Move your WhatsApp number from the app or another provider
A WhatsApp number can be in only one place: the app, the WhatsApp Business app or a WhatsApp Business API account.
Before connecting it in WhatsMarketing, release or migrate it. Here's how, by case.
Who it's for: the organization's administrator, or a partner with technical access to their client's account. Screen:
https://micuenta.whatsmarketing.es/whatsapp
Before you start
- Work out where the number is today. There are four cases: (A) in the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app on a phone;
(B) with another WhatsApp Business API provider; (C) in an unofficial bulk-messaging tool, which is really case A:
it uses the app or a WhatsApp Web session; (D) in a WhatsApp Business API account of another WhatsMarketing
organization.
- Keep the phone at hand: in every case Meta sends a code by SMS or by call to that number.
- If you're a partner and the number belongs to a client, connect it from the client's account, not from yours. When
you click "Connect with Meta" («Conectar con Meta») in your own account, the panel asks "Is this line yours or a
client's?" («¿Esta línea es tuya o de un cliente?»): choose "It's a client's" («Es de un cliente»), select the
client (or create it right there) and the panel enters their account with technical access and takes you to connect
the line there. Only clients with active technical access are listed; if it's missing, request it from Partners →
Technical access («Partners → Acceso técnico»). If you connected it from your own partner account, the number ended
up in your organization and your client can't see it: move it yourself with "Move to a client" («Mover a un
cliente») (see case D).
- Back up your chats before deleting an account in the app. The app's chats don't carry over to the API.
Case A · The number is in the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app
Meta doesn't allow the same number in the app and in the API at once, except in coexistence mode (see below). The error
you'll see if you try: "This phone number is already registered on WhatsApp. To use this number, disconnect it from the
current account" («Este número de teléfono ya está registrado en WhatsApp. Para usar este número, desconéctalo de la
cuenta actual»).
1. On the phone, open WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business → Settings → Chats → Chat backup, if you want to keep your chats.
2. Settings → Account → Delete my account. Confirm with the number.
3. Wait 5 to 10 minutes.
4. In WhatsMarketing, Account → WhatsApp («Cuenta → WhatsApp») → "Connect with Meta" (or "+ Add number" («+ Añadir
número»)) and follow the normal setup: you'll receive the code by SMS or call on that number.
What you lose: the app's chats, groups and status. What you keep: the number and, if you had one, the business profile,
which you fill in again in Meta.
Coexistence (keeping the app and the API at the same time). In some countries and accounts, Meta allows a number from
the WhatsApp Business app (not the personal app) to stay on the phone and work with the API at the same time. It's
enabled through the same Meta setup, scanning a QR code from the app's "Linked devices", and it can import up to six
months of one-to-one chats. It has limits: around 20 messages per second, and groups and calls don't reach the inbox. It
isn't available to everyone; if you're interested, ask through 24/7 Support and we'll check whether your number is
eligible.
Case B · The number is with another WhatsApp Business API provider
Nothing gets deleted here: the number is migrated to WhatsMarketing. You keep the verified name, the number's quality
rating, the messaging limit and the official account status. The other provider's conversations aren't carried over.
Templates, in practice, have to be created again; if Meta carries them over in your case, all the better.
Requirements:
1. Turn off two-step verification for the number at the current provider. If you manage the WhatsApp Business account
in Meta Business Manager, it's done in WhatsApp Manager → Phone numbers → number settings → Two-step verification →
turn off. If the provider manages it, ask them in writing; some hold the number until their support releases it.
2. Have access to your company's Meta Business (or be willing to create one) and be able to receive the code on the
number.
3. The number's public name must be approved at the current provider.
Steps:
1. Let us know through 24/7 Support with the number and the name of the current provider: we check that two-step
verification is off before you begin.
2. In WhatsMarketing, Account → WhatsApp → "Connect with Meta". In Meta's window, when adding the number, Meta detects
it already exists in another account and offers "Migrate phone number" («Migrar número de teléfono»). Accept it.
3. Receive the code by SMS or call and confirm it.
4. Until the migration finishes, the previous provider keeps working; when it's done, they lose access to the number.
Plan the switch with your team.
If Meta doesn't offer the migrate option, it's usually because two-step verification is still on or because the provider
hasn't released the number. Go back to step 1.
