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Guide · Getting started · For the owner moving from a personal WhatsApp account

Moving your number to the WhatsApp Business app, and back: what moves, what is lost, and which numbers can register

Many businesses start on a personal WhatsApp account and later want the WhatsApp Business app on the same number. WhatsApp's Help Center explains how to move across with chats intact, what is lost on the way, which numbers can register at all, and what does not come back if you move the other way. Here is what those pages say.

Published 7 October 2026 · Updated 11 October 2026

Two apps, one number at a time

WhatsApp's Help Center is plain about it: ordinary WhatsApp, which it calls WhatsApp Messenger, and the WhatsApp Business app are two different apps, and one phone number cannot be used in both at the same time. A number can move from one to the other, in either direction. To run both, each app needs its own number.

WhatsApp also says what each app is for. WhatsApp Messenger is built for personal communication, and the WhatsApp Business app for a business talking to people outside it. WhatsApp says each app meets Europe's data protection law, the GDPR, for its intended purpose, and that small and medium-sized businesses should use the WhatsApp Business app to talk to their customers.

Moving to the WhatsApp Business app

The Help Center's steps, written for Android:

Back up first
Make a backup of the WhatsApp account before starting, and update ordinary WhatsApp.
Install and agree
Install the WhatsApp Business app, open it and accept its terms. It recognises the number already used in WhatsApp; tap it, or choose Use a different number.
Bring the chats
Tap Continue, then Allow, so the Business app can take over the chat history and media.
Verify and set up
Enter the six-digit code WhatsApp sends by SMS, then create the business profile, which can be edited later.

One thing is lost. Contacts saved inside WhatsApp itself are not yet supported in the Business app and disappear in the move. The Help Center's fix is to switch off WhatsApp contacts in ordinary WhatsApp's settings and save them all to the phone's address book first.

Which numbers can register, including a landline

Numbers that work
A mobile or landline number the business owns, which can receive calls or SMS. A landline registers through Call me, and an extension cannot be used.
Numbers that do not
Internet calling numbers, toll-free numbers, premium-rate numbers, universal access numbers and personal numbers.
Typing it in
Choose the country so the code fills in, and do not put a 0 before the number. Call blocking settings and apps must be off.
The code
It can take up to 10 minutes. Guessing it locks the number out for a while, the carrier may charge for the SMS or call, and it should never be shared with anyone.

Moving back, and what stays behind

A number can go back to ordinary WhatsApp. The Help Center says to back up the Business app to the Google Account first, then install ordinary WhatsApp, enter the same number, verify it and tap Restore. Chats come back, but anything that exists only in the Business app does not: the catalog and its collections are not transferred.

Our reading: decide the number before you print it

Moving is easy, but only one app holds a number at a time, and a move back loses the catalog. Pick the number customers will see on signs and cards, put it in the Business app, and keep a separate number for personal use.

What to set up in the first days is in the first-week guide, protecting the number in the account takeover guide, and when a business outgrows the app in the app or Platform guide.

Questions

Can we keep running our business on personal WhatsApp?

WhatsApp's Help Center says ordinary WhatsApp is built for personal communication and that small and medium-sized businesses should use the WhatsApp Business app to talk to their customers. A number can only be in one of the two apps at a time, but it can move from one to the other.

Can we use the same number on WhatsApp and the WhatsApp Business app?

Not at the same time. WhatsApp's Help Center says they are two different apps and one number cannot be used in both at once. To use both, each needs its own number.

Do we lose our chats moving to the WhatsApp Business app?

No. The Help Center's steps let the Business app take over the chat history and media. Contacts saved inside WhatsApp itself are lost, so save them to the phone's address book first.

Can the WhatsApp Business app use a landline number?

Yes, if the business owns it. WhatsApp's Help Center says to register it with Call me to receive the code by phone. Extensions, internet calling numbers and toll-free numbers cannot be registered.

What do we lose moving from the WhatsApp Business app back to ordinary WhatsApp?

Anything that exists only in the Business app. The Help Center names the catalog and its collections as not transferred; chats come back from the backup.

Sources

More plain-language notes like this one are on the guides page.

Want every chat in one place you own?

We set up a business's WhatsApp number on a system its team runs, so every customer conversation sits in one place the business owns. A short call is the easiest way to see how that would work for you.

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