This page lists the most common error messages you might encounter when sending messages through WhatsApp Messaging. We try to update this page regularly with new errors and solutions, if you encounter an error that is not listed here please contact our Customer Experience team.
Media upload error
This error occurs for several reasons. The most common reason is that the video encoding is not supported by WhatsApp, even if the file is an mp4 extension.
Resolution: Convert the video to mp4 using an online converter like CloudConvert or a software like Permute or Handbrake.
Pair rate limit hit
This error occurs when you send several messages to the same recipient in a short span of time. Often occurs when you chain several message steps on a flow without adding a delay step between them.
Resolution: Wait a few seconds before sending the message again. If you are using a flow, add a “Delay” step between messages to avoid this error.
Unable to deliver message: Recipient phone number is not a WhatsApp phone number
This error occurs if the recipient’s phone number is not a valid WhatsApp number or if the recipient’s WhatsApp account is not updated to support the WhatsApp Business API.
Resolution: Check that you can send a test message to the recipient from your personal WhatsApp account. If the test is successful, ask the recipient to update their version of WhatsApp. If this does not solve the issue please contact ActiveCampaign support.
User is not valid - Recipient is not a valid WhatsApp user
This error occurs when the recipient’s phone number is not a valid WhatsApp number.
Resolution: Check that you can send a message to the recipient from your personal WhatsApp account and the number is in E.264 format (country code + 10 digits). If so, please contact WhatsApp support.
Spam Rate limit hit
This error occurs when you exceed the allowed number of messages for your number. Unverified businesses are limited to 250 outbound conversations in a rolling 24-hour period. Verified businesses are limited to 1000 conversations in a rolling 24-hour period. If you exceed this limit, you will receive this error.
Resolution: Wait 24 hours before trying to send the message again. Learn more about messaging limits.
Message was not sent as the user is part of a WhatsApp internal experiment
WhatsApp is currently running an experiment with some of its users. This experiment is not optional and is not compatible with WhatsApp Business API.
Resolution: If you receive this error, try sending a template in the Utility category instead of Marketing, as only Marketing templates are affected by this experiment.
Message failed to send because there are restrictions on how many messages can be sent from this phone number
This error is similar to the Spam Rate limit hit error. If you exceed the allowed number of messages for your number, you will receive this error. There may also be other restrictions regarding account quality that may be affecting your account.
Resolution: Wait 24 hours before trying to send the message again. You can check your current limit by going to your WhatsApp manager.
Translated text too long
This error means that the length of the variable text exceeds WhatsApp's limits. It is often triggered by the header text of a template. The header is limited to 60 characters, including the variable; the body is limited to 1024 characters, including the variable. If the text exceeds this limit, you will receive this error.
Resolution: Shorten the header text and try again.
The template does not exist in the specified language or the template has not been approved
This error occurs when you try sending a template whose language is not compatible with the recipient’s language. One of the common reasons includes sending, for example, an Spanish template to a Mexican recipient, even though the recipient’s language is Spanish, the correct template language should be Spanish (MEX).
Resolution: Recreate the template with a different language. If the issue persists, please contact WhatsApp support.
The template does not exist in the specified language or the template has not been approved
This error occurs when an issue occurs on our side.
Resolution: Contact our Customer Experience team and provide the Inbox conversation link where the error happened so that we can investigate the issue.
In order to maintain a healthy relationship with the ecosystem, the message was not transmitted
This message indicates that WhatsApp is limiting the number of marketing messages a contact can receive in a day to protect them from spam.
When does this error occur?
• This error only occurs with marketing templates
• It appears when a contact has received many marketing messages, regardless of whether they come from your business or others
Resolution:
- Try sending it later. We recommend waiting until the next day to try again, although in some cases sending may be allowed sooner.
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Create a utility template. When creating a template, choose the "utility template" option. Make sure to disable the "Allow Category Change" option. This will prevent the template from being changed from utility to marketing if WhatsApp determines it's not a utility topic, which could result in rejection.
If the utility template is rejected, modify the content to avoid commercial words and phrases such as "discount," "register today," etc., as these may cause it to be classified as a marketing template.