Message templates were designed to allow WhatsApp to control the type of content that is sent to its users. As such, they have many restrictions around the types of content that are allowed on the platform. Abusing the platform or ignoring WhatsApp’s rules may lead to a phone number — or even your WhatsApp Business Account — becoming banned from the platform. Please exercise caution!

To avoid wasting time on rejected templates, here is a list of some of the reasons a message template may get rejected. It is important to note that, while it is unlikely, an approved message template may be revised and later rejected if WhatsApp decides that it no longer follows the guidelines.

To be sure that your templates get approved, please avoid these types of templates:

The message template contains content that violates WhatsApp’s Business Policy

• Do not request sensitive identifiers from users. This includes asking people to share full credit card numbers, financial account numbers, National Identification numbers, or other similar information either as plain text or in the form of attachments that contain this information.
• Do not send a survey or poll to collect data from users. You may only send a survey to collect information about an experience the customer had with your business (and even these templates are often rejected).
• Do not send messages that are non-transactional. This means that you should only send messages from which you expect a reply.

The message template contains potentially abusive or threatening content

• Do not send messages that threaten customers with a legal course of action
• A single message template can have a maximum of 1 phone number and 2 URL call-to-action buttons each.

The message template is formatted incorrectly

• Do not submit message templates with spelling or grammar errors. If Facebook approves a message template with spelling or grammatical errors, you have 24 hours to modify the template.
• The message template is a duplicate of an existing template. If a template is submitted with the same wording in the body and footer of an existing template, the duplicate template will be rejected. A rejection notification that includes the rejection reason will appear in Account Quality on WhatsApp Manager and be sent via email. You may refer to the Account Quality notification to see the name and language of the existing template with the same content as the rejected duplicate template. You may also choose to edit the template and resubmit. Please note that this check does not apply to OTP templates.

WhatsApp Template Media Files Policy

Possible reasons why an image might be rejected when used in WhatsApp Templates include:

• Offensive Content: Images containing violence, hate, harassment, or content promoting illegal activities.
• Copyright Infringement: Using copyrighted images without proper authorization.
• Deceptive or Fraudulent Content: Images intended to mislead or deceive, such as fake images posing as official content.
• Sexually Explicit Content: WhatsApp prohibits the use of explicit or inappropriate images in certain contexts.
• Cultural or Religious Inappropriateness: Images that may be considered offensive due to cultural or religious reasons.