You can't type Persian straight into WhatsApp unless your phone already has a Persian keyboard installed — WhatsApp just borrows whatever keyboard your phone gives it. The fast way around that, without changing a single phone setting: type your message on kactyl.com/persian/, copy it, and paste it into the chat.
Farsi ی and ک vs Their Arabic Look-Alikes
Persian uses ک (keheh) and ی (Farsi yeh), which look almost identical to Arabic ك and ي but are different Unicode characters. Type Persian on an Arabic keyboard and your words are technically wrong — they can break search, sorting, and some fonts. Kactyl’s Persian keyboard uses the correct Farsi characters by default.
Finglish vs Real فارسی
A lot of Persian chat is “Finglish” — Persian in Latin letters, sometimes with numbers (“chetori” instead of چطوری). It’s fast but ambiguous and informal. Send real فارسی when the message should read properly.
Right-to-Left Plus Numbers
Persian runs right-to-left, so numbers, prices and links dropped into a sentence can jump to the wrong spot in the bubble. Keep them on their own line, or preview in the Kactyl editor before pasting.
Finglish → Persian Chat Cheat Sheet
Most Persian WhatsApp chat is thumb-typed in Finglish (Latin letters). Here are the everyday words and how they look in real Persian — tap the ones you want on the Kactyl Persian keyboard and send the script instead:
| Finglish | Persian script | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| salam | سلام | hi |
| chetori | چطوری | how are you? |
| khoobam | خوبم | I'm fine |
| are | آره | yes |
| na | نه | no |
| merci | مرسی | thanks |
| mamnoon | ممنون | thank you |
| chi kar mikoni | چیکار میکنی | what are you doing? |
| khob | خب | ok / well |
| chera | چرا | why |
| koja | کجا | where |
| doost | دوست | friend |
| dadash | داداش | bro |
| khoone | خونه | home |
| eshgh | عشق | love |
| sobh bekheir | صبح بخیر | good morning |
| shab bekheir | شب بخیر | good night |
| mibinamet | میبینمت | see you |
| delam barat tang shode | دلم برات تنگ شده | I miss you |
| zood biya | زود بیا | come soon |
To send any of this: open kactyl.com/persian/, tap out your message (or paste text you have), tap Copy, then long-press the WhatsApp chat box and Paste. It's standard Unicode, so it lands perfectly on any phone — and the same trick works in Instagram, Telegram and email.