Guide · WhatsApp Business app · For the shop that sends pins to drivers and customers

Sharing a location on WhatsApp for your business: a pin or live location, stopping it, and when WhatsApp can't find your location

A customer asks where the shop is, a driver needs the warehouse gate, a technician is on the way to a villa. WhatsApp has two ways to share a place, and they behave differently: one is a pin, the other keeps moving until it stops. This guide puts WhatsApp's Help Center articles on location in the order a business needs them.

Published 15 October 2026

First: these pages are about WhatsApp in general

Every article below is written for WhatsApp in general, not only for the WhatsApp Business app. We read them on 15 October 2026, in their Android view, and the live location article in its iPhone view as well.

Our reading

We expect sharing a location to work the same way on your business number, but the articles don't say so. Wherever this guide applies one of them to the WhatsApp Business app, read it as our reading of that article, not as a separate promise from WhatsApp.

A pin or live location: two different things

WhatsApp's article About location features says there are two ways to share your location with an individual or group chat.

Current location: Shares your current precise location, or the location of a nearby place. About sharing your device's location says it sends a static image of where your device is at the moment you send the message.
Live location: Shares your real-time location for an amount of time you choose. You decide whether and for how long to share it, and you can stop at any time.

About sharing your device's location adds one line worth remembering: sending your current location does not share your live location.

Our reading

For the shop's address, send current location, or pick the shop as a nearby place, from inside the shop. Keep live location for a delivery or a site visit, when the other person needs to see you moving.

Who can see a location you share

About location features says WhatsApp can't see your shared location, and neither can Meta. A shared location is protected by end-to-end encryption, so only the people you share it with can see it. How to use live location says the same about live location.

About sharing your device's location says WhatsApp lets you share your device's location with other users or with businesses, and points to the business messaging section of WhatsApp's encryption article for what happens when the other side is a business. That section is covered further down.

Our reading

The people in the chat are the ones who see it. In a group, that is every member, so think before sharing live location in a customer group rather than a one-to-one chat.

Switch on location permission first

WhatsApp can't send a location until your phone lets it. How to use live location gives the path for each phone:

Android: Settings > Apps > WhatsApp > Permissions > Location. You can choose Allow only while using the app, Ask every time, or Don't allow.
iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > WhatsApp > Always.
To turn it off: Choose Don't allow on Android, or Never on iPhone, in the same place. WhatsApp says you can do this at any time.

About location features says that on Android, allowing access While Using The App or Only this time is needed for live location, current location or a nearby place. If you choose Deny, your location is not shared. The same page says that by granting access to location data, which includes GPS, Bluetooth signals and network data, you agree to WhatsApp collecting and processing it to provide precise location features.

Send live location to a driver or a customer

How to use live location gives these steps:

1. Open the chat: An individual or a group chat.
2. Attach: Tap the attach icon > Location > Share live location. Tap Continue (Android) or OK (iPhone) if you are asked.
3. Pick how long: Select how long to share. WhatsApp stops sharing by itself after that time.
4. Add a note: You can add a comment and an emoji, then send.

Our reading

Pick the shortest time the job needs. A comment such as 'Blue van, gate 3' saves a phone call. If a customer is coming to you, current location of the shop is usually enough.

Stop sharing: one chat or every chat

How to use live location gives two ways to stop:

In one chat: Open the chat and tap Stop sharing, then confirm (Stop on Android, Stop sharing on iPhone).
In every chat at once: Go to WhatsApp Settings > Privacy > Live location, tap Stop sharing, then confirm.
By itself: Live location stops when the time you picked runs out. Once stopped or expired, it is no longer shared.

Our reading

At the end of the day, Settings > Privacy > Live location > Stop sharing ends live location in every chat at once. It is a quick step before the phone goes home with a staff member.

What the chat still shows afterwards

How to use live location says the people you shared with continue to see the location as a static thumbnail image, and can tap it to see your last updated location. About sharing your device's location says the same: members still see the initial shared location as a thumbnail, and tapping it shows the last updated location.

Our reading

Stopping live location ends the tracking, not the record. The last place your staff member's phone reported stays in the customer's chat, so it is worth stopping sharing at the customer's door rather than on the way home. Keeping or deleting chat records is a separate question.

