This tutorial will explain how to make WhatsApp desktop application portable on Windows platform. Maybe this can work for other platforms as well.
For this to work NodeJs and asar package are required.
Firstly download latest version of WhatsApp. The following link contains all Windows (x64) releases:
https://web.whatsapp.com/desktop/windows/release/x64/RELEASES
Find the release with the highest number that has full suffix. For example WhatsApp-0.2.2478-full.nupkg
The download link would be:
https://web.whatsapp.com/desktop/windows/release/x64/WhatsApp-0.2.2478-full.nupkg
Once downloaded unpack it (it's standard zip file), and go to the \lib\net45 folder. This folder contains the actual application. Copy the contents of that folder to your portable destination. For this example E:\WhatsAppPortable.
Within that folder delete the squirrel.exe to disable automatic updates.
If Node and asar are already installed, this step can be skipped.
Go to https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/ and download version that ends with -win-x64.7z.
Unpack that archive to E:\node for example. Open cmd.exe, go to Node's folder and install asar.
C:\>cd /d E:\node
E:\node>npm install asar
While at cmd unpack electron.asar package from E:\WhatsAppPortable\resources\ folder using asar's extract archive
asar extract E:\WhatsAppPortable\resources\electron.asar E:\WhatsAppPortable\resources\electron_extract
Now go to E:\WhatsAppPortable\resources\electron_extract\browser\ and edit the init.js file using any text editor.
Find the following lines:
app.setPath('userData', path.join(app.getPath('appData'), app.getName()))
app.setPath('userCache', path.join(app.getPath('cache'), app.getName()))Replace them with:
var appProfileDir = "Profile"
for (let arg of process.argv) {
if (arg.indexOf('--profile-dir=') === 0) {
appProfileDir = arg.substr(arg.indexOf('=') + 1)
}
}
var profilePath = path.join(path.dirname(process.execPath), appProfileDir)
app.setPath('userData', profilePath)
app.setPath('userCache', profilePath)Save the file and pack it with asar:
asar pack E:\WhatsAppPortable\resources\electron_extract E:\WhatsAppPortable\resources\electron.asar
The electron_extract folder in E:\WhatsAppPortable\resources\ can be deleted now.
In the previous step the --profile-dir switch is added and Profile is set as default folder. If the WhatsApp is started without the switch it will create and use Profile folder.
If it is started like this:
WhatsApp.exe --profile-dir=MySecondNumber
it will create MySecondNumber folder ad use it as a profile folder.
This provides the ability to run multiple instances of WhatsApp with different profiles on the same computer.
Adding something like this profile-dir switch can probably be used to make any Electron application portable as long it is not using appData path elsewhere the code.
Great guide—really helpful and easy to follow 👍 I like how you explained the portable setup step by step, especially the profile-dir trick for running multiple accounts. It’s a smart workaround for users who want more flexibility without installing the app.
For people who need extra privacy and customization features, tools like FM WhatsApp can also be useful alongside setups like this, as they offer more control over messaging and security options. Overall, solid tutorial—saved it for future use!