Business Phone Numbers
- Business phone numbers | Developer Documentation
- Register a Business Phone Number | Developer Documentation
- Two-Step Verification | Developer Documentation
- Conversational Components | Developer Documentation
- Media | Developer Documentation
Business phone numbers | Developer Documentation
Business phone numbers
Updated: Feb 27, 2026
This document describes WhatsApp business phone numbers, their requirements, management information, and unique features.
Registering business phone numbers
A valid business phone number must be registered before it can be used to send and receive messages via Cloud API. Registered numbers can still be used for everyday purposes, such as calling and text messages, but cannot be used with WhatsApp Messenger (“WhatsApp”).
Numbers already in use with WhatsApp cannot be registered unless they are deleted first. If your number is banned on WhatsApp and you wish to register it, it must be unbanned via the appeal process first.
Note that when you complete the steps in our Get Started document, a test business phone number will be generated and registered for you automatically.
Eligibility requirements
Eligible phone numbers must be:
owned by youhave a country and area code (short codes are not supported)able to receive voice calls or SMSnumber should have scaled capabilities
If you are registering a 1-800 number, see 1-800 and toll free numbers for additional information.
Registration methods
Note: The methods above add a phone number to your WhatsApp Business Account and verify your ownership, but they do not register the number for Cloud API use. To complete registration, call the register endpoint. If you are a Solution Partner or Tech Provider using Embedded Signup, see Registering business phone numbers.
Business phone number types
This table categorizes phone number types and evaluates their suitability for receiving OTPs via SMS, international phone calls, and flash calls. It provides likelihood assessments for successful delivery based on number type and carrier characteristics. Additionally, it offers actionable recommendations for users to improve delivery success without changing their phone number type.
| Phone type | Description | SMS OTP | Voice OTP | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mobile (recommended) |
Assigned to mobile devices/SIMs |
Standard |
Standard |
Enable International reception of SMS/Calls, ensure device is connected to Cellular Network, Grant App permissions |
|
Fixed line |
Assigned to physical locations (landline) |
Not Recommended |
Standard |
Enable International reception of SMS/Calls, ensure line is ready for incoming calls and disable call forwarding or IVR features |
|
Freephone |
Toll-Free, recipient pays |
Not Recommended |
Standard |
Ensure with Phone provider that the number is able to receive International SMS/Calls, check that line is ready for incoming calls and disable call forwarding or IVR features |
|
Premium rate |
Higher charges for special services |
Not Recommended |
Standard |
Ensure with Phone provider that the number is able to receive International SMS/Calls, check that line is ready for incoming calls and disable call forwarding or IVR features |
|
Shared cost |
Cost shared between caller and recipient |
Not Recommended |
Not Recommended |
Ensure with Phone provider that the number is able to receive International SMS/Calls, check that line is ready for incoming calls and disable call forwarding or IVR features |
|
Universal access |
Reachable globally for customer service |
Not Recommended |
Standard |
Ensure with Phone provider that the number is able to receive International SMS/Calls, check that line is ready for incoming calls and disable call forwarding or IVR features |
|
Personal number |
Assigned to individuals, not tied to device |
Not Recommended |
Not Recommended |
Ensure with Phone provider that the number is able to receive International SMS/Calls, check that line is ready for incoming calls and disable call forwarding or IVR features |
|
VoIP |
Internet telephony, not tied to physical line |
Not Recommended |
Standard |
Confirm that the VoIP provider supports international SMS/calls for OTPs; check provisioning and account settings; keep app/service running and notifications enabled; ensure device is online and permissions granted |
|
Inbound only |
Only accept incoming calls/messages |
Not Recommended |
Standard |
Ensure with Phone provider that the number is able to receive International SMS/Calls, check that line is ready for incoming calls and disable call forwarding or IVR features |
|
Pager |
Assigned to pagers (rare) |
Not supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
|
M2M/IoT |
Machine-to-machine, smart devices |
Not Recommended |
Not Recommended |
Ensure device and SIM are allowed for incoming International SMS/calls |
Status
Business phone numbers have a status, which reflects their quality rating and current messaging limit. Business phone numbers must have a status of “connected” in order to send and receive messages via the API.
Viewing status via WhatsApp Manager
Your business phone number’s current status appears in the Status column in the WhatsApp Manager > Account tools > Phone numbers panel.
See our About your WhatsApp Business phone number’s quality rating help center article to learn more about quality ratings and statuses as they appear in WhatsApp Manager.
Getting status via API
Display names
You must provide display name information when registering a business phone number. The display name appears in your business phone number’s WhatsApp profile, and can also appear at the top of individual chat threads and the chat list if certain conditions are met. See our Display names document to learn how display names work.
