Connecting your existing WhatsApp number
If you already use WhatsApp or the WhatsApp Business app on your number, this is the option to choose. Your team keeps using the WhatsApp Business app exactly as before, with all your chats and contacts, and Respondly's AI works alongside it on the same number. No verification code is needed. On the Connect WhatsApp screen it's the first option: "Use my existing WhatsApp number".
Don't choose Register a brand-new number for a number that's already on WhatsApp — it's only for numbers that aren't.
What you'll need before you start
Meta checks these during setup. Most failed connections come down to one of them, so it's worth a minute to go through the list first.
- The WhatsApp Business app, not regular WhatsApp, version 2.24.17 or newer. If you use regular WhatsApp on this number, install the free WhatsApp Business app on the same phone and move the number there first.
- The number in real use on the Business app, usually for a week or more. A number that was moved to the Business app today is normally turned down with "more activity is needed". Chat with customers on it as usual for some days, then connect.
- A Facebook login that is a full admin of your Meta Business Portfolio (also called Business Manager). If your business has never had one, Meta's window can create it for you during setup. If someone else set it up, ask them to make you an admin first at business.facebook.com/settings.
- Your business details filled in on the portfolio: business name, address, and a website or email. Use the same name your customers see on WhatsApp, because it's hard to change afterwards.
- The number not already on the WhatsApp API with another provider. If it was connected to another tool before, it has to be removed there first.
- Your phone in hand, with the Business app open. The confirmation arrives inside the app during setup, not by SMS.
If Meta says the number isn't eligible
Meta decides this inside its own window, so the fix is on the number, not in Respondly:
- "More activity on the WhatsApp Business app is needed": the number is too new on the Business app. Keep using it for real chats for a week or more and try again. Don't delete and re-register the number, that starts the wait again.
- "This number is registered to an existing WhatsApp account": it's still attached to another WhatsApp API provider. Ask them to remove it, then try again. Meta can take a while to release it.
- Meta offers to register a new number instead of connecting your app: the number isn't on the WhatsApp Business app yet. Set it up there first.
- You can't pick your business, or see "no permission": your Facebook login isn't a full admin of that portfolio.
Still stuck? On the Connect WhatsApp screen, choose Get help with this under the error. It opens a support ticket with the error details already attached, so you don't have to describe it.
The steps
- From your dashboard's Connect WhatsApp screen, choose "Use my existing WhatsApp number".
- Meta's own sign-in window opens — log in with the Facebook account tied to your Meta Business Portfolio.
- Enter your existing WhatsApp Business number.
- WhatsApp sends a message inside the app on your phone — tap Connect, then Connect to the Business Platform, choose whether to share your existing chat history, and copy the code back into the window.
- Done — your AI assistant starts responding on that number, right alongside your team in the app.
Good to know
- If your team replies to a customer manually from the app, Respondly won't automatically know to stop responding — you'll mark that conversation as handled yourself in the dashboard.
- Disappearing messages, view-once, and live location get disabled for 1:1 chats on this number afterward.
- The number needs to open the WhatsApp Business app at least once every 13 days to stay synced with Respondly.