If a template shows as Rejected, Paused or Disabled, this guide shows where to read the reason, the most common mistakes and how to resubmit it correctly.
You need a WhatsApp template to write to someone whose 24-hour window has closed, but the template you submitted shows as Rejected and your flows cannot send. Templates are reviewed by Meta, not by us; both the decision and the feedback come from them. This guide shows where to find the reason, the mistakes that cause most rejections, and how to fix and resubmit a template.
⚠️ Note: Template approval is Meta's decision and works the same for every tool using their API. MERKUVA submits the template, reads its status and shows it to you; it cannot approve one or speed up a review.
You may be seeing one of these situations:
The template status is Rejected.
The template is stuck at .
Pending
The template worked for a while and then became Paused or Disabled.
The panel returned an error saying Meta did not accept the template.
A concrete example: a hair salon submits "Your appointment is on {{1}} at {{2}}" under the marketing category and gets rejected. Moving the same text to utility and adding realistic samples for both variables (Tuesday, 2:30 pm) gets it approved within minutes. The copy never changed; only the category and the samples did. Most rejected templates are fixed by those two details.
Read the template's real status
The panel keeps a local copy of your templates rather than calling Meta on every page load. So refresh the list first.
Switch to your account and open Settings › Connection.
Go to the Templates section.
Press Refresh templates. You will see a confirmation with the number of templates updated.
Look at the Status column. It shows one of five values: Approved, Pending, Rejected, Paused, Disabled.
Only Approved templates can be picked in the inbox and in the template step of a flow.
If the list is empty and says this number has no templates, none was ever created, or it was deleted on Meta's side.
The most common reasons for rejection
Meta writes the reason in WhatsApp Manager. In practice, most rejections come down to one of these five:
Wrong category. Utility is for order and appointment updates; marketing is for announcements and campaigns. Submitting campaign copy under utility gets rejected. In the authentication category Meta only accepts one-time code templates.
No sample values. Meta asks for a sample of every variable and rejects templates without them. When you create a template from the panel, Sample values is mandatory; if you created it in WhatsApp Manager, fill the samples in there.
Broken variable order. Variables must start at {{1}} and continue without gaps. Writing {{1}} and {{3}} and skipping {{2}} is a rejection.
A variable in the header. The header is text only and cannot hold variables; move them into the body.
Copy that breaks the promotional rules. Misleading text, exaggerated promises or copy that pushes people to another platform gets rejected.
Length limits are a quiet cause too: the body is at most 1024 characters, the header and footer at most 60 each, and a template can hold at most 20 variables.
Fix the template and resubmit it
A rejected template cannot be edited and resubmitted under the same name. You create a new one.
In Templates, press Create template.
Type a new Template name. Reusing the old name returns a warning that this number already has a template with that name. Type freely; the name is converted to the lowercase letters, digits and underscores Meta accepts.
Pick a Language.
Pick a Category. Choosing the category that genuinely matches your content is the single step that removes most rejections.
Add a Header if you want (at most 60 characters, no variables).
Write the Body text. Use {{1}} for a variable.
Add a Footer if you want (at most 60 characters).
In Sample values, write a realistic example for every variable. Samples are used for the review only; they never appear in the message the person receives.
Read the Preview and press Send to Meta.
You will see a confirmation that the template was sent and is waiting for approval. Review usually takes minutes, though it can take longer at busy times.
What Paused and Disabled mean
These two are not rejections; they are penalties applied to a template that was already approved.
Paused: people who received the template blocked it or reported it. Meta stops it temporarily. Review how often you send it and whether the content is really information the person expects.
Disabled: after repeated negative feedback Meta shuts the template down for good. Rather than resubmitting the same copy, rethink the content.
You can see the number's overall health on the same screen: the Quality rating (High / Medium / Low) and the New conversations per day tier. When quality shows as Low, Meta may lower your tier or restrict the number.
Other known issues and limits
Deleting a template cannot be undone. When you delete one, Meta removes every language of that name and automations using it can no longer send.
"Meta did not accept the connection's permission" is about the connection, not the template: reconnect the number.
"Meta received too many requests" means you should wait a few minutes and try again.
Display name review is a separate process. Until it is approved the number stays limited, which can also slow template approval down.