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Messages not sending or delivering

Who can do this

  • Anyone

The composer is disabled​

It reads Window closed — use a template.

Working as designed. WhatsApp only allows free-form replies for 24 hours after the customer's last message. Use Send Template in the bar above the composer. See the 24-hour service window.

Every message fails​

Work down this list in order.

  1. Meta payment method. SettingsWhatsApp → the Meta payment cell. Missing means Meta stops accepting sends once you pass its free allowance. Add a card in Meta Business Manager, then Sync from Meta.

  2. Subscription. SettingsBilling. Suspended (billing) blocks all outbound sending. Payment failed does not; that is a grace period.

  3. Messaging limit. Your tier is on SettingsWhatsApp. Once you hit it, new conversations for that rolling 24 hours are refused.

  4. Connection. The Sending cell should say Live. Anything else is covered in connection problems.

One message failed​

Hover the failed message for the reason from Meta, then select Retry. Retrying is safe: the same message will not go out twice even if the first attempt actually got through.

Reason mentionsCauseFix
Re-engagement or 24-hour windowA free-form message outside the windowSend a template
Template not found or not approvedThe template changed or was deleted at MetaSync from Meta on Templates
Invalid recipientThe number is not on WhatsApp, or the country code is missingFix the contact's number
Payment or accountMeta payment method, or an account restrictionSee the section above

Stuck on Pending​

Pending means Boldally Chat has queued it and Meta has not accepted it yet. Seconds is normal.

If it stays pending for minutes, it is nearly always the connection or the Meta payment method. Run the four checks in where to start.

Sent but never delivered​

Sent means Meta accepted it. Delivered means it reached the device. Causes of the gap:

  • The number is not registered on WhatsApp.
  • The phone has been off or offline. WhatsApp retries; delivery can arrive much later.
  • The customer has blocked your business.

There is nothing to fix on the Boldally side. A batch of these after a campaign usually means list quality. See campaign problems.

Delivered but never read​

The customer has not opened it. Read receipts also depend on their privacy settings, so Read can legitimately never arrive even when they have read it.

If read rates are low across the board, it is the message rather than the plumbing: check who you are sending to and whether the opening line says something specific.

Incoming messages are delayed or missing​

  1. Check the Sending cell on SettingsWhatsApp. Outbound only means the webhook subscription with Meta failed and incoming messages may be delayed.

  2. Select Sync from Meta.

  3. Check you are not filtering them away: the inbox tab, the search box, the tag filter and the number filter all narrow the list. Switch to All and clear filters.

  4. If it persists, contact support with your WABA ID and roughly when a message should have arrived.

An attachment will not send​

Unsupported file type means exactly that. Supported: images (JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF), video (MP4, 3GPP), audio (AAC, MP4, MPEG, AMR, OGG), PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text and CSV.

WhatsApp also enforces its own size limits per media type. Large videos are the usual failure; compress or link to the file instead.

Automation messages are not arriving​

Different path, different checks. See testing automations and run logs. The run log names the step that failed.

The 24-hour service window
Why free-form messages are sometimes refused.
Connection problems
When the connection itself is the cause.
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