WhatsApp Fonts

These WhatsApp fonts cover both options: WhatsApp’s built-in formatting for bold, italic, strikethrough, monospace, quotes and lists, and copy-and-paste Unicode styles for your About line, status and profile name. Use the native formatting in chats, and the generator where WhatsApp has no formatting.

How to use WhatsApp fonts

1. Type or paste your text in the box at the top. Every style updates as you type.
2. Pick a style. Bold sans and small caps work well in a short status or About line.
3. Tap Copy on the row you like, then paste it into your About, status or a message.

WhatsApp’s own formatting comes first

Unlike most apps on this site, WhatsApp has real text formatting built in. For everyday chat it’s often better than pasted Unicode: the words stay normal letters, so they are searchable in your chat history, read correctly by screen readers, and cost nothing to type.

Which options are new

The bold, italic, strikethrough and monospace symbols have been around for years. Inline code, quotes and the two list types are newer. When WhatsApp introduced them, its help page said: “New text formatting is only available on Web and Mac desktop.” Third-party guides report that they have since reached iPhone, and availability on other apps may vary by version. If a list or quote arrives as plain symbols, the other person’s app may not support it yet.

Rules that trip people up

• No space inside the symbols. *bold* works; * bold * shows the asterisks.
• Formatting can’t start mid-word. super*bold* usually stays plain. Put a space before the opening symbol.
• One format inside another works: *_bold italic_*.
• Phones have a menu too. On many phones, selecting text in the message box brings up formatting options (bold, italic, strikethrough, monospace) in the text menu, so you don’t have to type the symbols.

On WhatsApp Web and desktop

The desktop apps and WhatsApp Web were the first to get the newer formats, according to WhatsApp’s own announcement, so they’re the most reliable place to send lists, quotes and inline code. Pasting Unicode styles works the same as on a phone: copy a style from this page in your browser, switch to the WhatsApp tab or app, and paste into the message box, your About, or a status. Because the styled text is just characters, it looks identical when your contact opens it on a phone.

When Unicode styles beat native formatting

Native formatting only works inside chat messages, and only inside WhatsApp. Pasted Unicode letters are different characters, so they keep their look anywhere. Use them when:

1. Styling your About line. WhatsApp documents its formatting for messages, not the About field, and there is no native cursive anyway. Pasting 𝓖𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓿𝓲𝓫𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 is how you get cursive there.
2. Styling your profile name. Same reason. Keep in mind that anyone who has saved your number usually sees the name from their own contacts, so a styled profile name mostly shows to people who haven’t, such as new group members.
3. Writing a text status. The status editor has its own fonts and background colours, which are a good option for a full-screen look. Unicode letters let you use a style those fonts don’t offer, such as ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ᴄᴀᴘꜱ or Ⓑⓤⓑⓑⓛⓔ.
4. Copying text to another app. If you write a bold announcement in WhatsApp and paste it into Instagram or a text message, *asterisks* travel as literal symbols. 𝗕𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘀 travels as bold.
5. You want a style WhatsApp doesn’t have. There is no native cursive, gothic, outline or small caps. Unicode has all of them.

Native formatting is the better pick for long messages, group announcements, instructions, and anything someone may need to search for later. A good compromise for a group announcement: a styled first line and native formatting for the rest.

𝓕𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓓𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓻 🍲
*Saturday 7pm* at Nani's
- bring a dessert
- RSVP by Thursday

Ready-to-copy About and status lines

The About field is short and shows under your name in contact info, so one styled phrase is plenty. Copy these or rebuild them with your own words above:

• 𝓑𝓾𝓼𝔂, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓵𝔂
• ᴀᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴋ · calls after 6pm
• ✿ 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 ✿
• 𝗢𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 until Monday
• ☾ 𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 ☽

For a text status, the line is shown large on a coloured background, so a short greeting in bold cursive or outline letters works well. Long quotes are easier to read in WhatsApp’s own status fonts.

Messages people send over and over have their own copy-ready pages with the styled text, how to write it by hand and where it displays: Good morning, Good night, Thank you and Happy birthday in cursive.

Styles that suit WhatsApp

WhatsApp is read at chat-bubble size on phones, often by older relatives on older devices. Pick styles from widely supported blocks.

The cursive text generator and bold text generator have more variants of the two most popular looks.

Problems and fixes

• Boxes instead of letters. The receiving phone lacks a font for that character. This is most likely with uncommon symbol alphabets on older Android phones. Stick with the styles in the table above for family groups.
• Searching your chats doesn’t find styled words. 𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓻 isn’t made of the same characters as “dinner”, so chat search is unlikely to match it. Native bold keeps the plain letters, so it doesn’t have this problem.
• Screen readers. TalkBack and VoiceOver may read styled letters one by one by their technical names. If someone in your group uses a screen reader, use native formatting for anything they need to understand.
• Strikethrough that looks different. WhatsApp’s ~text~ and the Unicode s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶ style look similar but are not the same: the Unicode version adds a combining mark to each letter, doubling the character count. Use the native one in chats and the strikethrough generator when you need it elsewhere.
• You need the plain text back. Paste styled text into Unstyle Text to convert it to normal letters, for example before copying a styled status into a document.

Facebook, which shares WhatsApp’s owner, has no native formatting in posts at all; the Facebook fonts page covers what you can and can’t style there.

Native formatting is best for chats, so keep WhatsApp fonts for places like your About line and status.