If a message you sent isn’t reaching the recipient, this page walks you through the most common causes in order of frequency.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://knowledge.flowella.io/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Where to look first
Open the Inbox and find the conversation. Each outbound message shows a status:| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sent | Flowella has handed the message to Meta |
| Delivered | Meta confirmed it reached the recipient’s device |
| Read | The recipient opened it |
| Failed | Meta rejected it or could not deliver it |
Common causes
1. The contact has opted out
Sending to an opted-out contact is blocked. Check Contacts → Opt-outs or the contact card in the inbox. See Opt-outs. If the contact has not actually asked to opt out, an opt-out keyword in their reply (for example, “stop”, “unsubscribe”) may have triggered it automatically. Reach out via another channel to confirm intent before re-enabling.2. The 24-hour window has closed
You can only send free-form messages within 24 hours of the contact’s last inbound message. Outside that window, you must use an approved template. See Templates and Template reference.3. The template was rejected, paused, or disabled
If the message used a template, check the template’s status under Templates. A template can move out ofAPPROVED due to recipient feedback or quality issues. See Template rejected.
4. The recipient is on the WhatsApp Business app, not WhatsApp
WhatsApp Business Platform messages can only be received on the regular WhatsApp consumer app. Numbers running the standalone WhatsApp Business app on the same device cannot receive API messages while the app is active.5. Your channel is in a low-quality state
Meta tracks a quality rating per phone number. Low quality reduces your daily messaging limit and can pause sends. Check Settings → Meta for the per-number quality indicator. If quality has dropped:- Pause non-essential sends.
- Avoid sending Marketing templates to disengaged contacts.
- Wait 24–48 hours for the rating to recover.
6. Your subscription is past due
If your Stripe subscription is past due or cancelled, sending is restricted. See Billing. Restore payment and the restriction lifts within a few minutes.7. The recipient phone number is wrong
Phone numbers must be in E.164 form (+447700900123). A leading 0, a missing country code, or extra punctuation will cause Meta to reject the send. See Phone number format.
8. The recipient blocked your number
If the recipient has blocked you on WhatsApp, messages will report as Sent but never Delivered. There is nothing to fix on the Flowella side.9. Meta is having an incident
Check Meta’s WhatsApp Business API status. If there is a live incident, sends will retry once the platform recovers.Still stuck?
If none of the above explains it, gather:- The conversation ID or contact’s phone number
- The timestamp of the failing send
- A screenshot of the message status