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Guide · AI · For the owner whose app AI agent is already answering

Sharing the inbox with Meta's AI agent in the WhatsApp Business app: the handoff list, taking over a chat and switching it off

Once Meta's AI agent is switched on in the WhatsApp Business app, the owner shares the inbox with it. WhatsApp's Help Center explains how to see which chats it is in, the list of chats it hands back, how to take over or let it answer, how to remove it from one chat, and how to pause or delete it. Here is what those pages say.

Published 7 October 2026

Which chats it is in

WhatsApp's Help Center says a chat the agent is part of carries an AI icon, inside the chat and on the Chats tab. Where it is present it does one of two things, depending on the settings chosen at setup: it answers customers, or it stays quiet and learns from how the owner answers. A chat without the icon is one the agent neither answers nor learns from.

The AI handoff list

When the agent decides a customer needs a person, the chat goes on the AI handoff list: in the Chats tab, tap AI handoff. An empty list means no chat needs the owner right now. Under Manage AI handoff list the owner picks when a chat leaves the list:

Immediately after I reply
The chat leaves the list as soon as the owner answers by hand. Meta's default.
24 hours after I reply
The chat stays on the list for a day after the owner's reply.

Chats with no activity for seven days drop off the list on their own but stay in the Chats tab.

Customers can send chats this way too. WhatsApp's Help Center tells them they can ask, at any point, to stop getting AI messages from a business; when they do, or when the agent cannot help, it tries to put them in touch with the business. They can also tap and hold any AI message to rate it, and one of the two ratings asks them why.

Taking over, handing back, removing it from one chat

Taking over
In a chat where the agent is answering, tap Respond manually.
Letting it answer
In a chat where it is only learning, tapping the AI icon lets it start answering. When it spots a question it can answer, the icon offers See AI reply; if the draft is right, Turn on AI replies sends it.
Removing it from one chat
Tap the contact's or group's name, then Include your AI, then Remove your AI. It then neither answers nor learns in that chat. The same switch brings it back.

Greeting and away messages, and switching it off

One Help Center article says greeting and away messages are switched off automatically once the agent is connected, because automatic messages get in the way of how it handles incoming chats, and that using them again means deleting the agent. Pausing or deleting it is done in the WhatsApp Business app on the phone; WhatsApp Web cannot do it.

WhatsApp's main article on the agent adds what else changes once it is connected. Customers are told, the first time they chat, that AI from Meta receives chats to improve AI and write messages for the business. Messages in chats where the agent is connected are still collected by Meta to improve its AI while the agent is muted; only deleting it stops that sharing.

Features it can get in the way of
Broadcast lists, disappearing messages, and greeting and away messages. Deleting the agent brings them back.
Linked devices
Turning it on disconnects every linked device. Most can be linked again once setup is done, but not WhatsApp for Windows, Android tablets or WearOS.
Seeing what was shared
Under Tools, then Your AI agent, then Download your data, Request report gives a file of what was shared with Meta. This works in the phone app, not WhatsApp Web.

Our reading: plan for the stricter version

WhatsApp's article on Meta One describes it more gently: automations pause while the agent is in a chat and come back when it leaves. Until the two agree, assume greeting and away messages are off for as long as the agent is connected, and put the wording you relied on them for into its example responses.

Switching it on and choosing which chats it answers is in the app AI agent setup guide, and the Meta One article is summarised in the Meta One guide.

Questions

Where do we see the WhatsApp chats Meta's AI agent passed to us?

In the WhatsApp Business app's Chats tab, under AI handoff. WhatsApp's Help Center says an empty list means no chat needs you right now.

Can a customer ask not to talk to our AI agent on WhatsApp?

Yes. WhatsApp's Help Center says customers can ask at any time to stop getting AI messages from a business, and the agent then tries to connect them with the business.

How do we take a chat back from the AI agent?

Open the chat and tap Respond manually. To keep it out of that chat for good, tap the contact's name, then Include your AI, then Remove your AI.

Why did our away message stop after we switched on the AI agent?

WhatsApp's Help Center says greeting and away messages are switched off automatically once the agent is connected, and using them again means deleting the agent.

If we mute Meta's AI agent, does Meta still receive our WhatsApp chats?

Yes. WhatsApp's Help Center says messages in chats where the agent is connected are still collected to improve AI at Meta while it is muted. Deleting the agent stops that sharing.

Why did our linked devices disconnect when we switched on the AI agent?

WhatsApp's Help Center says turning the agent on disconnects every linked device. Most can be linked again after setup; WhatsApp for Windows, Android tablets and WearOS cannot.

Can we pause the AI agent from WhatsApp Web?

No. The Help Center says pausing or deleting it is done in the WhatsApp Business app on the phone.

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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