Case C · The number is in an unofficial bulk-messaging tool
Those tools use the WhatsApp app or a connected WhatsApp Web session, so the number is in case A: you have to delete the
app account on the phone and then connect it with Meta.
Two warnings:
- If Meta has blocked or restricted that number for unofficial use, it may reject it when you register it on the API.
In that case it's best to use a new number, landline or mobile, and keep the old one for manual customer service.
- The tool's contact lists and messages aren't carried over. What you can do is import your contacts into
WhatsMarketing with consent (tutorial "Import contacts with consent").
Case D · The number is already connected in another WhatsMarketing organization
The panel puts it like this: "That number is already connected to another WhatsApp account" («Ese número ya está
conectado a otra cuenta de WhatsApp») or "That WABA is already connected to another organization" («Ese WABA ya está
conectado a otra organización»).
If you're a partner and you connected it from your own account, you move it yourself, no support needed: in your
account, Account → WhatsApp, below the WhatsApp Business account click "Move to a client", choose the client (only
clients attributed to you with active technical access are listed; if it's missing, request it from Partners → Technical
access, or create the new client right there) and confirm. The WhatsApp Business account, all its numbers and its
templates move together; from that moment the messaging on those lines is charged to the client's wallet, and their
administrators get a notice. Historical conversations and campaigns stay in your organization; any AI agents or inboxes
of yours that used those numbers are left without a number, and your scheduled campaigns on those numbers are paused.
Meta doesn't allow moving a single number on its own: the whole account moves with all its numbers. When it's done, the
panel offers to enter the client's account with technical access.
If the number is in an organization that isn't yours (another company, a former provider that used WhatsMarketing),
write to us through 24/7 Support with the number: we check who connected it and move it to the right organization.
What you see when you're done
- In Account → WhatsApp, the number with "● connected" («● conectado»), its verified name and its quality and limit
indicators. The screen shows all your organization's WhatsApp Business accounts, each on its own card; if you have
more than one, each number states which account it belongs to.
- The setup imports every number that account already had in Meta (for example, those added earlier from Business
Manager), not just the one you verified in the window.
- If you added a number in Meta after the setup, click "Sync with Meta" («Sincronizar con Meta»), next to "+ Add
number": it reads each account's numbers and registers the missing ones, or updates the verified name, quality and
limit. It only works with accounts that went through the Meta setup and never moves a number that's already in
another account or organization.
- If it doesn't show up after a few minutes, check case D and the list below.
If something goes wrong
- "This phone number is already registered on WhatsApp": the number is still in the app on a phone (case A or C) or
with another provider (case B). Follow the steps for that case and wait 5 to 10 minutes before retrying.
- You see a number starting with +1 555 labeled "Meta test number" («Número de prueba de Meta»): Meta provides one
with every new WhatsApp Business account for testing; it isn't your line. Your real line is added with "+ Add
number" and appears in the same account; if Meta says it's "already registered" when you add it, you're in case A, B
or C.
- You connected the number and it doesn't appear in your panel: look first in Account → WhatsApp (the Partners portal
and the inbox don't list numbers) and click "Sync with Meta". Then check which WhatsMarketing account you did the
setup with (email at the top right). If you're a partner, the most common cause is having connected it from your
account instead of the client's. If the account is the right one, you've synced and more than 10 minutes have
passed, write to us through 24/7 Support with the number: we check whether Meta completed the registration.
- "They were loaded by hand, without the Meta setup, so they can't be synced" («Se cargaron a mano, sin el alta con
Meta, así que no se pueden sincronizar»): that account wasn't connected through Meta's window; repeat the setup with
"Connect with Meta" or write to us through 24/7 Support.
- "This number already exists in your list of numbers" («Este número ya existe en tu lista de números») inside Meta's
window: the number is already in that same WhatsApp Business account. Select it from the list instead of adding it
again.
- The SMS with the code doesn't arrive: request verification by call; on landlines only the call works.
- Meta rejects the number: it may be blocked for unofficial use or belong to an unsupported range. Try another number.
When to ask 24/7 Support for help
To migrate from another provider (always), for coexistence with the WhatsApp Business app, if a number doesn't appear in
your panel 10 minutes after syncing, or if the panel says the number is already in an organization that isn't
yours. 24/7 Support: https://whatsappmarketing.zendesk.com
