How to Send Blank Messages on WhatsApp
You open WhatsApp, open a chat, and hit the spacebar a few times. You want to send an empty message just to see how your friend reacts. But the little green “Send” arrow stays grayed out.
WhatsApp is very strict. It refuses to let you send a message that doesn’t contain actual data.
So how are people sending those completely blank, “ghost” messages? Are they hacking the app? Are they using a modded version of WhatsApp?
No. They are just using a very specific piece of invisible text.
The Secret to the Ghost Message
Here is an unpopular opinion: Sending a blank message is actually more effective at getting someone’s attention than sending “hey”.
When you send a text that says “hey,” the recipient reads it on their lock screen and ignores it until they feel like replying. But when they receive a notification that is completely blank, human curiosity takes over. They have to open the app to see if their phone is glitching.
But to send that message, you need to trick the WhatsApp database.
The Blank Envelope Analogy
Imagine going to the post office and trying to mail an envelope that has absolutely nothing inside of it. The postal worker might refuse to accept it, saying it doesn’t weigh enough to justify the postage.
If you press the spacebar on WhatsApp, you are trying to mail an empty envelope.
Now, imagine you slip a perfectly cut, ultra-thin, completely transparent sheet of plastic into the envelope. The postal worker weighs it, registers that there is an object inside, and mails the letter. When your friend opens it, they see absolutely nothing.
An invisible character is that sheet of transparent plastic. It provides the data weight WhatsApp requires, while remaining invisible to the human eye.
Step-by-Step: Sending a Blank WhatsApp Message
To trick WhatsApp, you need a character that has no physical width but carries a heavy Unicode data payload. The absolute best character for this is the Zero Width Space (U+200B) or the Hangul Filler (U+3164).
Here is how you do it:
- Get the Text: Open your web browser and go to a free invisible text generator.
- Copy the Character: Locate the Zero Width Space or the Hangul Filler and click the “Copy” button. The transparent plastic is now on your clipboard.
- Open WhatsApp: Navigate to the chat where you want to send the ghost message.
- Paste and Send: Paste the character into the chat box. You won’t see anything appear, but magically, the green “Send” arrow will light up.
- Hit Send: Send the message. Your friend will receive a completely empty speech bubble.
Why This Will Never Be Patched
You might be wondering if WhatsApp will eventually update their app to block this trick.
The short answer is no. WhatsApp relies on the global Unicode standard to ensure that millions of messages in thousands of different languages render correctly.
They cannot ban the Zero Width Space because it is actively used in complex languages (like Thai and Khmer) to indicate where a line of text should break on a smartphone screen. If WhatsApp banned the character to stop ghost messages, they would accidentally destroy the formatting for millions of legitimate users around the world.
So the trick is permanent.
Pro Tip: You can also use blank text in your WhatsApp “About” section. If you want your status to be completely empty instead of the default “Hey there! I am using WhatsApp,” simply paste a Hangul Filler into the status box and hit save.