WhatsApp Templates
A template is a message format that Meta approves before you can send it. It is the only way to write to a WhatsApp customer more than 24 hours after their last message, the message a broadcast sends, and the usual form of order updates and reminders. Mojeeb creates, edits, deletes and sends templates from the WhatsApp page, on every plan that includes WhatsApp, and sends approved ones from any chat.
When do I need a template?
Whenever WhatsApp's 24-hour window is closed. After a customer writes, your team and the agent can reply freely for 24 hours. Once that passes, the chat's composer is replaced by an amber notice, 24-hour messaging window expired. Send a template to re-engage., with a Send Template button. The window opens again when the customer replies, including a reply to your template.
In the last four hours of a window, a line under the composer reads WhatsApp window: 2h 30m remaining. Templates are also how you start a conversation with someone who has not written yet, and the only message type a broadcast can send.
Where do I manage templates?
On the WhatsApp page, titled WhatsApp Management, on every plan that includes WhatsApp, Starter and Professional. On the Professional plan it is WhatsApp in the sidebar. On any plan, open it from the card of a connected WhatsApp number on the Connect page: three-dot menu (⋮), then Manage Templates. Pick the phone number when the agent has more than one, and the Message Templates list shows every template of that number's WhatsApp Business Account with its name, category, language and status in Meta's own words: APPROVED, PENDING, REJECTED, PAUSED or DISABLED.
Click a row for Template Details, or open its three-dot menu (⋮) for View details, Edit template, View API request and Delete template. The page also opens from the Manage Templates row of the chat's template picker. Without a connected number the page shows No WhatsApp Connections and a Go to Connections button.
How do I create a template?
Click Add Template. The Create WhatsApp Template form shows a live WhatsApp-style preview as you type, and Meta's rules are checked before anything is sent. Only the name, language, category and body are required.
| Field | Rules |
|---|---|
| Template Name | Lowercase letters, numbers and underscores, starting with a letter, such as order_update; it cannot be changed later, and one name can exist once per language |
| Language | English (US), English (UK), Arabic, Spanish or French; cannot be changed later |
| Category | Utility for order, booking and account updates; Marketing for offers; Authentication for codes. Meta rejects a wrong category, and the category is locked once approved |
| Header | Optional: Text up to 60 characters with at most one variable, or an Image (JPG, PNG), Video (MP4) or Document (PDF) sample up to 16 MB |
| Message Body | Up to 1,024 characters. Click Insert variable for a common one, such as customer name or order ID, or add a custom name up to 16 characters; {{1}}-style numbering works too, but the two styles cannot be mixed. Every variable needs a sample value for Meta's review |
| Footer | Optional, up to 60 characters, no variables |
| Buttons | Optional: up to 2 URL and 1 Phone button, or up to 10 Quick Reply buttons; the two kinds cannot be mixed, and labels are up to 25 characters |
Click Submit. The toast Template "name" created successfully! Status: PENDING confirms that Meta has it for review. If Meta rejects the content on the spot, the form stays open and the reason is in the template's details.
Write templates the way the customer should read them, in the language you chose, and keep marketing out of Utility templates: "Your order {{order_id}} has shipped and arrives in 2 to 4 days" is Utility; "20% off this week" is Marketing.
What happens after I submit?
Meta reviews the template, usually within minutes and at most a day, and the status in the list changes from PENDING to APPROVED or REJECTED. Mojeeb reads statuses from Meta, caching the list for five minutes; reload the browser page to force a fresh read, and after an edit Mojeeb re-checks twice on its own. Later, Meta may set a template to PAUSED for low quality or DISABLED after repeated problems.
For a rejected template, open its details to read the Rejection reason, then Edit it and save to resubmit.
| Rejection reason | What to change |
|---|---|
| Wrong category for this message · Content doesn't match the category | Pick the category that fits, or remove the promotional line from a Utility template |
| Promotional content in a non-marketing template | Move offers to a Marketing template |
| Invalid format — check the variables and samples | Give every variable a realistic sample, avoid variables at the very start or end, and do not mix numbered and named variables |
| Category not available | Choose another category |
| Abusive content · Flagged as a scam | Rewrite the text; make the sender and purpose clear |
How do I edit a template?
