Skip to content
BitByteCore ConnectBook a demo
Open the product menu
ProductSolutionsPricingHow it worksFAQCompany

Guide · Channels · For the owner thinking of starting a WhatsApp channel

WhatsApp Channels for a business: what followers see, what Meta's rules let you post, and what can get a channel suspended

A WhatsApp channel lets a business post updates to anyone who chooses to follow it: a bakery's daily specials, a shop's new arrivals. It is not the same as messaging customers, and it comes with its own rules. WhatsApp's Channels Guidelines, the terms for Channels and WhatsApp's Channels page set them out.

Published 6 October 2026 · Updated 8 October 2026

What a channel is

WhatsApp describes Channels as an optional, one-way broadcast, separate from private messaging. The business posts, and followers read and interact with the updates, for example by voting in a poll; it is not a conversation. Anyone can find, follow and view a channel, and WhatsApp may suggest channels to people based on their country or language.

That makes a channel a different tool from a WhatsApp message. A channel suits news that every follower can see. An order update, a reminder or an offer meant for one customer is a message, and on Meta's Business Platform a business may start that conversation only with a customer who has agreed to be messaged. A group is a third thing again: a conversation in which members can write too.

What followers see, and what you see

Where it shows
Channels sit in the Updates tab, away from personal chats and calls, and WhatsApp mutes channel notifications by default. A follower sees a post when they open the tab or turn notifications on.
Who follows
WhatsApp's page says only the follower can see which channels they follow, and a follower's phone number stays private: an admin sees it only if that follower is already saved in the admin's contacts. A channel does not hand the business a contact list.
What you can post
Updates, including custom stickers that followers can download, voice messages and polls. The channel's link or QR code can be shared on Status and in chats so more people find it.
Subscriptions
WhatsApp offers paid channel subscriptions for exclusive updates and marks the feature as not available to all users.
Public, and kept for a while
WhatsApp's Status and Channels privacy policy says channels are public: anyone can find and view the posts, and WhatsApp uses them to keep channels safe. Posts are kept on its servers for up to 30 days, subject to any archive option the admin picks and longer where safety or the law requires.
Removing posts and closing a channel
An admin can remove a post up to 30 days after posting it. Deleting the channel takes it out of view at once, but WhatsApp says clearing or de-identifying its information on its servers takes up to 90 days. Copies, forwards and screenshots that followers kept are not affected.
From the WhatsApp Business app
WhatsApp's Help Center says followers do not see the business's profile name, picture or phone number; updates come from the channel itself. Followers cannot reply or message the admins, only react with emoji and vote in polls, and admins can see each other.
Insights
For the last 30 days: accounts reached, top regions, follows and unfollows, a little more about followers who are already in your contacts, and the results of reactions and polls.

A verified badge on a channel needs an active Meta Verified or Meta One subscription and a verified business account. The Help Center's steps start under Tools, then Subscriptions, then Verified channel, and work for a new channel or an existing one. Once verified, the business name always starts the channel's name and the channel picture matches the business's profile picture, and neither can be changed. Up to 10 channels can be verified per subscription, depending on the plan. The badge can be removed to hand the channel to someone else without affecting the subscription, and Meta can remove it too, for example if the channel is suspended. A badge does not guarantee the channel appears in search, so sharing its link still matters.

The Status and Channels ads guide explains how promoted channels are shown, and the Meta One guide covers the verified badge a business channel can carry.

What Meta's rules say a channel may post

WhatsApp has separate terms for channels run by a business. They make the channel's admins responsible for what it posts, require them to keep it age-appropriate and safe for followers, and note that what a channel shares is visible to WhatsApp and its users. The Channels Guidelines add the rules a business is most likely to meet:

  1. A title that says what the channel is. So people can decide whether to follow it.
  2. Not too many or low-quality updates. WhatsApp says these can lead followers to unfollow.
  3. Only material you have the right to use. No photos, music or logos that belong to someone else. The guide on copied businesses covers the other side of that rule.
  4. No fraud or impersonation. Content that deceives people, pretends to be someone else or scams them is not allowed.
  5. Nothing a general audience should not see, and no use of the channel to offer or sell regulated or restricted goods. The terms for business channels also hold a business channel to WhatsApp's Commerce Policy, whose link now leads to Meta's Business Messaging Policy; its list of restricted goods is set out in the policy guide.

One more rule is arriving country by country. WhatsApp's Help Center says local law in some countries requires channel admins to label updates that share AI content, meaning an image, video or other media made or edited with AI tools, and that WhatsApp may also detect and label such content itself where the law requires it. The label is added after posting: hold the update on a phone, or open its menu on the web, and choose Add AI content label. It works for channel status too. Once added, a label cannot be removed. The feature is rolling out gradually, so not every admin sees it yet.

What WhatsApp can do to a channel

The Channels Guidelines say WhatsApp finds problems through automated tools, human review and reports from users, who can report a whole channel or a single update. Depending on what it finds, WhatsApp lists actions that include warning the admins, stopping updates from being delivered, removing updates, removing the channel picture or other profile content, revoking the channel's verification, taking it out of the directory and search results, revoking its invite link, suspending the channel and banning its admins. Whether a channel is suspended depends on how much violating content there is, how serious it is and, where it can tell, what the admin intended.

An admin who disagrees can appeal from the channel's info page or through WhatsApp support, and the guidelines say WhatsApp reverses the action if it finds it got the decision wrong.

Questions

Can we see who follows our WhatsApp channel?

Not their numbers. WhatsApp's page says a follower's phone number stays private and an admin sees it only if that person is already saved in the admin's contacts.

Can we message our channel followers one by one?

A channel is one-way and does not give the business a contact list. To message a customer directly, the business needs their number and, on Meta's Business Platform, their agreement to be messaged.

Do our channel followers see our business phone number?

No. WhatsApp's Help Center says that for a channel run from the WhatsApp Business app, followers do not see the business's profile name, picture or phone number.

Does a verified badge make our WhatsApp channel show up in search?

Not necessarily. WhatsApp's Help Center says a verification badge does not guarantee the channel appears in search results, and suggests sharing the channel link instead.

Do we have to label AI-made images on our WhatsApp channel?

Where local law requires it, yes. WhatsApp's Help Center says admins in some countries must label updates that share AI-made or AI-edited media, using Add AI content label after posting, and a label cannot be removed once added.

If we delete a channel post, is it gone?

From the channel, yes, if it is removed within 30 days of posting. WhatsApp's privacy policy says posts sit on its servers for up to 30 days and may stay longer on followers' phones, and anyone may have taken a screenshot or forwarded it. Treat every post as public once it is sent.

Can a pharmacy or an alcohol shop run a channel?

The Channels Guidelines say a channel must not be used to offer or sell regulated or restricted goods. WhatsApp's terms for business channels also apply its Commerce Policy, whose link now leads to the Business Messaging Policy and its list of restricted goods. A channel with general news is a different matter from one that sells; check that list before offering anything on it.

Our channel was suspended. What now?

The guidelines say an admin can appeal from the channel's info page or through WhatsApp support, and that WhatsApp reverses a decision it finds was wrong.

Sources

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

Message customers one by one, too?

A channel reaches followers. We set up a business's WhatsApp on Meta's Business Platform, so order updates and offers reach each customer who agreed to them.

Book a demo