When you connect your WhatsApp number to {{brand.name}}, your customers' WhatsApp messages gather in the same panel as your Instagram DMs, automations run on WhatsApp too, and approved templates let you come back even after 24 hours have passed. This guide walks you through the connection with Meta's setup window, step by step.
⚠️ Prerequisites: You must be an owner or admin in the portfolio, the WhatsApp channel must be enabled on your plan, and the portfolio's account allowance must have a free slot. You also need a Meta business portfolio (Business Manager account) and a phone number that can be verified by SMS or call.
In this article you will find:
The two setup paths
Connecting by creating a new number
Connecting the WhatsApp Business account on your phone
What to do right after connecting
Messages you may see in the window and in the panel
Common mistakes and how to fix them
The two setup paths
Meta's setup window does two different jobs, and you pick which one you want inside the window:
Creating a new number. You register a never-used number (or one you removed from the WhatsApp Business app on your phone) directly with Meta's platform. From then on the number works from the panel only.
Connecting the WhatsApp Business account on your phone. You keep using the WhatsApp Business number on your phone and connect it to the panel as well. Conversations appear in both places.
If you took the second path, the account's Connection page shows "Runs together with WhatsApp Business on the phone" in the Phone app row once the connection is live.
⚠️ Note: On the phone-app path Meta does not give us the number's ID; we find the number inside your business account ourselves. That is why that business account must hold exactly one number. With several numbers it stays unclear which one to connect, and rather than quietly connecting the wrong one the panel returns an error.
Connecting by creating a new number
In {{brand.name}}, use the account switcher at the top left to select the portfolio.
Click Connect account.
Click the Connect WhatsApp button on the Connect with WhatsApp card. The button may briefly read Connecting…, which means the setup window is being prepared.
In Meta's window, sign in with your Facebook account.
Pick your Meta business portfolio or create a new one.
Pick or create the WhatsApp Business account.
Enter the phone number you want to connect and verify it with the code you receive.
Enter your business's display name. This is the name customers see in chats and it goes through Meta's review.
Approve the permissions and complete the window all the way to the end.
When the window closes, the panel sets up the connection and switches to the new account's screen. Your number is connected.
💡 The setup window opens as a popup. If your browser blocks popups, the window never appears; allow popups for this site from the blocking icon in the address bar and press the button again.
Connecting the WhatsApp Business account on your phone
Follow steps 1–4 above exactly.
In the window, instead of creating a number, choose the option to connect the WhatsApp Business account on your phone.
Enter your number and approve it from the WhatsApp Business app on your phone.
Approve the permissions and complete the window all the way to the end.
Back in the panel, confirm that the Phone app row on the account's Connection page says "Runs together with WhatsApp Business on the phone".
On this path you can keep using the app on your phone; the same conversation appears in both places.
What to do right after connecting
Check the connection status. On Account settings › Connection, the card should read Active.
Look at the number's indicators. Under the card you'll find the quality rating, the daily new-conversation tier, whether it runs together with the phone app, the display name review and the connected Meta portfolio. What these mean is covered in The Connection screen for a WhatsApp account.
Fill in the business profile. In the Business profile section of the same page, enter your about text, description, address, email, website and category. These build the "Business info" page contacts see on WhatsApp.
Pull in your templates. Press Refresh templates to fetch your approved Meta templates into the panel. If a contact hasn't written for 24 hours, only approved templates can be sent.
Test it. Write to your number from another phone and watch the message land in the inbox.
Messages you may see in the window and in the panel
"Connecting…" — the setup window is being prepared, or the connection is being made. Wait.
"Setup was cancelled." — you closed the window or backed out. Nothing changed; press the button again.
"The number could not be connected. Complete the whole window and try again." — the window finished but Meta didn't hand over the required details. The most common cause is closing it before the final step.
"This portfolio has reached the plan's account limit." — no room for a new account.
"This channel is off on this portfolio's plan." — WhatsApp isn't enabled on your plan.
"You signed in with a different account." — while reconnecting an existing number you picked a different number in the window.
How WhatsApp connections differ from Instagram
The access token has no expiry. You won't see a countdown or a "renews automatically" line on the connection card, and the Renew permissions button never appears. Reconnect shows up only if the connection actually breaks.
The subscription belongs to the business account, not the number. If another number in the same WhatsApp business account is connected in the panel, disconnecting one number leaves the shared subscription in place; it is removed when the last number leaves. This is invisible detail for you, but it's why your other number keeps working.
Templates are mandatory. Once the 24-hour reply window closes, free text cannot be sent; only templates Meta has approved go out.
Business hours are not readable. The business hours you set in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone don't reach the panel and can't be changed from it. The business hours automations use are a separate setting (Account settings › Business hours).
Common mistakes and how to fix them
A browser that blocks popups. You press the button and nothing happens. Allow popups for the site.
Closing the window too early. Close it before the final step and Meta hands over nothing, so you get "The number could not be connected". Take the window to the end.
Using a personal WhatsApp number. A number already registered on regular WhatsApp blocks the setup. Either delete the number from WhatsApp or take the phone-app path.
Using the phone-app path with several numbers in the business account. The panel can't tell which one to connect. Use the path that supplies the number's ID, or split the business account.
Not waiting for the display name review. Until the name is approved, the number stays limited. If the Display name review row says "Not approved", wait for Meta's review.
Trying bulk messaging without templates. Because of the 24-hour rule, nothing goes out. Create templates and get them approved first.