Guide · Readiness · For the owner the night before a campaign
Can our WhatsApp number send right now? Meta's five-part health check, and why a green number can still mean a blocked send
The night before a campaign the owner asks one question: can we send? The honest answer has five parts, because a WhatsApp message passes through five things Meta checks separately, and any one of them can stop it. Meta provides a single health check that reports all five at once, with the reason and a suggested fix for whichever is failing. Here is what it checks, what the three answers mean, and why it belongs in the pre-send routine.
Published 1 October 2026
The five things that must all be in order
Meta's page lists the parts involved in every message or call: the software application the provider registered with Meta, the business portfolio that owns or has claimed it, the Messaging account, the business phone number and, if a template is being sent, the template itself. Each is checked on its own, and the health check reports every one of them in a single answer, whichever of them it was asked about.
- Available
- The part meets every requirement for messaging or calling.
- Limited
- The part can be used but with some restriction, and Meta attaches a note explaining it. Meta's own example is a phone number that can send but has a lower limit because its display name has not been approved.
- Blocked
- The part fails at least one requirement. Meta attaches the error and a possible solution. Meta's example is a template that cannot be sent because it is still awaiting review.
How the overall answer is formed
What each part usually means when it is not green
The check names the failing part, which points straight at the guide that explains it. A limited or blocked phone number is most often a quality or display-name matter, covered in the quality rating guide and the display name guide. A blocked template is pending, rejected or paused, which the template quality guide explains. A blocked Messaging account or portfolio is usually a policy restriction or a missing payment method, the territory of the restrictions guide. A blocked application is the provider's problem alone, and the owner's only job is to ask them.
Calling has its own line in the same answer. Meta reports, part by part, whether a number can receive calls over the business's telephone system, with no combined verdict; a business that has not set calling up sees that part blocked and nothing else affected.
Where it fits in the routine
- Before any large send, run the check against the template about to be used. That one call covers the template, the number, the account, the portfolio and the application together.
- After any change, a new display name, a new payment method, an appeal decided, run it again rather than sending a test message and hoping.
- When a send fails, read the health check before the error list. If a part is blocked, the per-message failure reasons are symptoms, not the cause.
Questions
Our number is green in WhatsApp Manager but messages are not going. How?
The number is one of five parts. Meta's health check also covers the application, the business portfolio, the Messaging account and the template, and the overall status is blocked if any one of them is. Ask your provider to run the check against the template you are sending.
What does limited mean in practice?
That sending works but under a restriction Meta names in the note it attaches. Meta's own example is a number with a lower messaging limit because its display name has not yet been approved. Fix the named cause and the part returns to available.
Can I run this myself?
It is a request the connected system makes to Meta, so in practice the provider runs it and shows you the result. A good system runs it automatically before every campaign and shows the five parts on the screen rather than a single green dot.
Does the check tell us how to fix a blocked part?
Meta's page says a blocked part comes with the error and a possible solution, and a limited part with additional information. It is the one place where Meta states the cause and the remedy together.
Sources
- Meta's developer documentation: Health status, read 1 October 2026.
More plain-language notes like this one are on the guides page.
Want a five-part answer to 'can we send?' before every campaign?
We set up a business's WhatsApp number on a proper system that runs Meta's health check against the template before each send, shows all five parts with Meta's own reason for any that is not green, and holds the campaign until they are. A short call is the easiest way to see whether it fits your business.
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