Are you scared of losing contact with your group members on WhatsApp? Saving each contact from a group to your phone is a time-consuming process. And it’s also perhaps unnecessary, especially when you don’t have a personal relationship with them.
But how about copying and saving all WhatsApp group contacts into a spreadsheet—all at once? After all, you might need them in the future.
Here’s how to copy contact numbers from a WhatsApp group to an Excel document.
When you save your WhatsApp group contacts somewhere other than on your phone, it lets you reach out to them even when you’re offline.
Having the ability to contact group chat members while offline is useful for many reasons. If your WhatsApp gets hacked or your phone is stolen, for example, you can send a bulk SMS to group members and let them know that you’ve lost access to WhatsApp.
To copy your group chat contacts from WhatsApp to a spreadsheet, you’ll need to use the WhatsApp Web app via a computer.
The first way to achieve this is by using a Google Chrome extension. To use this option, follow the steps below.
- Go to Google Chrome Web Store. Then, install the WA – Download Group Phone Numbers Chrome Extension.
- Next, head over to WhatsApp Web on your Chrome browser after installing the extension.
- Scan the QR code with your phone’s camera to sync and open your WhatsApp.
- Select the WhatsApp group you want to get people’s contact details from. Then click the three vertical dots at the top-right and select Download info to download the contacts into an Excel file.
- Refresh your WhatsApp page if you can’t find the Download info option. Then retry the above step.
A striking advantage of using this extension is that it organizes the contacts into an Excel sheet. Plus, it matches each contact’s corresponding username with its phone number. And if a phone number exists in your contact book already, it’ll point this out in the downloaded Excel file.
Copying texts from a web page like WhatsApp Web is one of the things you can do with Inspect Element. Unlike the previous option, this method for copying numbers from a WhatsApp group to an Excel spreadsheet is more manual. But it’s not overly technical, so don’t worry. You can use any available web browser, as long as it lets you inspect the elements of a website.
However, unlike the previous method, arranging the phone numbers to match the owner’s username isn’t feasible without extra time-consuming work. Nonetheless, it’s a reliable technique to fall on when an extension fails.
How to Get WhatsApp Group Contact in Chrome
To get the phone numbers on your WhatsApp group using Inspect Element on Google Chrome, you’ll first need to go to WhatsApp Web on your computer.
After that, you can select the group you want to copy contacts from. Look to the top of the group page (below the group name and icon), and you’ll see some phone numbers or contacts listed horizontally on that tab.
Right-click any of the contacts on this tab. Then choose Inspect. You’ll see the numbers already highlighted in the Elements menu; right-click on these, and you’ll see a list of options. Choose Copy > Copy element from the next sets of choices.
After copying the numbers, you can paste them into a spreadsheet.
The process for extracting WhatsApp group numbers from Firefox is slightly different from how you do it with Google Chrome.
Below are the steps to copy WhatsApp group numbers in Firefox:
- Follow the same process for accessing WhatsApp Web via Google Chrome.
- Select the group you want to copy contacts from.
- Right-click on the contacts listed horizontally at the top of the group. Select Inspect(Q).
- Right-click the highlighted texts in the inspect console. Choose Copy > Inner HTML.
- Paste the copied contacts into an Excel sheet.
Arranging the Phone Numbers Into Separate Excel Cells
After copying your WhatsApp group phone numbers into Excel, you’ll notice that they’re not separated into individual cells. Separating them makes it easier to copy and paste each number when needed.
To separate numbers into individual Excel cells, you’ll first need to select the row containing the phone numbers. From the Excel ribbon, click Data. Then, choose Text to Columns.
Tick the Delimited circle in the next window. After that, click Next.
In the following Window, uncheck the Tab option. When you’ve done that, tick the Comma box.
Once you’ve completed the steps mentioned above, click Next. Then, choose Finish. The phone numbers are now in separate cells in a single row.
Now select that entire row and copy it by pressing Ctrl + C on your keyboard.
After doing the above, you can either open a new sheet or right-click on any cell within the one already opened. Whichever you choose, you’ll need to go to Paste Special… > Other Paste Options > Paste Special….
After clicking the pasting option, click the Transpose checkbox. Then, tap on OK. You should now see the contact numbers in a single column. Unlike the previously bundled row arrangement, each should now have its separate cell and row instead.
If a contact is in your phone book already, you’ll see the names you saved them with—and not their phone numbers. However, you can still get their mobile numbers from your phone book since they’re in the Excel file.
Even if you don’t have personal contact with everyone in your WhatsApp group, losing touch with the group as a whole can have detrimental effects. And while the worst is unlikely to happen, a little preparation in case it does is a good idea.
Now you know how to copy phone numbers from a WhatsApp group, why not give it a go? Doing so might save you both time and your reputation in the future.
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