This guide takes you from installing SendCommander to sending your first message. The video below walks through the whole thing, and the same steps are written out underneath it.
What the video covers #
The player has chapters, so you can jump straight to the part you need.
- 0:05 Install from the Microsoft Store
- 0:49 Link your WhatsApp account
- 1:12 Window lock and privacy blur
- 1:33 Adding contacts
- 1:59 Preparing your import file
- 2:44 The import wizard
- 5:14 Contact manager and WhatsApp groups
- 5:40 Choosing your recipients
- 6:19 Crafting a safe message
- 7:15 Variations and placeholders
- 8:43 Campaign name and sending pace
- 9:57 Sending your messages
- 10:23 Block list and message history
- 11:18 Pro version: license and features
The same steps in writing #
Step 1: Install from the Microsoft Store
SendCommander installs from the Microsoft Store in one click, and updates itself from there whenever a new version ships. You need Windows 10 or 11.
Click Get on the Store page. Windows installs the app and adds it to your Start menu, so you can also open it later by typing “SendCommander” in the Windows search bar.
Step 2: Link your WhatsApp account
Every message goes out from your own WhatsApp account, so the app has to be linked to it once.
- Open SendCommander from the Start menu. On the first launch you get a welcome screen.
- Open the WhatsApp screen in the left sidebar.
- On your phone, open WhatsApp, tap the ellipsis in the top right corner, then Linked devices and Link a device.
- Scan the QR code shown in SendCommander. The status turns green once you are logged in.
Trouble with the QR code? See Login issues.
The WhatsApp window inside SendCommander is locked by default, so clicks do not go through to it. There is normally no reason to interact with it, so leaving the lock on is the safer setting. If you do want to click in it, unlock it in the settings, where you can also switch on Privacy blur to hide your contacts and chats.
Step 3: Add your contacts
Open the Contacts page. You can add people one by one, or import them from a CSV, Excel or vCard file by dragging the file into the import area. If you are not sure how the file should look, save the example import file from that same page and edit it.
Only one column is required: the phone numbers. Headers are optional. Ideally you also bring a name and any other detail you have, because those are what let you personalize each message later.
Dropping the file in starts a short import wizard:
- Headers and preview. Confirm whether your file has header names and check the preview of your data.
- Phone number column. SendCommander tries to find it by name. If the auto detection picks the wrong one, choose it from the dropdown.
- Country. If your numbers are local rather than international, pick the country they belong to. The built-in validator uses that to check and clean them up. It only checks that a number looks correct, not whether it is on WhatsApp.
- Extra columns. Choose which additional details to import, such as name or company. Deselect anything you do not want.
- Existing contacts. Decide what happens to numbers you already have: Update (the default, so re-importing an edited file refreshes them), Skip, or add them anyway, which is rarely what you want because it creates duplicates.
- Lists. Optionally assign the contacts to an existing list, or type a name to create a new one. Lists are how you later send different messages to different groups of people, and you can change them afterwards in the contact manager.
After the import your people appear in the contact manager, where you can right-click any contact to edit their details.
A good first move is to import your own number and send yourself a test message.
Step 4: Choose who receives the message
Open the Send page. You can send to all your contacts, to one or more lists, to contacts you pick by hand (with filters by list or by any detail), or to WhatsApp groups.
For groups, open WhatsApp groups on the Contacts page and type the group name. It has to match the name in WhatsApp exactly, otherwise the message can land in the wrong chat.
Step 5: Write a message that is not the same for everyone
This is the part that matters most. If you send one identical message to everyone, WhatsApp may restrict your number, and that is decided by WhatsApp rather than by the app. Two things make each message different:
- Variations use double square brackets with a pipe between the options, like
[[Hi|Hello|Hey]]. SendCommander picks one at random per message. - Placeholders use double curly braces and pull in the details you imported, like
{{first_name}}. You can add a fallback after a pipe for people with no name, like{{first_name|there}}. Leave the fallback out and nothing is inserted.
The preview in the top right corner shows what individual people would really receive, so click through a few before you send.
While you type, the message check on the right rates your message and suggests what to improve. You can still send while a warning is showing, but it is there for a reason. See Message check for what it looks at.
Optionally give the send a campaign name, which lets you filter for it later in your history.
Step 6: Set your sending pace
Content is only half of safe sending; pace is the other half. Sending a lot of messages in a short time is the quickest way to get a number restricted, so the general rule is that a longer send is a better send. You have two ways to slow it down:
- A fixed delay between messages, plus a small random delay on top.
- Spreading the whole batch across a time window, which suits bigger sends.
Leave natural typing switched on as well, so messages are typed in letter by letter the way a person would.
Everything is sent from your own PC. You can minimize SendCommander and carry on working while it sends, but the PC has to stay on, and closing the app stops the send.
Step 7: Send, then check the result
Click send and SendCommander switches to the WhatsApp screen and does the work itself, with the progress shown at the bottom. There is nothing for you to do while it runs.
Numbers that are not on WhatsApp are detected automatically and shown on the result screen, where you can add them to the block list in one click. Blocked numbers stay in your contacts but are skipped on every future send, and you can review them under Contacts and Block numbers.
Everything you send is kept in History, including the failures. Double-click a row for the details, and add a note to yourself if you want one.
The free version sends up to 20 messages a day. To unlock unlimited sending, attachments, and personal details like {{first_name}}, enter your license key on the Account page (it is in your order confirmation email) and click Activate. You can cancel a subscription from that same page.
What Pro adds
- Attachments. Send photos, videos or documents with your message, one or several at a time.
- Scheduling. Set a time for a send. Because it runs from your PC, SendCommander has to be running when that time comes.
- Templates. Save a message under a name and pick it from the dropdown on the Send page whenever you need it again.
Before your first big send, please read the guidelines for safe sending. They are short, and they are what keeps your number in good standing.
Installing without the Microsoft Store
Some company PCs block the Microsoft Store. A direct installer is available for those, and gives you exactly the same app with the same license key:
https://pythonandvba.com/go/sendcommander-download
Save the file to your Downloads folder and double-click it. Windows shows a blue Windows protected your PC screen for any installer that is not signed with a paid Microsoft certificate, so click through it:
- Click More info (label 1 in the screenshot).
- Click Run anyway (label 2 in the screenshot).
- Click Next through each installer screen, accept the defaults, and click Finish.
- Carry on from Step 2 above.
Installed this way, SendCommander tells you when a new version is available and you download it yourself.