When WhatsApp can't find your location

How to use live location says Facebook Places and Google Maps supply WhatsApp with map and places information. If you can't find your location when sharing live location, WhatsApp says to contact these location providers. About location features adds that WhatsApp works with third party service providers, such as companies that supply location, map and places information.

Our reading

If your shop is missing from the nearby places list, or sits in the wrong spot, the fix is with the map provider's listing for your business, not inside WhatsApp. Until it is fixed, send current location from inside the shop rather than picking the shop by name.

When a customer shares their location with you

WhatsApp's article About sharing your information with businesses on WhatsApp says a business may request and display information about a customer's location in order to deliver relevant services or products. The information the customer submits will only be seen by the business. WhatsApp's encryption article, covered below, adds that a business may have employees or vendors handle messages, and that Meta receives chats when the business uses AI from Meta.

Our reading

A customer's pin is personal information. Use it for the delivery or visit it was sent for. Asking for a location with Meta's location request message on the business messaging platform is in Asking a WhatsApp customer where they are, and sending a map pin in a template is in Sending a map pin on WhatsApp.

If your business uses AI from Meta

The business messaging section of WhatsApp's article About end-to-end encryption says WhatsApp considers chats with businesses that use the WhatsApp Business app to be end-to-end encrypted by default. Once a message reaches a business, the business's own privacy practices apply. A business may have employees or other vendors process and answer messages.

The same section says some businesses can choose optional services, such as Meta securely storing messages and answering customers for them. It adds that some businesses can choose to have AI from Meta help them answer customers. Meta then receives those chats to improve its AI quality and generate replies, and WhatsApp shows 'uses AI from Meta' under the business name. It also mentions optional services where Meta receives limited information. When businesses use these optional services, WhatsApp says it shows this clearly in the chat and does not consider those messages end-to-end encrypted.

Our reading

We read AI from Meta as one of those optional services. A location shared in such a chat would be part of what Meta receives. If your business number uses AI from Meta, the line 'neither can Meta' from the location article does not describe that chat. Who else can read business messages is in Who can read your WhatsApp business messages.

What this means for your business

BitByteCore is a verified Meta Tech Provider (since 9 September 2026). This guide repeats WhatsApp's Help Center as we read it on 15 October 2026, and is not legal advice.

Our reading

Send a pin for the address, live location only for the trip, stop it at the door, and fix a wrong map listing with the map provider. Which linked devices can show live location is in A team on one WhatsApp Business app number.

Questions

What is the difference between current location and live location on WhatsApp?

Current location sends your precise location, or a nearby place. WhatsApp describes sending your current location as a static image of your device's location at the moment you send it. Live location shares where you are in real time for an amount of time you choose. WhatsApp says sending your current location does not share your live location.

How do I share live location on WhatsApp?

Open the chat, tap the attach icon > Location > Share live location, pick how long to share, add a comment if you like, and send. Location permission must be switched on for WhatsApp first.

How do I stop sharing live location in every chat?

Go to WhatsApp Settings > Privacy > Live location and tap Stop sharing, then confirm. To stop in one chat, open it and tap Stop sharing.

Can people still see my location after I stop sharing?

WhatsApp says they still see the location as a static thumbnail, and can tap it to see your last updated location. Your live location is no longer shared.

Can WhatsApp or Meta see a location I share?

WhatsApp's location article says neither WhatsApp nor Meta can see a shared location, because it is end-to-end encrypted. Its encryption article says that when a business uses AI from Meta, Meta receives those chats and the chat shows 'uses AI from Meta'.

What if WhatsApp can't find my location?

WhatsApp says Facebook Places and Google Maps supply its map and places information. If you can't find your location when sharing live location, it says to contact these location providers. Our reading: a shop listed in the wrong place is fixed with the map provider, not inside WhatsApp.

Who is BitByteCore?

BitByteCore is a verified Meta Tech Provider (since 9 September 2026). This guide repeats WhatsApp's Help Center, and is not legal advice.

Sources

WhatsApp Help Center: How to use live location, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: How to use live location (iPhone view), read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: About location features, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: About sharing your device's location, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: About sharing your information with businesses on WhatsApp, read 15 October 2026.
WhatsApp Help Center: About end-to-end encryption (Business messaging & WhatsApp security), read 15 October 2026.

This guide describes WhatsApp's pages as we read them, and is not legal advice. More plain-language notes like this one are on the guides page.

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