Reply to a customer

Getting here

Inbox → open a conversation → the box at the bottom of the conversation. In the app: the Inbox tab → tap a conversation → the reply bar at the bottom.

Before you start

• An owner, admin or agent can send. A viewer cannot: the send is refused with You don’t have permission to change conversations here.
• The conversation needs a channel and a contact. Without either, the send is refused.
• On WhatsApp, free text is only allowed inside the reply window. Outside it, send an approved template instead.

Fields

Reply / Note

Reply goes to the customer. Note is saved to the conversation for your team only.

Default: Reply

via {context}

Which number or page you are answering from. Click it to pick another of the contact's channels.

Limits: Shown only when the contact can be reached on more than one.

Snippets

Insert a saved piece of text. Type / in the box to open it.

Variables

Insert a value about the contact, such as {{contact.first_name}}. Type $ to open it.

Emoji

Insert an emoji. Type : to open it.

Mention

In a note, type @ to name a teammate. They get a notification.

Limits: Notes only. A mention in a reply notifies nobody.

Attach a photo, video or document

Pick a file to send with your text.

Record a voice note

Hold to record, then Send voice note.

Schedule send

Send this message later instead of now.

Limits: At least one minute from now, and at most 90 days out.

How it works

• Send writes the message to the conversation and hands it to the channel straight away. The bubble shows Sending… until the channel confirms it.
• A note is stored on the same conversation and marked Internal note · {sender}. It is never sent anywhere, on any channel.
• When the contact can be reached on more than one number or page, via {context} opens a list of them. Current is the one you are on; Start on this number opens a fresh conversation on another.
• Just above the box, a line says what the next message costs on WhatsApp. It is a plain statement of Meta's price, not a charge by us.
• Free reply appears while Meta is still not charging for replies. The line goes on to name the date charging starts, the rate, and how many replies a month this number gets free.
• Free reply: {used} of this number’s {limit} free replies used this month. counts this number's free monthly replies.
• Meta charges {rate} for this reply appears once this number's free replies for the month are gone. The line names the rate and the monthly allowance.
• Free: this customer is in Meta’s free entry window until {time}. appears when the customer arrived from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Page WhatsApp button. Everything is free until then, templates included.
• When the customer's country is not the one our rate table covers, the line says the rate is that country's instead of naming a figure.
• A template's own cost line names its category: marketing, utility or authentication.
• The clock button next to Send opens Send later (MYT) with In 1 hour, This evening and Tomorrow 9am, or a time you type. Schedule queues it.
• A scheduled message waits in the Scheduled messages list under the conversation and is sent by a job that runs about once a minute.
• Cancel scheduled message removes one that has not been sent yet.
• On the phone the reply bar also sends a location and a contact card, and has an HD switch for photos. The web box has neither.

When it fails

• On WhatsApp, once the reply window has closed, the box is replaced by The 24-hour reply window has closed and the template row. Free text cannot be sent until the customer writes again.
• For a customer who has never written to you, the same place says This person has not messaged you yet. The first message has to be an approved template.
• When the number is also used in the WhatsApp Business app, the notice adds that replying from the phone is not limited by the window and costs nothing.
• Failed to send on a bubble means the channel refused it. Read the reason in the message that appears, fix it, and send again.
• Delivery failed means the channel accepted it and then could not deliver it.
• Delivery unknown means we cannot tell. Check the conversation before sending the same message again — it may already have arrived.
• This message is still sending. Check the thread before sending again. stops a second copy going out while the first is in flight.
• Message was sent followed by a note that it could not be saved here means the customer has it and the conversation does not show it yet. Refresh to confirm.
• When the channel's credentials are broken, a notice replaces the box and links to Channel settings.
• Pick a time at least one minute from now. and That is not a valid date and time. refuse a bad scheduled time.
• Scheduling past the end of the window is refused before it is queued, with a sentence naming that channel's window and asking for an earlier time or a template.
• A scheduled message that failed is marked Not sent · scheduled {at}, or Delivery unknown · scheduled {at}. Not scheduled is what you see when the time you picked is refused.
• A file over the size limit is refused. The message names the file's size and the limit, and suggests a link or a smaller copy.
• A voice note that is too short is refused: Hold a little longer — that note was too short.

Limits

• A sent message cannot be un-sent, deleted for the customer, or edited. Delete for me only hides it from your own view.
• Scheduling does not hold a closed WhatsApp window open. A time past the window is refused when you schedule it, not when it is due.
• The box does not check marketing consent. Broadcasts check it, and so does a workflow's marketing template step — not a reply or a template you send by hand.
• Blocking a contact hides their conversations from every view but Blocked. It does not stop a reply typed from inside the conversation.
• A note is not a message to the customer, but it is not private either: everyone who can open this conversation can read it.
• The cost line describes what Meta charges. It is not an invoice, and it does not include what anyone else charges.
• The web box cannot send a location, a contact card or an HD photo. Those are on the phone only.

Best practices

• Read the cost line before sending a template. It is the one place the price of the next message is stated.
• Use Note for handover context — what you promised, what you are waiting for — so the next person does not ask the customer twice.
• Keep a snippet for the three answers you type every day, and insert it rather than retyping.
• When the window has closed, send the template that invites a reply. The customer's answer opens the window again for free text.
• Schedule rather than saving a draft you mean to send this evening. A scheduled message survives you closing the tab.

Use cases

• Sarah Chen asks for a price at midnight; you schedule the answer for Tomorrow 9am.
• Michael Torres sends a payment slip; you reply, then add a note naming the order for whoever ships it.
• A customer writes on Messenger and on WhatsApp; you use via {context} to answer on the number they use most.
• Three days after the last message the window is closed; you send an approved template, and their answer reopens it.
• A customer asks what the product looks like; you attach two photos with one line of text.

FAQ and troubleshooting

Why can I not type a reply?

On WhatsApp, free text is only allowed for a while after the customer's last message or call. Once that has passed the box is replaced by the notice and the template row. Send an approved template instead.

Does the customer see my note?

No. A note is stored on the conversation and marked as internal. It is never sent on any channel. Everyone who can open the conversation can read it.

What does the cost line above the box mean?

It says what Meta will charge for the next message on this WhatsApp number — free, free while this number still has free replies this month, or a named rate.

Can I take back a message I sent by mistake?

No. Nothing un-sends a delivered message. Delete for me removes it from your own view and changes nothing for the customer or your teammates.

Will a scheduled message still send if I close the browser?

Yes. It is queued on the server and sent by a job that runs about once a minute. Closing the tab, or signing out, changes nothing.

The bubble says Delivery unknown. Should I send it again?

Read the conversation first. The message may already have reached the customer, and sending again would deliver it twice.

Can I send a voice note or a photo from the web?

Yes — Record a voice note and Attach a photo, video or document are both in the box. Sending a location or a contact card is on the phone only.

Related

• Send an approved template, a flow or a product — Three quick-send rows start a conversation outside the reply window, run a chosen flow, or send items from your catalogue.
• Let the AI draft, polish or brief you — Four AI helpers read the conversation and give you text or a short briefing. You still press send yourself.
• Reply to, star, forward, delete or find one message — Reply to, star, forward or hide one message in a conversation, and search inside a long conversation for the words you need.
• Take over from the AI, and hand it back — The badge at the top says who is answering right now, and one button moves the conversation between the AI and a person.
• Assign, route to a team, add collaborators — Decide who owns a conversation, which team it belongs to, and who else should see it and get its notifications.