Send one message to one person

Most of this section is about messaging a list. This page is the opposite: one template, one person, one screen. An order update, a quote you promised, a reply to someone who enquired last week.

It lives at Single message in the sidebar, under WhatsApp.

The whole thing, start to finish. The written steps below cover the same ground.

You still need an approved template

This is a way to send one message quickly, not a way around Meta's rules. Starting a conversation always needs a template Meta has approved — see Why templates have to be approved. If the person messaged you in the last 24 hours, do not use this screen at all: reply in the Chatbox instead, where your reply is free. The screen tells you when that is the case and offers you the link.

The screen

Two sections on the left, a phone on the right. The dot beside each section heading fills in when that half is complete, and the phone updates as you go — what you see there is what your customer receives.

To. Either search a saved contact by name, or type a country code and number directly. Contacts who have opted out are shown but cannot be picked.

Message. Choose one of your approved templates for that number. If the template needs anything — an image or document in its header, or values for its {{1}} blanks — one row appears with Open on it, and everything the template needs is filled in there. The row turns to Edit with a tick once nothing is missing.

Then press Send message. The line under the button is worth reading either way: while anything is missing it says which one thing to fix, and once you are ready it tells you what the send will cost.

Steps

Open Single message from the sidebar, under WhatsApp.
If you have more than one connected number, choose which one it sends from.
Pick the recipient — a saved contact, or a country code and number.
Pick the template.
Fill in the header media and any variables, if the template has them.
Check the phone preview, then Send message.

After you send

A green strip confirms it and gives the message a code beginning SM-. That code is the message: click through and you get the same status page a broadcast gets — sent, delivered, read or failed, and the reason if it failed.

Under the form, Recent keeps your last few single messages with their outcome, so the thing you just did is still on the screen you did it on. For anything older, or to compare costs, use Message logs.

What it costs

The template's own rate for its category — the same as it would cost inside a broadcast of ten thousand. There is no premium for sending one, and no discount for sending many. See How pricing works.

If something goes wrong

The Send button is greyed out. The line underneath says why, and it names one thing at a time: a recipient, a template, missing media, or an empty variable.
Your template is not in the list. Only Approved templates belonging to the selected number appear. Check both on Templates.
The number is rejected as invalid. Pick the country code from the dropdown first — the code and the number are two separate fields, and a number typed with its code included will not validate.
A contact is greyed out. They have opted out, and messaging them anyway is not something we will do. See Who you're allowed to message.
It sent but never arrived. Open the SM- code and read the recipient's status. A message failed explains each reason.