> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.watx.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Coexistence — keep the WhatsApp Business app

> Connect your number to Watx without moving it off the WhatsApp Business app: how it works, what you keep, what Meta does not support, and how to leave.

There are two ways to bring a number into Watx, and you choose between them on the first screen of **WhatsApp → Channel Settings**.

**Coexistence** keeps the number on the WhatsApp Business app. You carry on replying from your phone, and those replies appear in the Watx inbox as well. Nothing is migrated and the app keeps working.

The other route moves the number onto the Cloud API. The WhatsApp Business app stops working on it, and everything in Watx runs without the restrictions below.

## Which one to pick

|                                         | WhatsApp Business API              | Coexistence                             |
| --------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| The WhatsApp Business app on your phone | Stops working on that number       | Keeps working                           |
| Replying from your phone                | Not possible — you reply from Watx | Yes, and the reply appears in Watx too  |
| Sending rate                            | Your full Meta throughput          | Fixed by Meta at 20 messages per second |
| Catalog, orders and status              | Supported                          | Not supported by Meta                   |
| Chat history already on the phone       | Not imported                       | Not imported                            |
| Changing your mind later                | Reconnect in coexistence mode      | Disconnect in the app, then reconnect   |

Coexistence suits a business where the owner or a shop counter still answers WhatsApp on a phone. Migrating suits a team that will work entirely out of the shared inbox and sends at volume.

<Note>
  Both routes use your own WhatsApp Business Account, both run on the official Meta Cloud API, and both bill through Meta directly.
</Note>

## Before you start

* **The WhatsApp Business app, version 2.24.17 or newer**, on the phone that owns the number.
* **A Facebook account that administers your business.**
* **That phone to hand.** Meta shows a QR code you scan from the app to finish.
* **One number.** Meta allows a single phone number on a WhatsApp Business Account used this way. If the account already has more than one, the connect is refused and says so.

## Connect

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the channel settings">
    In the sidebar, open **WhatsApp → Channel Settings**. With nothing connected, the page asks **How do you want to connect?** and offers two cards.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose WhatsApp Business app (coexistence)">
    The card lists what you need and what changes. **Choose a different way** at the top goes back to the other route.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Press Continue with Facebook">
    A Facebook popup opens. Sign in with the admin account of your Meta business and grant the permissions it asks for.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Follow Meta's wizard">
    Confirm your business details and the WhatsApp Business Account. Meta's screens for this route differ from the migration route, which is why Watx does not preview them.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Scan the QR code from the WhatsApp Business app">
    Open the app on the phone that owns the number and scan the code Meta shows.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Let Watx finish">
    Watx exchanges the authorisation code for an access token, finds the number on your WhatsApp Business Account, subscribes to the account so Meta delivers events, and stores the credentials encrypted.

    Registration is deliberately skipped on this route: Meta forbids re-registering a number the WhatsApp Business app still owns. That is not a failure, and the connected card says so under **Mode**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## After connecting

The connected card is the same one described in [Channel settings](/whatsapp/settings), with one extra row:

| Row      | What it says                                                 |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Mode** | Coexistence — this number stays on the WhatsApp Business App |

**Receiving events** reads **yes** rather than a date on this route, because the registration call that normally stamps that date is the one Meta does not allow here.

Messages your customers send arrive in the [inbox](/inbox/overview) as they do on any connection.

Replies you send **from the phone** are delivered to Watx separately, as echoes of your own messages, and are filed into the same conversation so the thread stays whole. They are treated as your side of the conversation, not as a customer message: they do not mark the conversation unread, they do not reopen the [24-hour window](/whatsapp/messaging-window), and they never trigger an automation, a flow or an AI agent.

## What Meta does not support on a coexistence number

These are Meta's restrictions, not Watx's, and they apply for as long as the number stays on the WhatsApp Business app.

* **Sending is fixed at 20 messages per second**, whatever your messaging tier or spend. Broadcasts still work; large ones take longer.
* **Catalog, orders and status are not supported.** Watx does not hide the [Commerce page](/whatsapp/catalog-and-orders), so treat product messages and incoming orders as unavailable on this number until you migrate.
* **The app's own messaging tools stop working** — marketing messages, the away message and quick replies.
* **Disappearing messages, view-once messages and live location are switched off** in one-to-one chats, and **broadcast lists are disabled**, in the WhatsApp Business app itself.
* **Group chats are not synchronised** to Watx, **voice and video calls are not supported**, and **channels are unavailable**.
* **Linked devices are unlinked** when you connect. You can link the supported ones again afterwards; **WhatsApp for Windows and WhatsApp for WearOS are not supported at all**, and a reply sent from one of those does not reach Watx.

<Warning>
  If you rely on the catalogue, on broadcast lists, or on replying from WhatsApp for Windows, migrate the number instead of connecting it this way.
</Warning>

## Chat history and contacts are not imported

The chats and contacts already on the phone do not come across. The Watx inbox fills from the next message onwards, and contacts are created as people write in.

<Warning>
  Meta only allows that import in the 24 hours after onboarding, and only once. It cannot be added to a number that is already connected — that would mean disconnecting and setting the number up again from scratch.
</Warning>

## Moving to the full API later

Disconnect first, in the WhatsApp Business app: **Settings → Account → Business Platform**. Meta does not allow a coexistence number to be deregistered through the API, so this has to be done from the phone.

Once it is disconnected, run the connect again from **WhatsApp → Channel Settings** and pick **WhatsApp Business API** this time. Your contacts, conversations and templates in Watx are untouched by any of this — the connection is the only thing that changes.

## If something is not arriving

* Replies sent from WhatsApp for Windows or a WearOS watch never reach Watx. Send from the phone or a supported linked device.
* Registration being skipped is expected on this route and is not the fault — see [WhatsApp delivery troubleshooting](/troubleshooting/whatsapp).
* Anything else: [Connect your number](/whatsapp/connect) covers what "connected" means and what **Verify with Meta** checks.