diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 07697d138..fceb6f4ed 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 - Group chat activation modes: per-group `/activation mention|always` command with status visibility.
 
 ### Fixes
+- WhatsApp send now preserves existing JIDs (including group `@g.us`) instead of coercing to `@s.whatsapp.net`. (Thanks @arun-8687.)
 - Telegram/WhatsApp: native replies now target the original inbound message; reply context is appended to `Body` and captured in `ReplyTo*` fields. (Thanks @joshp123 for the PR and follow-up question.)
 - WhatsApp web creds persistence hardened; credentials are restored before auth checks and QR login auto-restarts if it stalls.
 - Canvas defaults/A2UI auto-nav aligned; debug status overlay centered; redundant await removed in `CanvasManager`.
diff --git a/src/index.test.ts b/src/index.test.ts
index 79ac604d4..246f46e1c 100644
--- a/src/index.test.ts
+++ b/src/index.test.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@ describe("toWhatsappJid", () => {
   it("converts E164 to jid", () => {
     expect(toWhatsappJid("+1 555 555 0123")).toBe("15555550123@s.whatsapp.net");
   });
+
+  it("keeps group JIDs intact", () => {
+    expect(toWhatsappJid("123456789-987654321@g.us")).toBe(
+      "123456789-987654321@g.us",
+    );
+  });
 });
 
 describe("assertProvider", () => {
diff --git a/src/utils.test.ts b/src/utils.test.ts
index deacb1c5e..fdd232fdd 100644
--- a/src/utils.test.ts
+++ b/src/utils.test.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,18 @@ describe("normalizeE164 & toWhatsappJid", () => {
       "5551234567@s.whatsapp.net",
     );
   });
+
+  it("preserves existing JIDs", () => {
+    expect(toWhatsappJid("123456789-987654321@g.us")).toBe(
+      "123456789-987654321@g.us",
+    );
+    expect(toWhatsappJid("whatsapp:123456789-987654321@g.us")).toBe(
+      "123456789-987654321@g.us",
+    );
+    expect(toWhatsappJid("1555123@s.whatsapp.net")).toBe(
+      "1555123@s.whatsapp.net",
+    );
+  });
 });
 
 describe("jidToE164", () => {
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index c629c00a1..21a7a2bdc 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -54,7 +54,9 @@ export function isSelfChatMode(
 }
 
 export function toWhatsappJid(number: string): string {
-  const e164 = normalizeE164(number);
+  const withoutPrefix = number.replace(/^whatsapp:/, "").trim();
+  if (withoutPrefix.includes("@")) return withoutPrefix;
+  const e164 = normalizeE164(withoutPrefix);
   const digits = e164.replace(/\D/g, "");
   return `${digits}@s.whatsapp.net`;
 }
diff --git a/src/web/inbound.ts b/src/web/inbound.ts
index 239cb1f93..71010684c 100644
--- a/src/web/inbound.ts
+++ b/src/web/inbound.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,12 @@ import { loadConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { isVerbose, logVerbose } from "../globals.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger, getChildLogger } from "../logging.js";
 import { saveMediaBuffer } from "../media/store.js";
-import { isSelfChatMode, jidToE164, normalizeE164 } from "../utils.js";
+import {
+  isSelfChatMode,
+  jidToE164,
+  normalizeE164,
+  toWhatsappJid,
+} from "../utils.js";
 import {
   createWaSocket,
   getStatusCode,
@@ -336,7 +341,7 @@ export async function monitorWebInbox(options: {
       mediaBuffer?: Buffer,
       mediaType?: string,
     ): Promise<{ messageId: string }> => {
-      const jid = `${to.replace(/^\+/, "")}@s.whatsapp.net`;
+      const jid = toWhatsappJid(to);
       let payload: AnyMessageContent;
       if (mediaBuffer && mediaType) {
         if (mediaType.startsWith("image/")) {
@@ -376,7 +381,7 @@ export async function monitorWebInbox(options: {
      * Used after IPC send to show more messages are coming.
      */
     sendComposingTo: async (to: string): Promise<void> => {
-      const jid = `${to.replace(/^\+/, "")}@s.whatsapp.net`;
+      const jid = toWhatsappJid(to);
       await sock.sendPresenceUpdate("composing", jid);
     },
   } as const;