Requirements

The phone number for your business must be a valid phone number which meets the following criteria:

• Owned by you
• Has a country and area code, such as landline and cell numbers
• Able to receive voice calls or SMS
• Not a short code
• Not previously used with the WhatsApp Business Platform

If you want use a phone number already registered with WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business App, refer to our migration guides:

• Migrate customer app phone number to business platform
• Migrate phone number to a different WABA

You can still use this number for everyday purposes, such as calling and receiving messages after registering it on the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Business Numbers: 1-800 and Toll Free Numbers

Businesses may want to register their 1-800 or other toll free numbers on the platform, however, these numbers are usually behind an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, which a WhatsApp registration call cannot navigate.

To get a registration code for IVR phone numbers complete the following steps:

1. WhatsApp shares with you 1 or 2 phone numbers that the registration call will come from.
2. 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.
3. Redirect the registration call to an employee or a mailbox to capture the registration code.

IVR phone numbers unable to receive registration calls will not be supported.

Manage Business Account Phone Numbers

Add Phone Number to a Business Account

Once you have chosen your business’s phone number(s), you need to add them to your WABA. Learn more. 

If a phone number is banned by WhatsApp it cannot be added to a WABA. If you believe the phone number was banned in error, please contact support.

Delete Phone Number from a Business Account

Requirements

• Only a business admin for the WhatsApp Business Account can delete a phone number.
• A number can not be deleted if the business has sent paid messages within the last 30 days using that number.
  • If the business has sent paid messages in the past 30 days, you will be redirected to the Insights page showing the date of the last paid message. You will be able to delete the phone number 30 days after this date.

To delete a phone number, complete the following steps:

1. 1. In the Business Manager, go to your Business Settings page.
   2. Go to Settings > Business Settings > WhatsApp Accounts > WhatsApp Manager > Phone Numbers.
   3. From the WhatsApp Manager, find the phone number that you wish to delete. Click on the trash icon under Delete in the upper right.

1. You may be requested to provide the password for your Facebook account password connected to the WABA if the phone number had the status “Connected” previously.

Register Phone Number

After adding a phone number to a WABA, you also need to register it with the platform. You can register up to 25 phone numbers per WABA. If you want to register more than 25, please contact direct support. You can only register your phone number on one API at a time, whether it is the On-Premises API or Cloud API

Migrate Phone Numbers

• Migrate an Existing WhatsApp Number to a Business Account
• Migrate Phone Number to a Different WABA

Next Steps

• Get Started – Determine which APIs is right for your business.
• Display Name – Set up the business name displayed in WhatsApp messages.
• Pricing – Learn about pricing and how to set up payments.
• Webhooks – Set up webhooks to receive notifications for when a customer sends your business a message, a customer updates their phone number, review and quaility status updates for your WhatsApp Business Account.