Business profiles
A business profile provides additional information about your business, such as its address, website, description, and so on. You can supply this information when registering your business phone number. See our Business profiles document to learn how business profiles work.
Official Business Account status
Business phone numbers can gain Official Business Account (OBA) status. OBA numbers have a blue checkmark beside their name in the contacts view.
See our Official Business Account document to learn how to request OBA status for a business phone number.
1-800 and toll free numbers
You may want to register a 1-800 or other toll free number on the platform. These numbers are usually behind an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. A WhatsApp registration call cannot navigate an IVR. Phone numbers behind an IVR system can be registered, but must be able to accept calls from international numbers and be able to redirect our SMS message or voice call to a real person.
To register a phone number that is behind an IVR system:
WhatsApp shares with you 1 or 2 phone numbers that the registration call will come from.Create an allow list for these numbers. If you are unable to create an allow list for these numbers, add the phone number to your WABA and open a Direct Support ticket asking for the registration call phone numbers and include the phone number you are trying to register in the ticket.Redirect the registration call to an employee or a mailbox to capture the registration code.
Phone numbers behind an IVR system that are unable to receive registration calls are not supported.
Registered number cap
New business portfolios are initially capped at 2 registered business phone numbers.
If your business becomes verified, or if you have reached a messaging limit of 2,000, Meta will automatically increase your cap to 20. Upon increase, a Meta Business Suite notification will be sent, informing you of your new cap, and a business_capability_update webhook will be triggered with
max_phone_numbers_per_business set to your new cap.WhatsApp user phone number formats
Plus signs (
+), hyphens (-), parenthesis ((,)), and spaces are supported in send message requests.We highly recommend that you include both the plus sign and country calling code when sending a message to a customer. If the plus sign is omitted, your business phone number’s country calling code is prepended to the customer’s phone number. This can result in undelivered or misdelivered messages.
For example, if your business is in India (country calling code
91) and you send a message to the following customer phone number in various formats:| Number In Send Message Request | Number Message Delivered To | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
+16315551234 |
+16315551234 |
Correct number |
+1 (631) 555-1234 |
+16315551234 |
Correct number |
(631) 555-1234 |
+916315551234 |
Potentially wrong number |
1 (631) 555-1234 |
+9116315551234 |
Potentially wrong number |
Note: For Brazil and Mexico, the extra added prefix of the phone number may be modified by the Cloud API. This is a standard behavior of the system and is not considered a bug.
Identity change check
You may want Meta to verify a customer’s identity before delivering your message to them. You can have us do this by enabling the identity change check setting on your business phone number.
If a customer performs an action in WhatsApp that is considered an identity change, Meta generates a new identity hash for the user. To get this hash when messaging a customer, enable the identity change check setting on your business phone number. Once enabled, anytime the customer messages you, or you message the customer without an identity hash, any incoming messages webhooks or status messages webhooks will include their hash. You can then capture and store this hash for future use.
To use the hash, include it in a send message request. Meta compares the hash in the request to the customer’s current hash. If the hashes match, the message will be delivered. If there is a mismatch, it means the customer has changed their identity since you last messaged them and the message will not be delivered. Instead, you will receive a status messages webhook with error code
137000, notifying you of the failure and mismatch.When you receive a mismatched hash webhook, assume the customer’s phone number can no longer be trusted. To reestablish trust, verify the customer’s identity again using other, non-WhatsApp channels. Once you have reestablished trust, resend the failed message to the new identity (if any), without a hash. Then store the customer’s new hash included in the message status delivery webhook.
Post body
Set
<ENABLE_IDENTITY_KEY_CHECK> to true to enable identity check, or false to disable it.Get throughput level
Use the WhatsApp Business Phone Number endpoint to get a phone number’s current throughput level:
Get a single phone number
To get information about a phone number, send a GET request to the WhatsApp Business Phone Number endpoint:
Get display name status (beta)
Include
fields=name_status as a query string parameter to get the status of a display name associated with a specific phone number. This field is currently in beta and not available to all developers.Deleting business phone numbers
Only business portfolio admins can delete business phone numbers, and numbers can’t be deleted if they have been used to send paid messages within the last 30 days.
Deleting business phone numbers via WhatsApp Manager
If your business phone number has a Connected status, you will need your two-step verification PIN to delete your number.
Load your business portfolio in the WhatsApp Manager.If it doesn’t automatically load the Phone numbers panel, navigate to Account tools (the toolbox icon) > Phone numbers.Click the phone number’s trash can icon and complete the flow.
