time-to-live options on the underlying template.
Related guides
- Forms — how HubSpot forms become WhatsApp Flows
- Template reference — the template wrapper around a Flow
- Inbox — where Flow submissions land for your team