Blog · Campaigns
WhatsApp quality rating: why templates get paused, and how to fix it
Every number and every template on the WhatsApp Business API has a quality rating, worked out from how customers react to your messages. Let it slip and templates get paused.
What the quality rating is
Meta watches what people do with your messages. If they read and reply, quality stays high. If they block you, report you as spam, or mute you, it drops. The rating is shown for each phone number and each template in WhatsApp Manager, as High, Medium or Low.
What happens when quality drops
Templates get paused
When a template reaches the lowest rating (“Active – Low quality”), Meta stops it for a while, from Meta’s documentation:
| Time it happens | What Meta does |
|---|---|
| First time | Paused for 3 hours |
| Second time | Paused for 6 hours |
| Third time | Disabled |
A paused template comes back on its own after the pause. A disabled one has to be edited and sent to Meta for review again.
Your limit stops growing
Since October 2025, a quality drop no longer lowers your daily messaging limit, but high quality is one of the two conditions for moving up a tier. Low quality means you stay where you are. See messaging limits explained.
Serious or repeated policy problems
Sending what WhatsApp’s policies don’t allow can lead to restrictions on the account. Quality problems from ordinary campaigns usually show up as paused templates first, which is your warning.
Why people block business messages
- They don’t remember giving you their number.
- The message isn’t relevant to them (a JEE offer to a parent of a 5-year-old).
- Too many messages, too close together.
- No easy way to stop, so blocking is the only way out.
- The message reads like spam: all caps, long, pushy, no name.
7 fixes that bring quality back up
- Only message people who opted in, and remind them who you are in the first line. See how to collect opt-in.
- Send to a group, not the whole list. Tag contacts by interest, batch or stage and send each offer to the people it fits.
- Add a “Stop” quick-reply button to marketing templates. Someone who taps Stop doesn’t block you.
- Send less often. One good offer a week beats one a day.
- Make it personal and short: their name, one clear point, one button.
- Rest a template that’s slipping and send a rewritten one, rather than pushing the same message again.
- Send at sensible times: not before 9 am or after 9 pm.
How GetSetSales helps
- People who reply STOP are opted out automatically and never sent campaigns again.
- The dashboard shows warnings about your number’s quality.
- Campaigns go to a tag or a filtered group, so you never have to blast everyone.
- Campaigns go out at a speed matched to your number, and slow down when WhatsApp asks.
How campaigns work · Start free
Common questions
Where do I see my quality rating?
In WhatsApp Manager, for each phone number and each template. Meta also sends an email and a notification when a template is paused.
Can I edit a paused template?
Yes. Editing sends it back to review, and it can be sent again once Meta approves it.
How long does it take for quality to recover?
It’s based on recent customer reactions, so a week or two of well-targeted messages that people read and answer usually shows in the rating.