Edit an APPROVED, REJECTED or PAUSED template with Edit template in its three-dot menu (⋮) or Edit in Template Details; rejected and paused rows also show Edit inline. The name and language are locked, and the category is locked once approved. Click Save Changes and Meta reviews the change again; the status in the list updates when the review is done. Nothing is sent if nothing changed.
- Approved templates can be edited 10 times in 30 days, at most once every 24 hours.
- A media header keeps its current file unless you replace it.
- A template cannot be edited while a broadcast is sending it.
- Authentication templates, and templates with parts the editor does not support, show Edit disabled; delete and recreate them instead.
- Anything that sends the template, such as the Public API, must send the new variables after the change.
How do I delete a template?
Click Delete on the row or in Template Details, or Delete template in the three-dot menu (⋮), and confirm Delete this template?. Deleting removes that language version only; other language versions of the name stay. For approved and paused templates, Meta locks the name for 30 days, and messages already sent keep trying to deliver for up to 30 days. Disabled templates, and templates a broadcast is sending, cannot be deleted.
How do I send a template to one customer?
From the chat or from the WhatsApp page. Anyone with access to the agent can send; creating, editing and deleting are for owners and admins.
- From a chat — Click the template icon in the composer, present on every WhatsApp conversation, or Send Template on the expired-window notice. The Select Template panel lists approved templates; pick one, fill each variable, and click Send. The message appears in the thread with a Template label and delivery ticks, or a red reason if it failed. The chat panel fills body variables only; a media header sends the sample approved with the template, and a template whose buttons or text header need a value must be sent from the WhatsApp page.
- From the WhatsApp page — Click Send on an approved row to open Send Template Message. Enter the Recipient Phone Number with its country, fill the header, body and button values, replace the header media if you want, and click Send. A timeline then shows Sent to WhatsApp and Delivered, or Not delivered with Meta's reason and, when Meta offers one, Open the fix page on Meta. If no delivery report arrives within about 20 seconds, the timeline reads Not confirmed yet and the chat keeps tracking it. The message is also saved as a conversation on the Chats page.
Variables are typed at send time; Mojeeb does not fill the customer's name automatically. To personalize many messages at once, use a broadcast, which takes values from a CSV column.
Why was my template not delivered?
Meta's reason is shown on the message, in the chat or in the send timeline. The most common are account problems rather than template problems.
| Reason shown | What to do |
|---|---|
| The WhatsApp Business Account has no working billing | Set the currency and a payment method in Meta's Billing Hub for the WhatsApp account, then send again |
| This number can't receive WhatsApp messages | The number is not on WhatsApp; check it with the customer |
| Meta held this marketing message back | The person received too many marketing messages; try later or use a Utility template |
| Meta refused this message, with Meta error 132005, 132015 or 132016 in the send timeline | The template is paused or disabled: edit and resubmit it, or create a new one |
Common questions
Can I resubmit a rejected template?
Yes. Open the template, read the rejection reason in its details, click Edit, fix the content and save; Meta reviews it again. Changing the category of a rejected template is allowed.
How many templates can I have?
Meta sets a limit per WhatsApp Business Account and reports it in its own words when you reach it; Mojeeb adds no limit of its own. The list shows about 100 templates.
Can I use templates on the Starter plan?
Yes. Every plan that includes WhatsApp, Starter and Professional, can create, edit, delete and send templates, and send approved ones from any chat. On the Starter plan the WhatsApp page is not in the sidebar: open the three-dot menu (⋮) on the WhatsApp card on the Connect page and choose Manage Templates. Broadcasts need the Professional plan.
Can I message someone who has never written to me?
Yes, with a template, from the WhatsApp page or a broadcast. Marketing templates need the person's consent under WhatsApp's policy, and WhatsApp does not deliver marketing templates to US numbers.
What is "View API request"?
A ready-made example of the Public API call that sends this template, for developers who integrate their own system; it needs a Mojeeb API key from the API Keys page. See Send a template.
Related
- WhatsApp — connecting the number and the 24-hour window
- WhatsApp Broadcasts — one template to many customers
- AI Conversations — sending templates from a chat
- Plans & Pricing — the plans that include WhatsApp