WhatsApp templates

A template is a message Meta approves in advance so you can message a customer first - a reminder, an order update, an offer, a login code - or reply after the 24-hour window has closed. Inside the 24-hour window your agent and your team reply freely; templates are for everything else.

Templates live on your WhatsApp Business Account and are listed on WhatsApp → Templates, kept in step with Meta automatically (when you connect, whenever Meta reports a change, and once a day; Sync now reads them straight away).

Create a template

No templates yet? Start from the library (ready-made starters, and Meta’s own library - utility templates from it are approved instantly) or Draft with AI (describe what you need). Or click New template and build it:

• Name - an internal name in lowercase letters, numbers and underscores, like order_update. Customers never see it.
• Category - Utility (updates, reminders), Marketing (offers, news) or Login codes. Pick honestly: Meta reviews against the category and may move a template to another one.
• Language - shown by name (English (US), Hindi…). One template name can be approved in several languages; each is sent in the language you pick.
• Header (optional) - text, an image, a video or a document.
• Body - the message, with variables (below).
• Footer (optional) and buttons - quick replies, a link (with an optional variable ending), a call button, copy code, or a one-time-password button for login codes (“one-tap” fills the code in your Android app; your app developer gives you its package name and signature hash).

The preview shows what the customer sees, and review tips flag what usually gets templates rejected (promotional words in a utility template, variables next to each other or at the very start or end, link shorteners, all-caps text, a marketing template without a way to opt out). Save draft keeps it in oyehello; Submit for review sends it to Meta. Reviews usually finish within 24 hours.

Variables

Variables are the parts that change per customer: Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} is on its way. or, with named variables, Hi {{customer_name}}, your order {{order_id}} is on its way.

• Numbered ({{1}}, {{2}}) are filled in order. Named ({{customer_name}}) are filled by name. Choose one style per template.
• Sample values are only for Meta’s reviewers, so they can see a real-looking message. Customers never see them.
• Wherever you fill a template (a tool, a campaign, a follow-up, the inbox, a test), each value row shows the words around its variable, so you know what you’re filling.
• Every variable must get a real value when the message is sent. If one is empty the message is not sent, and the place that tried says why.

Template statuses

Status	What it means	What to do
Draft	Saved in oyehello, not sent to Meta.	Submit it for review.
In review	Meta is reviewing it. It can’t be edited meanwhile.	Wait - usually under 24 hours.
Approved	Ready to send. Only approved templates are ever sent.	Use it.
Rejected	Meta declined it; the reason and Meta’s recommendation are shown.	Edit and save to send it for review again.
Paused	Meta paused it for low quality (customers blocked or reported it).	Edit it and get it approved again, or use another template.
Disabled	Meta disabled it for good after repeated pauses.	Duplicate it from the Templates list and change the wording.
In appeal	You appealed a rejection in WhatsApp Manager.	Wait for Meta’s decision.
Deleted / Pending deletion	Removed at Meta. The name is blocked for 30 days if it was approved.	Use another name.
Archived / Limit exceeded	Archived in Meta, or your account reached its template limit.	Duplicate it, or delete templates you no longer use.

Each template also shows its quality (high, medium, low) and any category change Meta has announced - a recategorised template follows the rules of its new category (a utility template moved to marketing needs a marketing opt-in).

Editing and deleting

• An approved template can be edited once per 24 hours and ten times per 30 days (the editor shows what’s left), and its category can’t change. Rejected and paused templates can be edited freely. While a template is in review or disabled, the editor is read-only and says why and when editing becomes possible. While a launched campaign is sending (or paused) with a template, saving an edit is refused with the campaign’s name: wait until it finishes, or duplicate the template and edit the copy. Teammates without settings access see a read-only editor with a note.
• Delete removes one language, or every language of the name. A template an agent, tool, board action or unfinished campaign uses can’t be deleted - you’re shown where it’s used.

Marketing opt-in

WhatsApp requires a customer’s permission for marketing messages. With Require a recorded opt-in for marketing templates on (the default, on the WhatsApp page), a marketing template only goes to people with a recorded WhatsApp opt-in. Utility templates and login codes are never blocked. An opt-in is recorded by:

• the API (optIn on Start a conversation),
• a campaign list’s opt-in column (yes, true, 1 or y),
• a teammate on the contact (in their name),
• the customer replying START (or your opt-in keyword).

A customer writing to you is not a marketing opt-in, and a customer’s STOP always wins over an opt-in someone else recorded.

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