A message failed — what happened?
A single message failing is different from nothing sending at all. If nothing is going out, start with I can't send messages.
Where to look
Message logs — search the recipient's number. The row shows the status and, for failures, the reason.
For a broadcast, open it from Broadcasts for the per-recipient list.
What you are charged
When a message fails, the full message charge is refunded and a small failed-attempt fee is taken instead — ₹0.10 on Indian accounts. Both appear in Wallet; the fee shows as a failed-send fee.
You are not charged for a message that never arrived. If you see a full charge with no matching refund, please open a ticket.
The common failure reasons
The number is not on WhatsApp
The single biggest cause on imported lists. They have a phone; they do not have WhatsApp on that number.
Fix: nothing to fix for that person. If it is a large share of a list, the list predates WhatsApp adoption in that segment — or the numbers are wrong.
Invalid number
Wrong format: a leading zero, the country code typed twice, spaces or brackets, or too few digits.
Fix: correct the contact. See Add contacts for the format rules.
Outside the 24-hour window
A free-form message to someone whose window has closed.
Fix: send an approved template instead. See The 24-hour window.
The customer blocked you
Nothing gets through, and WhatsApp will not tell you which customers have done this — you infer it from one number consistently failing while everything else delivers.
Fix: none, and do not work around it. A block is a decision.
Daily limit reached
Your number opened as many conversations as its tier allows in the rolling 24 hours. Everything past that is rejected.
Fix: send the remainder later. See Schedule and pace a broadcast.
Too many messages to one person
WhatsApp allows roughly one message every six seconds to the same customer. A burst past that is rejected until the rate settles — and a large burst "borrows" from the next few minutes, so the block outlasts the burst itself.
This is almost never a person typing. It is an automation looping, or a system firing several updates about one order at the same moment.
Fix: find what sent the burst, in Message logs with the source filter. Batch the updates into one message rather than sending four.
Template problem
The template was rejected, paused or is no longer approved for that number.
Fix: check Templates, and see Why was my template rejected?.
Media problem
The image, video or document is too large or in a format WhatsApp does not accept.
Fix: check the limits in Upload and reuse media. HEIC photos from an iPhone are the usual culprit.
Insufficient balance
The balance ran out mid-send.
Fix: add funds. Messages already failed are not retried automatically — resend them.
Reading the pattern
- One number always fails, everything else is fine → that number. Not on WhatsApp, wrong, or blocking you.
- A whole broadcast failed → account-level. Work through I can't send messages.
- Everything past a point in one broadcast failed → daily limit.
- Failures rising steadily over weeks → the list is ageing. Clean it.
- Sudden failures on a number that was fine → check its standing; My number or account is restricted.