How to Send a Blank Message on WhatsApp (What Works and What Doesn't)

Last updated: October 20, 2026

Short answer: WhatsApp won't let you send a message that is only spaces, because it treats that as empty. The usual workaround is to paste a blank character that isn't classed as a space, such as the Hangul filler (U+3164) or the Braille blank (U+2800), and send that. It often works, sometimes doesn't, and WhatsApp can change how it behaves at any time. We haven't verified it on every phone and version, so treat everything below as general experience, not a promise.

If you just want the character, our blank space copy and paste page has a one-tap copy button and eleven alternatives. The rest of this guide explains what is going on, so you know what to try when the first one fails.

Why a normal space doesn't work

Press the space bar a few times in a WhatsApp chat and look at the send button. As far as we know, in most versions it stays inactive (the microphone icon stays where the send arrow would be), because the app trims whitespace and sees nothing left to send. That looks deliberate. Nobody wants to send accidental empty messages.

This trimming is based on character categories in Unicode, the standard that gives every character on your screen a number. A normal space, a no-break space and an em space are all classed as whitespace, so an app that strips whitespace removes them all. To get past that check you need a character that draws as empty but is classed as something else.

That is the whole trick, and it explains most of the ways it can fail. Which characters count as "empty" is decided by the app, not by you, and the app can change its mind.

The characters people use

These are the usual suspects. We checked each one's Unicode name and category against the Unicode character database while building our blank space page.

Start with the Hangul filler, then try the Braille blank. We'd skip the zero width space for this purpose. Because it has no width, a message made of it can look like nothing was sent, and some apps strip it entirely.

How to send a blank message, step by step

1. Open our blank space page and press the main copy button. Nothing visible happens, but the character is now on your clipboard.
2. Open the WhatsApp chat and tap the message box.
3. Paste. On most phones that means a long press and then Paste.
4. Look at the send button. If it's active, send.

On a phone, that's all there is to it. If you use WhatsApp on a computer, the same paste works in the message box, though the app may behave slightly differently from the phone version.

You'll probably see a message bubble that looks empty, perhaps with a thin gap and a timestamp. That is the expected result, and it is why some people find it funny and others find it annoying.

What can go wrong

The send button stays grey. The app is treating your character as empty. Go back and try the Braille blank instead of the Hangul filler, or the other way round.

The message sends but shows a box or question mark. The device lacks a font containing the character. This is more common with the rarer Hangul fillers (U+115F and U+1160) than with U+3164. Our guide to fixing boxes and question marks in fancy text explains why it happens.

It works for you but looks different for the other person. The message is rendered on their device with their fonts, and their version of the app may handle the character differently. You can't control that.

It stopped working after an update. This is the biggest practical risk. Apps update their input checks without announcement, so a trick that worked last month may fail today. If it fails, try another character before assuming it's gone for good.

It works in one chat but not another. We can't tell you whether group chats, broadcast lists or business accounts behave differently. Test in the exact kind of chat you'll use, with a friend, before you rely on it anywhere important.

Blank status and blank "About"

People also ask about a blank WhatsApp status text or a blank About line. The same idea applies: the field usually rejects ordinary spaces, and a blank character may get through. Whether the field accepts it depends on the app version and the field itself, so test it. We can't tell you which fields accept it today, and we'd rather say that than guess.

A blank name in a group or contact

The same character is sometimes used for a blank display name or a contact name stored on your own phone. Saving a contact with a blank name on your device is ordinary text entry and usually fine. But a blank name in a shared space can cause confusion, and group admins may remove people with names they can't read. If you are thinking about it for a game name instead, see how it works in our Free Fire name generator, which shows a character counter alongside.

Don't use it to cause trouble

A blank message is harmless as a joke, a spacer or a placeholder. It stops being harmless if you use it to spam someone, to flood a group with empty bubbles, or to hide text from people who are supposed to read it. Group admins will notice. WhatsApp may also act on reports of abuse, and a blocked contact is a poor reward for a clever trick. Screen readers can behave oddly with blank messages too, so if the person you're messaging uses one, a message that reads as nothing may confuse them.

Safer ways to get the effect you actually want

Often people want a blank message because they want one of three things. A cheaper route may suit you better.

• A visual gap between messages. Sending a short message with a single full stop, or a dash, does the same job without relying on a hidden character.
• A line break inside a message. Use the Enter key on your phone keyboard. WhatsApp supports multi-line messages, so you don't need a blank character for this.
• Emphasis or style. WhatsApp has its own formatting for bold, italic and strikethrough, which is far more reliable than copied letters. Check the current rules on WhatsApp's own help page about formatting messages.

Things to avoid

Don't put a blank character in a phone number, a payment detail or a password. A hidden character you can't see is a quick way to make something fail without knowing why.

Don't paste a blank character into a link. It breaks the link.

Don't trust a long chain of blanks. Some apps cap repeated characters or collapse them. If you need a gap, one or two is usually enough.

Don't assume the other person sees what you see. Fonts differ between phones.

When invisible characters cause problems you didn't ask for

The same characters cause trouble in the other direction. If you copy text from a web page or a PDF into WhatsApp and the message won't send, or a search for something you copied finds nothing, a hidden character may have come along. Our blank space page has a checker: paste your text and it lists every hidden or unusual space it finds, with its Unicode code, and lets you swap them for normal spaces or remove them.

Frequently asked questions

Can you really send an empty message on WhatsApp? Not an empty one, because the app blocks that. What people send is a message containing a character that looks blank. It's a workaround, not an official feature.

Which character works best? Most people start with the Hangul filler (U+3164), then try the Braille blank (U+2800). Results vary by app version and device.

Is it safe? It's ordinary text and does nothing to your phone. The risk is practical: the app may reject it, other people may see a box, and you could annoy someone.

Will the other person know it's a trick? They'll see a message bubble that appears empty. Whether they work out why is up to them.

Does it work on WhatsApp Web or desktop? Pasting a character works in the message box there too, but behaviour can differ from the phone app. Test it.

Why did it stop working? Apps change their input checks. Try a different blank character, and check the app is up to date.

Does it work in other apps? Often, with the same caveats. Each app sets its own rules. See our guide to bold, italic and fancy text on Discord for how the same idea plays out there.

Our honest take

We make a blank space tool, so we're biased toward it. But our advice is plain: use it for a joke or a spacer, keep it to one or two characters, test it in a chat with a friend first, and have a backup character ready for when an update breaks it. If you can get the effect another way, such as a line break or a short placeholder, do that instead. It won't stop working next month.

If a trick in this guide stops working, or you've found something we've got wrong, tell us and we'll update the guide. More guides are on the blog, and the fancy text generator is there if you want a styled name or status that doesn't depend on a hidden character.