How to create and set up a WhatsApp Business account

A WhatsApp Business account is a WhatsApp profile registered in the free WhatsApp Business app instead of the personal WhatsApp app. Customers see a business label and a profile with your address, hours, website and catalog. You get quick replies, labels, and greeting and away messages. It is free on Android and iPhone.

Meta uses the same name for the account behind its API, the WhatsApp Business Platform that automation software runs on. The two differ:

You need an Android phone or iPhone and a number you own that can receive an SMS or a phone call. WhatsApp accepts mobile and landline numbers, but not VoIP, toll-free, premium-rate or universal access numbers. Each Business app account has exactly one registered number.

1. Install WhatsApp Business from Google Play or the App Store. It is a separate app from regular WhatsApp.
2. Accept the terms. Open the app, review the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service and tap Agree and continue.
3. Verify your number. Enter it with the country code and type in the six-digit code sent by SMS. For a landline, tap Call me and an automated call reads out the code. Extensions don't work.
4. Restore or start fresh. If WhatsApp finds a backup for the number, you can restore your chat history.
5. Name the business and pick up to three categories. Custom categories aren't possible, so choose a broader one or Other Business.
6. Add the basics: hours, profile photo, address, website and description. Most steps can be skipped and finished later.
7. Turn on two-step verification in Settings so nobody can re-register your number without your PIN.

If your business already runs on personal WhatsApp, you can move the same number, chats and media to WhatsApp Business. One number can't be active in both apps at once, but you can move back later.

1. Back up your chats in WhatsApp, then update it.
2. Install and open WhatsApp Business. It detects the number used in WhatsApp; tap it, or choose Use a different number.
3. Tap Continue, then Allow, so the app can copy your chat history and media.
4. Enter the six-digit code and create your business profile.

One catch: contacts saved only inside WhatsApp, not in your phone's address book, aren't supported in the Business app and are lost in the move. Set WhatsApp to save contacts to your phone first. To run both apps on one phone, use two numbers, for example with a dual-SIM phone. The full comparison is in WhatsApp vs WhatsApp Business.

Customers see your business name, description, address, hours and category, plus the month and year you joined. You can add an email address, websites, a cover photo, a price range, payment and parking options, linked Facebook and Instagram accounts, a catalog and, where it has rolled out, a business username. Edit it from Tools › Profile.

• Name: the name customers already use, written the way it appears on your storefront and website.
• Photo: your logo, readable at small sizes. Profile and cover photos are public by default.
• Hours: selected hours, always open or appointments only. Accurate hours cut 'are you open?' messages.
• Address: a street address, or a service area if you have no shopfront.
• Catalog: products or services with prices, so customers ask about a specific item.

The description is the field most businesses leave weak. Say what you sell, who it is for, where you are and how to order or book. Meta's API caps it at 512 characters, and shorter reads better on a phone. Examples to adapt:

• Family bakery in Austin. Sourdough, pastries and custom cakes. Order by 6 pm for next-day pickup, or ask about delivery.
• Dental clinic in Leeds. Book, move or ask about treatments here. We reply within one working hour, Monday to Saturday.
• Residential sales and rentals in Lisbon. Send your budget and preferred area and we'll share matching listings the same day.

Pick a number you will keep for years. It ends up on your website, your packaging and in customers' phones, and changing it means asking everyone to save a new one. A dedicated business line beats the owner's personal mobile: staff can use linked devices, and the number stays with the business when people move on.

Virtual numbers: the Business app rejects VoIP numbers, so most virtual numbers won't register there. The API is more flexible. Meta requires a number you own, with a country and area code (short codes aren't supported), that can receive a verification SMS or voice call. It recommends mobile numbers; landlines, VoIP and toll-free numbers can work with voice verification. A number that is registered in a WhatsApp app must be deleted there before the API can register it, unless you connect it through coexistence, which keeps the app running on the same number.

There is no password. Your phone number and its six-digit code are the login, and two-step verification adds a PIN. To use WhatsApp Business on a computer:

1. Open WhatsApp Web (web.whatsapp.com) or the desktop app.
2. On your phone, open Linked devices in WhatsApp Business and scan the QR code. On WhatsApp Web you can instead choose Link with phone number and enter the eight-character code on your phone.

You can link up to four devices, and they work while your phone is offline. Open WhatsApp Business on the main phone at least every 14 days or the linked devices disconnect. Meta Verified plans raise the limit, up to 10 devices on the top plan.

The API has no app login. You manage it in WhatsApp Manager inside Meta Business Suite (business.facebook.com) with a Facebook login that has access to your business portfolio, and your team replies from your provider's software. With a shared inbox, each agent has their own login instead of passing one phone around.

To send messages through the API you need a WhatsApp Business Account, usually called a WABA. Most businesses create one through a provider's Embedded Signup: log in with Facebook, pick or create a business portfolio, add your number, verify it with a code and set a display name. It takes minutes and no code. Our WhatsApp Business API guide walks through it.

What changed in September 2026: Meta is splitting the WABA in two. A WhatsApp account holds one phone number with its profile and catalog, and always belongs to your business. A Messaging account holds templates and billing, and each provider you use gets its own; existing WABAs become Messaging accounts with the same ID. The rollout began on September 23, 2026 and should reach every business by mid-October, so WhatsApp Manager may still show the old view. Display names, quality ratings, messaging limits and business verification are unchanged.

• Display name review. The name must clearly relate to your business and match your website or legal name. Meta rejects generic words (Fashion), bare places (New York), 'Official' or 'Verified', references to WhatsApp or Meta, promotional text, and web or email addresses. You can change it up to 10 times in 30 days.
• Business verification. Done in the Security Center of Meta Business Suite with your legal name, address, phone and website, plus documents if Meta can't match your records. Decisions take up to 14 business days. It raises your limits but adds no badge; see WhatsApp green tick verification for that.
• Messaging limits. A new business portfolio can message 250 unique people per rolling 24 hours outside open conversations. Verifying the business, or delivering high-quality templates to 2,000 different people within 30 days, lifts that to 2,000. It then steps up to 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited when you use at least half your limit over 7 days with good quality.

Stay on the app alone if one or two people answer chats by hand and nothing needs to go out automatically. Move to the API when you need any of these:

• Order confirmations, shipping updates or appointment reminders sent automatically
• Automations such as cart recovery or lead follow-up
• Campaigns to opted-in customers who haven't saved your number, since app broadcast lists only reach people who have
• Several agents in one inbox, an AI chatbot, or integrations with your store or CRM

You no longer have to choose. With coexistence, the Business app and the API share one number: up to six months of chat history syncs, and messages you send from the app stay free. A few app features change once connected: broadcast lists become read-only, disappearing messages, view once and live location switch off in one-to-one chats, group chats don't sync, and throughput is fixed at 20 messages per second. Recoverly connects through Meta's Embedded Signup with coexistence, so you keep your number and your app and add automation on top.

• 'This phone number can't use WhatsApp.' The number is banned. Tap Request review in the app, and see our guide to a banned WhatsApp Business account.
• The API says the number is in use. It is still registered in a WhatsApp app. Delete that account first, or connect through coexistence.
• Display name declined. Match it to your website or legal name and resubmit. When a brand and its parent company differ, write it as 'Brand by Company'.
• Linked devices logged out. Open the app on the main phone at least every 14 days.
• Profile fields won't change. After a Meta Verified subscription, name and profile details are locked and edits go through review.