If the number has been used to send paid messages within the last 30 days, you will be redirected to the Insights panel, showing the date of the last paid message. You can delete the number 30 days from this date.
Deleting business phone numbers via API
You cannot delete a business phone number via API.
Migrating business phone numbers
Conversational components
You can enable helpful message UI components to make it easier for WhatsApp users to interact with your business. See Conversational components.
Register a Business Phone Number | Developer Documentation
Register a Business Phone Number
Updated: Mar 31, 2026
To use your business phone number with Cloud API you must register it. Registration can only be done via API - you cannot register a number through WhatsApp Manager? (WAM) or the App Dashboard.
To get your number ready for Cloud API, complete the following steps:
Add your business phone number to your WhatsApp Business account using WhatsApp Manager.Verify ownership of the number using WhatsApp Manager.Register your business phone number by making an API call to the registration endpoint below.
Register your business phone number in the following scenarios:
Account creation - When you implement this API, register the business phone number you want to use. Meta enforces two-step verification during account creation to add an extra layer of security to your accounts.Name change - If your phone is already registered and you want to change its display name, you can update it via WhatsApp Manager? or via API. Once the name change is approved (confirmed via the phone_number_name_update webhook), re-register your phone number using the endpoint below. Wait for approval before re-registering, as re-registering before approval has no effect. See Display names for the complete workflow.
Migration exception
If you are migrating a phone number from the On-Premises API to the Cloud API, there are extra steps you need to perform before registering a phone number with the Cloud API. See Migrate From On-Premises API to Cloud API for the full process.
Register a business phone number
To register your verified business phone number, make a
POST call to PHONE_NUMBER_ID/register. Include the parameters listed below.| Endpoint | Authentication |
|---|---|
PHONE_NUMBER_ID/register(See Get Phone Number ID) |
Solution Partners must authenticate themselves with an access token with the whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging permissions. |
Limitations
Requests to the registration endpoint are limited to 10 requests per business number in a 72-hour moving window.
When you make a registration request, the API checks how many registration requests you have made to register that number in the last 72 hours. If you have already made 10 requests, the API will return error code
133016, and the number will be prevented from being registered for the next 72 hours.Parameters
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
messaging_product |
Required.
Messaging service used. Set this to "whatsapp". |
pin |
Required.
If your verified business phone number already has two-step verification enabled, set this value to your number's 6-digit two-step verification PIN. If you cannot recall your PIN, you can change it. See Two-step verification.
If your verified business phone number does not have two-step verification enabled, set this value to a 6-digit number. This will be the newly verified business phone number's two-step verification PIN. |
data_localization_region |
Optional.
If included, enables local storage on the business phone number. Value must be a 2-letter ISO 3166 country code (for example, IN) indicating the country where you want data-at-rest to be stored.Supported values: APAC AUIndonesia: IDIndia: INJapan: JPSingapore: SGSouth Korea: KR
Europe EU (Germany): DESwitzerland: CHUnited Kingdom: GB
LATAM Brazil: BR
MEA Bahrain: BHSouth Africa: ZAUnited Arab Emirates: AE
NORAM Canada: CA
Once you enable local storage, you cannot disable or change it directly. Instead, you must deregister the number and register it again without this parameter (to disable), or include the parameter with the new country code (to change).
If the number is already registered, deregister it, then register it again with this parameter to enable local storage. |
Deregister a business phone number
Deregistering a business phone number makes it unusable with Cloud API and disables local storage on the number, if it had been enabled. To use the number again, you must re-register it.
To deregister a business phone number, make a
POST call to PHONE_NUMBER_ID/deregister:| Endpoint | Authentication |
|---|---|
PHONE_NUMBER_ID/deregister(See Get Phone Number ID) |
Solution Partners must authenticate themselves with an access token with the whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging permissions. |
Limitations
133016, and the business phone number will be prevented from being deregistered for the next 72 hours.
See also
Two-Step Verification | Developer Documentation
Two-Step Verification
Updated: Nov 5, 2025
Set up two-step verification for your phone number to add an extra layer of security to your business accounts. To set it up, make a
POST call to /PHONE_NUMBER_ID and attach the parameters below. There is no endpoint to disable two-step verification.| Endpoint | Authentication |
|---|---|
/PHONE_NUMBER_ID(See Get Phone Number ID) |
Solution Partners must authenticate themselves with an access token with the whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging permissions. |
Parameters
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
pin |
Required.
