While WhatsApp allows for 256 people to join a single chat group, there are ways to increase the number of members even further. In this write-up, we’ll tell you how you can go about doing that.
Earlier, you’d have to invite individual contacts to join a group. But then WhatsApp announced a feature through which you only needed to share an invitation link for people to join.
Let’s assume you are the admin of a group that already has 256 members. If you try to add more members individually, WhatsApp will inform you that it’s not possible because you’ve reached the limit. However, if you continue to invite people via a link, they’ll still be able to join.
Alternative Route
If you want to increase the number of people, even more, there’s a trickier, more technical way. Only move forward with this process if you’re fairly technical. You’ll need to root your device before embarking on this process. There are a ton of resources available online, which will show you how to root your smartphone, so googling one shouldn’t be hard.
After rooting your device, you’ll have to follow the steps explained below.
Step One
Step Two
Open ES File Explorer and tap on Menu from the top left corner of the app. Then enable Root Explorer.
Step Three
Now open the following directory and edit the com.WhatsApp_Prefer file.
Path of Directory: data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/
Step Four
If you encounter an error trying to open it, go to the More option located in the bottom right corner of the app. Then tap on Properties. Select the Change option and then tap on Permission field.
Now, give all permissions to this file and then tap on OK.
Step Five
Open the com.Whatsapp.prefer in Edit mode. Search to field participants_size_limit. The value is set to 257 by default. You can change it to any number you want. To try out if the method is working, change it to 999 and tap on Save on the top bar!
Step Six
Go to Settings and then tap on Apps. Select WhatsApp and Force Stop it.
