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Migrate your WhatsApp phone number to WhatsApp Business Platform (API)

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❗️ Important
We recommend using a new phone number for the WhatsApp Business Platform (API) as it's exclusively for this platform and WhatsApp campaigns on Brevo. After migration, you won't be able to use WhatsApp Messenger or the Business app. Only migrate if necessary.
You can migrate your phone number registered with WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business App to use it with WhatsApp Business Platform (API). Your old WhatsApp account associated with the phone number you are about to migrate has to be deleted before the WhatsApp Business Platform (API) registration process can begin. To learn more about the differences between all the WhatsApp services, check our dedicated article What is WhatsApp Business Platform?.
❗️ Important
After deleting your old WhatsApp account, incoming messages will be on hold by WhatsApp's servers until migration completes. This can take up to 1 month on Meta's side. To avoid communication delays, you can create a new phone number while continuing to use your old number during API verification. Remember to backup your conversations and contacts to prevent data loss.

Step 1: Backup your conversations and contacts

To backup your conversations and contacts in your WhatsApp app:

  1. Open the WhatsApp app on your Android or iPhone.
  2. Go to the Settings page.
  3. Select Chats > Chat backup. Your messages and media are backed up to Google Drive and your phone's internal storage. You can restore them when you reinstall WhatsApp.

You can now delete your old WhatsApp account to start the migration process. ⬇️

Step 2: Delete your old WhatsApp account

You first need to delete your WhatsApp account to obtain a certificate that will allow you to start the migration process. Follow the steps below after creating your WhatsApp Business Manager account:
  1. On your WhatsApp Business Manager account, add the phone number that is already registered in the Android, iPhone, or Business versions of WhatsApp.
  2. Assign a display name to your phone number, following the display name guidelines.
    ❗️ Important
    Make sure you respect the WhatsApp Business Display Name guidelines. If your name is rejected by Meta, you won't be allowed to schedule WhatsApp campaigns.
  3. Submit it for review by the WhatsApp team. You will be notified when the display name is approved. 
  4. Open the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app on your device.
  5. Click 2022-07-06_17-54-05.png More options > Settings > Account > Delete my account.
  6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the deletion of your account. It may take up to 2 minutes to delete the account from the WhatsApp servers.
  7. Go back to your WhatsApp Business Manager account and refresh the page. 
  8. Follow the steps in this guide to convert your existing WhatsApp number to the Business Platform (API).

Step 3: Link your WhatsApp phone number to Brevo

Congratulations! 🚀 Your phone number can now be used on Brevo. Once your phone number has been successfully deleted, follow the steps to link your WhatsApp Business account to Brevo and Verify your WhatsApp Business account.

🤯 Troubleshooting common errors  

#1005: Access Denied - Please wait [time] before trying again 

→ Wait until the timeout is done and try again. 

#1005: Access Denied - Unknown error: biz_link_info_invalid_payload 

→ Fully delete WhatsApp from the device and reinstall it. 

#1005: Access Denied - This number has not been approved for an enterprise. Please contact support for more info.

→ Fully delete WhatsApp from the device. 

#1005: Access Denied - There was an error verifying this phone number. Please try again later.

⏭️ What's next?

🤔 Have a question?

If you have a question, feel free to contact our support team by creating a ticket from your account. If you don't have an account yet, you can contact us here.

If you’re looking for help with a project using Brevo, we can match you with the right certified Brevo Agency partner.

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