A 6-digit PIN you wish to use for two-step verification. |
Reset your PIN
If you forget or misplace your PIN, you can update it by following these steps in WhatsApp Manager:
Conversational Components | Developer Documentation
Conversational Components
Updated: Mar 27, 2026
Conversational components are in-chat features that you can enable on business phone numbers. They make it easier for WhatsApp users to interact with your business. You can configure easy-to-use commands and provide pre-written ice breakers that users can tap.
Limitations
If a WhatsApp user taps a universal link? (that is, wa.me link) configured with pre-filled text, the user interfaces for ice breakers are automatically dismissed.
Configure using WhatsApp Manager (WAM)
You can configure all of these features in WhatsApp Manager on the specific numbers you choose:
Solution Partners can configure these features for their customers as well if they have access to their customer's WhatsApp Business Account in WhatsApp Manager.
Testing
To test conversational components once they have been configured, open the WhatsApp client and open a chat with your business phone number.
For ice breakers, if you already have a chat thread going with the business phone number, you must first delete the chat thread:
You can then send a message to the business phone number to test your ice breakers.
Media | Developer Documentation
Media
Updated: Dec 11, 2025
You use 4 different endpoints to manage your media:
See Supported Media Types for supported types and size limits.
Get media ID
Some of the API requests described in this document require a media ID. Media IDs are returned by the API when uploading media, and are included in incoming media messages webhooks (image messages, video messages, etc.)
Media IDs returned by the API expire after 30 days. Media IDs in webhooks expire after 7 days.
Delete media
Download media
To download media, make a
GET request on the media URL and include your access token. If you omit your token, the request will fail.Note that when retrieving a media from a media ID received via webhook, the media ID will only be available to download for 7 days.
Supported media types
Audio
| Audio Type | Extension | MIME Type | Max Size |
|---|---|---|---|
|
AAC |
.aac |
audio/aac |
16 MB |
|
AMR |
.amr |
audio/amr |
16 MB |
|
MP3 |
.mp3 |
audio/mpeg |
16 MB |
|
MP4 Audio |
.m4a |
audio/mp4 |
16 MB |
|
OGG Audio |
.ogg |
audio/ogg (OPUS codecs only; base audio/ogg not supported; mono input only) |
16 MB |
Document
| Document Type | Extension | MIME Type | Max Size |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Text |
.txt |
text/plain |
100 MB |
|
Microsoft Excel |
.xls |
application/vnd.ms-excel |
100 MB |
|
Microsoft Excel |
.xlsx |
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet |
100 MB |
|
Microsoft Word |
.doc |
application/msword |
100 MB |
|
Microsoft Word |
.docx |
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
100 MB |
|
Microsoft PowerPoint |
.ppt |
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint |
100 MB |
|
Microsoft PowerPoint |
.pptx |
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation |
100 MB |
|
PDF |
.pdf |
application/pdf |
100 MB |
Image
Images must be 8-bit, RGB or RGBA.
| Image Type | Extension | MIME Type | Max Size |
|---|---|---|---|
|
JPEG |
.jpeg |
image/jpeg |
5 MB |
|
PNG |
.png |
image/png |
5 MB |
Sticker
WebP images can only be sent in sticker messages.
| Sticker Type | Extension | MIME Type | Max Size |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Animated sticker |
.webp |
image/webp |
500 KB |
|
Static sticker |
.webp |
image/webp |
100 KB |
Video
Only H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec supported. Single audio stream or no audio stream only.
Note that videos encoded with the H.264 “High” profile and B-frames are not supported by Android WhatsApp clients. We recommend that you use H.264 “Main” profile without B-frames, or the H.264 “Baseline” profile when encoding (or re-encoding with a tool like ffmpeg), and place moov boxes before mdat boxes, for broader compatibility. If you are using ffmpeg, you can use the -movflags faststart flag to place moov boxes before mdata boxes.
| Video Type | Extension | MIME Type | Max Size |
|---|---|---|---|
|
3GPP |
.3gp |
video/3gpp |
16 MB |
|
MP4 Video |
.mp4 |
video/mp4 |
16 MB |
Note that mismatched MIME type (
131053) is a common error. Inspect your media files to verify their MIME type. Make sure that your file name extensions reflect their types. For example, if you are using UNIX, you can inspect a file via the command line to determine its MIME type:file -I your-image-asset.pngMedia message download constraints
The maximum supported file size for media messages on Cloud API is 100MB. In the event the customer sends a file that is greater than 100MB, you will receive a webhook with error code 131052 and
title:“Media file size too big. Max file size we currently support: 100MB. Please communicate with your customer to send a media file that is smaller than 100MB”.
Send customers a warning message that their media file exceeds the maximum file size when this webhook event is triggered.
Learn more
WhatsApp Business Blog – Sending WhatsApp media messages from an app