WA FoldersWhatsApp Web folders: your first minute with WA Folders
If your WhatsApp Web chat list is one long column, the fix takes about a minute. WA Folders is a Chrome extension that adds folder tabs above your chat list (Family, Work, Clients, or whatever you sort by), so you can look at one group of conversations at a time instead of scrolling past all of them. This page walks through the first minute on a new install of WA Folders 1.3.5, the version on the Chrome Web Store now.
Before you start: where it works
WA Folders runs in desktop Chrome on web.whatsapp.com. It does not run in the WhatsApp phone app or the WhatsApp desktop app, because those are not web pages and a Chrome extension cannot reach them. You need Chrome open and WhatsApp Web signed in.
Step 1: Install the extension
Install WA Folders from the Chrome Web Store. It is a normal Chrome install with no account to create. A welcome tab opens with the same short list of steps as this page, under "Your first minute".
Then open or reload web.whatsapp.com. The reload matters: a WhatsApp tab that was already open before the install doesn't have the WA Folders panel yet.
Step 2: Make your first folder
The WA Folders panel sits beside your chats. On a new install it starts with a Get started card that counts your progress, for example "Get started · 0/3". The first step is Make a folder: type a name in the Folder name box, or tap Family, Work or Clients to fill it in, then press Add.
Pick a name you already sort by in your head. "Work" and "Family" are fine. "Waiting on them" can be better, because it answers a question you ask yourself ten times a day. One folder is enough for the first minute. You can add more later from the New folder name box in the panel, and the free plan holds 5 folders.
Step 3: File a chat
Open a chat that belongs in the folder, then press Add chat in the panel. Do the same for the few conversations you open most. Three or four is enough to feel the difference. You don't need to file your whole history today, and chats you leave unfiled stay where they are. Filing a chat doesn't change anything inside WhatsApp; the folder lives in WA Folders on your computer.
Your folder now shows as a tab above the chat list. Click it and the list narrows to those chats. Click All to get the full list back.
Step 4: Try search or export
The third step on the card is to search a word and open a result, or export the open chat. Search covers chat names, your private notes and the messages WA Folders has seen, which means the chats you opened while it was running. Export saves the open chat as HTML, CSV, Markdown or JSON. The card ticks each step as you go, and you can dismiss it whenever you like.
What you have after a minute
- Folder tabs above the chat list, with unread, reply and question markers, so one click switches context.
- Search that reaches past the chat list, for when you remember a phrase but not who said it.
- Export when you need a record, for a spreadsheet, an accountant or your own files.
- Follow-ups: who's waiting on your reply, who asked you a question, and who went quiet.
Your chats stay on your computer
WA Folders keeps its data in Chrome's local storage on your own computer. There is no WA Folders account, no WA Folders server and no analytics. It never presses Send: quick replies and reply drafts go into the message box, and you press Enter yourself.
WA Folders is an independent extension and is not affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta.
What it costs
The free plan has no time limit. It gives you 5 folders, 5 search results, 3 exports a day, 5 voice-note transcriptions and 20 translations a day, and 2 reminders at a time.
Pro is a one-time $4.99 payment, with no subscription. It removes those limits and adds full-chat history and search, folder and password-protected exports, a PIN lock and sync between your Chrome browsers. There is no free trial of Pro. The free plan keeps working until you decide to buy.
If the panel doesn't appear
Reload web.whatsapp.com first. That fixes it most of the time, because the panel is added when the page loads. Then check that WA Folders is turned on at chrome://extensions, and that you are on web.whatsapp.com in desktop Chrome rather than in the WhatsApp desktop app, which looks similar but is not a browser page. Still stuck? Write to toolshed+wafolders@mail.grokbot.com.
Where to go next
Once one folder feels normal, these guides go further:
- How to make folders in WhatsApp Web: renaming, colours and emoji, and folder suggestions for the chats on screen.
- How to search WhatsApp Web messages, and why some don't show up
- How to export a WhatsApp Web chat, and what ends up in the file