Your WhatsApp Business number still works. Customers can message you and you can reply. But you can't start a chat with a new customer, or the broadcast you send every week won't go out, or the app shows 'Your account is restricted right now'.
This is a limit on a working account, and WhatsApp's help says these restrictions end by themselves. The cause it gives is the same in nearly every case: your recent messages looked like spam, either to its systems or to the people who received them. So waiting lifts the limit, but only changing how you message stops it from coming back. If the app says the number can't use WhatsApp at all, that is a ban, which is a different problem with its own review process.
Read the message first: each one points somewhere different
There are several separate limits that all feel like 'WhatsApp blocked me'. What you can't do tells you which one you have.
- 'Your account is restricted right now': you can't start chats with new contacts, and you can't create groups. See cause one.
- 'Your account may be restricted soon': a warning about the same restriction. See cause one.
- You can't send business broadcasts or marketing messages, and the app shows a date and time when access returns: the feature is suspended. See cause two.
- You can't send business broadcasts, and no date was ever shown: the feature may not be available to you. See cause three.
- A broadcast sends, but some people never get it: this is how ordinary broadcast lists work. See cause four.
Cause 1: Your activity looked like spam, automated or bulk messaging
This is the account-wide restriction. WhatsApp's help says recent activity on your account might be showing signs of engaging in spam, automated or bulk messaging, which violates its Terms of Service. The restriction is built around new conversations, so existing customers can still reach you and you can still answer them.
WhatsApp doesn't give a fixed length. Its wording is that the restriction automatically ends once the allocated time passes, and that you'll receive a notification in WhatsApp when it ends. It also says you don't need to take any action to remove it, and that applies to the 'may be restricted soon' warning as well. To see the time left, tap 'New Chat' and select a contact you've never chatted with before. The pop-up shows the time remaining.
While it lasts, here is where you stand:
- You can still message contacts and groups you've exchanged chats or calls with before.
- You can't start chats or calls with new contacts.
- You can't create new groups or add new members to groups.
- You can't use linked devices, and you may be logged out of some companion devices. If WhatsApp on your computer stopped working at the same moment, this is why.
Cause 2: Too many people blocked or reported your business
This one is about business broadcasts, which WhatsApp's help says is the new name for marketing messages in some countries. So if you've searched for either phrase, it's the same feature, and both help articles describe the same steps.
First comes a warning. WhatsApp says that if a significant number of users report or block your account because of unwanted messages, your business account receives a warning. If the spam continues, the feature is suspended on the business account for three days.
After that there is little to do except wait. Access is automatically reinstated on the date and time shown in the app. WhatsApp also says it's not possible to appeal the suspension of this feature, so you should wait for it to end. The warning that matters most comes next: if recipients continue to report or block your messages after you get access back, your account can be restricted again, and repeated restrictions may result in longer suspensions.
If access doesn't return, WhatsApp suggests reviewing Meta's terms for this feature and contacting support. On Android the broadcasts article gives the path as 'More', 'Settings', 'Help and feedback', 'Help center', then 'Contact us'. The marketing messages article gives it as 'Settings', 'Help', then 'Contact us'.
Cause 3: The feature isn't available on your account
WhatsApp's help lists this as the other reason you can't send: the feature may not be available to you yet. If you never had access and no suspension date is showing, the cause is more likely availability than anything you did.
- Your country. WhatsApp says business broadcasts are currently available in limited countries and might not be available to you yet. Its help pages for this feature don't list which countries.
- Your setup. WhatsApp says the WhatsApp Business Platform doesn't currently support business broadcasts, so a number connected to the Platform won't have this feature.
- Where to look. If you do have it, your broadcasts are under the 'Tools' tab, then 'Business broadcasts'.
Cause 4: You're using an ordinary broadcast list, which has its own limits
Business broadcasts and broadcast lists are different features. If a list message reaches only some of your customers, nothing is necessarily wrong with your account.
- Only people who have added you to their phone's contacts receive your broadcast. WhatsApp's fix is simple: ask them to save your number.
- Each list can hold up to 256 contacts.
- If you change your number, only people who've saved the new number will receive your broadcasts.
- Broadcast lists aren't supported on Windows, Mac or Web, so create and send them from your phone.
- WhatsApp says people in some countries might see a monthly broadcast limit, and that this is rolling out gradually. If you hit one, the 'Learn more about broadcast limits' link on WhatsApp's broadcast list help page is the place to check the details.
What's really behind it: other people's reactions
WhatsApp's Business Policy is direct about this. Users can block or report businesses, and its systems may limit the amount of messages a business can send based on that feedback. It also says WhatsApp may limit your ability to send messages if you receive significant amounts of negative feedback, as determined by WhatsApp in its sole discretion.
The help pages for these restrictions don't state a count of messages or blocks that triggers them, so don't plan around a safe number. They also don't single out messaging people who aren't in your contacts. But the restriction blocks new contacts specifically, and the policy says you may only contact people who gave you their number and opted in to hear from you. The reasonable conclusion, though WhatsApp doesn't put it this way, is that cold messages to bought, scraped or old lists are the pattern most likely to get you here, since those are the people most likely to tap 'block'.
You also won't see who complained. WhatsApp's help says a reported user isn't notified, so one bad broadcast can do its damage without you hearing a word.
Prevent it next time: what to change
Most of this comes straight from WhatsApp's own advice for accounts coming back from a restriction. Don't resume with the same broadcast to the same list on the day your access returns.
- Send broadcasts only to people who opted in. The policy requires opt-in permission confirming they want further messages from you, and makes you responsible for how you collect it, so use something clear, such as a sign-up form or a tick box at checkout.
- Remove contacts who haven't interacted with your business recently.
- Keep messages consistent with what people signed up for. Someone who asked for order updates didn't ask for weekly offers.
- Don't message the same contacts right after you're reinstated.
- Make it easy to stop. The policy tells you to provide clear opt-out instructions and to respect requests to opt out, whether they reach you on WhatsApp or anywhere else. Someone who can reply 'stop' has less reason to tap 'block'.
- Check your numbers. Under 'Tools' and then 'Business broadcasts' you can see replies and read rates, and how many times a broadcast went to a particular contact. A broadcast nobody replies to is worth rethinking before you send it again.
- Stop any bulk sending or automation on this number. WhatsApp names automated and bulk messaging as restriction causes in their own right.
Don't keep all your customers in one broadcast list
A free OneSol page gives customers a link to reach you on WhatsApp and elsewhere, and can collect emails, so you aren't relying on one broadcast list.