If you use WhatsApp Web all day, the chat list turns into one long column: clients, family, a school group, a supplier, three people you still owe a reply. This is how I sort that column on https://web.whatsapp.com with WA Folders, a Chrome extension I built. It runs only on WhatsApp Web in Chrome, not in the WhatsApp phone app, and it isn't affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta.
WhatsApp has built-in chat Lists in its apps; see WhatsApp's help pages for where they appear on your devices. WhatsApp describes them as a way to filter your chats into custom categories. If a filter is all you need, start there. The rest of this post is for when you also want notes, reminders and a view of who is waiting on whom.
The two-minute setup
- Install WA Folders from the Chrome Web Store: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hahfpdlfieloofgjhanljbbnakinfhil?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=3374
- Open https://web.whatsapp.com. The WA Folders panel sits in the conversation area, so WhatsApp's chat list, search box and filter chips stay clickable.
- You start with Family, Work and Clients. On first use the panel can suggest folders from the chat names on screen; nothing is filed until you press Add these.
- Open a chat and press Add chat on the folder it belongs in.
The step-by-step version with more screenshots is in How to make folders in WhatsApp Web.
Read the folder tabs
Each folder is a tab above WhatsApp's chat list. Click Home and you see only those chats, with small markers on each row:
- ↩ reply: they wrote last and you haven't answered
- ⏰ due: a reminder has come up (before that, the row shows the reminder time)
- ❓: their last message asks you something
- ⏳: you wrote last and you're waiting on them
- 📝: the chat has a private note
Click a chat in the tab view and it opens. Click All to get WhatsApp's normal list back.
File chats automatically
In Settings, under Auto-file rules, you can point a rule at a folder. A rule can match "Chat name contains", "Chat name starts with", "Phone number starts with" (for example +44) or "Every group chat". It files chats as WA Folders sees them in the list or when you open them. If you take a chat out of a folder by hand, the rule won't add it back. The free plan has 1 rule.
Notes and reminders on a chat
With a chat open, the This chat section of the panel has a private note box ("owes me $40", "meter reading due by the 5th"). The note is saved only on your computer and is never sent to the other person.
Below it are reminder buttons: 1 h, 3 h, Tomorrow 9:00, Monday 9:00, or Pick… for any time. Once set, the panel shows something like "⏰ Reminder: Wed, Oct 7, 9:00 AM" with Change and Clear. The chat waits under Due until then and leaves Needs reply in the meantime.
In a one-to-one chat where you wrote last, you can also pick "Remind me if they don't reply" in 1 day or 3 days. If they answer first, the follow-up clears itself. If not, the chat shows up under Due, with a number on the toolbar icon and, if you allow them in Settings, a desktop notification. On the free plan you can have 2 reminders at a time, and a follow-up counts as one.
Smart views and the Today line
Above the folders, the panel has Smart views that work across all chats: Unread on screen, Needs reply, Questions for me, Waiting on them, Due and Unfiled. Unfiled is the fastest way to find chats you haven't sorted yet. On first load, Needs reply, Questions for me and Waiting on them fill from the chat rows WhatsApp has drawn (unread badge, preview and your own ticks); after that they use the chats you've opened on this computer. Unread on screen only counts the drawn rows too, so scroll the list if a count looks low.
The Today line at the top of the panel sums it up as small counts, for example ⏰ 1 due, ↩ 6 to reply, ❓ 4 questions and ⏳ 4 waiting. Click a count to open that list. Waiting on them only lists one-to-one chats, after a delay you choose in Settings (4 hours, 1 day, 2 days or 3 days).
Free and Pro limits
Free: 5 folders, 1 auto-file rule, 2 reminders at a time and 3 quick replies, among other limits, with no time limit. When you reach one, the panel tells you and shows an Upgrade link. For a sixth folder it says: "The free plan holds 5 folders. Rename one with ✎, or upgrade to Pro for more."
Pro has no plan limits: unlimited folders, rules, reminders, quick replies, search results, exports and the rest. It also adds sync of your folder setup between your own Chrome browsers through Chrome Sync. Sync copies folder names, colours, which chats are in each folder (chat names only), quick replies and rules. Messages, notes, reminders and the search index never leave the computer. You paste the license key (it starts with WAF-) into the toolbar popup. Free plan included; Pro is a one-time unlock, see https://wafolders.com.
Backup and restore to a JSON file is in Settings on both plans.
FAQ
Will my folders show up in the WhatsApp phone app?
No. WA Folders folders live in Chrome on the computer where you made them, and Pro sync only reaches your other Chrome browsers. For something on your phone, look at WhatsApp's own Lists.
Can I use it with the WhatsApp desktop app?
No. It only runs on https://web.whatsapp.com in Chrome.
Does it send messages or read chats on a server?
It never presses Send. Quick replies and AI drafts are typed into the message box and you send them yourself. There is no bulk send, no broadcasts and no auto-reply. Chat data stays in Chrome's local storage; there is no WA Folders server. The one exception you can choose is the optional "my own API key" AI setting, which sends the messages you ask about straight to the AI provider you picked.
What happens when WhatsApp changes its page?
The panel says so and offers "Copy diagnostics", a report that lists which page parts were found, with no chat names or messages in it.
Related: How to make folders in WhatsApp Web for the quick setup, and Reminders and Due on WhatsApp Web for more on reminders.
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