The WhatsApp 24-hour window: when you can write freely and when you need a template
The moment a customer messages or calls you, a 24-hour timer starts. While it runs you can send anything. When it ends, only a template that Meta approved in advance can go out. Most "why can't I send a normal message?" questions come down to this.
From the moment a customer messages or calls you, you can send any message for 24 hours. Once the time is up, only a template approved by Meta can go out; if the customer replies to the template, the window opens again. Meta sets the rule; Chatinbox prepares the templates.
What you provide
- Which messages you want to send before the customer writes
- How fast your team replies
What Chatinbox does
- Prepares templates for the messages that fall outside the window
- Explains which messages are free and which are charged
- When the window opens and when it resets
- What can be sent inside and outside it
- The 72-hour free period for customers who come from an ad
- The three most common misunderstandings
How the window works
The customer writes or calls, the timer starts
Every message or call from the customer opens a 24-hour "customer service window". Your own message does not start it; the customer's does.
Meta sets the ruleAnother customer message resets the timer
If a new message arrives before the time is up, the 24 hours start again. In a back-and-forth conversation the window effectively never closes.
While the window is open, anything goes
Text, images, documents, audio, location, buttons and lists can all be sent. Meta does not charge for these messages.
Once it closes, templates only
After 24 hours a free-form message is rejected by Meta with error code 131047. Only an approved template can reach that customer. If the customer replies to the template, the window opens again.
Chatinbox prepares the templateInside versus outside
Window open (last customer message under 24 hours old)
- Free-form text, images, documents, audio, location
- Messages with buttons and lists
- Templates can also be sent; a utility template is free during this time
- Your team carries on as in a normal chat
Window closed (24 hours have passed)
- Free-form messages fail with an error
- Approved templates only: reminders, notifications, campaigns
- Templates are charged by category
- Marketing templates need the customer's prior opt-in
Customers who come from an ad: 72 hours
If the customer wrote to you from a "click to WhatsApp" ad or the message button on your Facebook Page, the rule works a little differently. Reply with any message within the first 24 hours and a 72-hour free period opens. During it, every message type, templates included, is free.
The period starts with the customer's first message from the ad, not with your reply. If your reply goes out later than 24 hours, this benefit is not used and the normal window rule applies.
The three most common misunderstandings
"I wrote, so the window is open"
- It is not. Only the customer's message or call opens the window.
- In a conversation you started with a template, you cannot write freely until the customer replies.
"We talked yesterday, so I can write today"
- The measure is not the calendar day but 24 hours since the customer's last message.
- If they wrote at 10:00 yesterday, the window is closed at 10:01 today.
"Templates cost money, I'll wait"
- Waiting does not bring the window back; it stays closed until the customer writes.
- A utility template is already free while the window is open.
Which of your messages need a template?
In a 15 minute call we work out together which of your messages fall outside the window.
Meta's window rule and pricing can change. This page was checked against Meta's official documentation on 17 August 2026.
