How to set up an auto-reply in WhatsApp Business (2026)

Before you start

• The WhatsApp Business app. Every setting here lives in it, on the Tools tab. WhatsApp's Help Center documents them for the business app.
• Business hours in your business profile. Without them, the option to send only outside business hours does not appear.
• A phone with internet. According to WhatsApp, greeting and away messages are sent only while the device has an active internet connection.

Step 1: the greeting message

Sent automatically when a customer messages you for the first time, or after 14 days with no activity in their chat.

1. On the Tools tab, tap Greeting message.
2. Turn on Send greeting message.
3. Tap the message, write your text and tap OK (on iPhone: under Message, then Save).
4. Under Recipients, choose Everyone, Everyone not in address book, Everyone except… or Only send to….
5. Tap Save.

If it isn't sending: check the recipient setting, remember the 14-day rule (anyone who wrote to you in the last two weeks won't get it), and check that Meta Business Agent isn't connected — according to WhatsApp, greeting messages are disabled automatically while it is.

Step 2: the away message

This is what most people mean by "WhatsApp auto-reply": it goes to anyone who writes while it is on, saying you are busy or away from your phone.

1. On the Tools tab, tap Away message.
2. Turn on Send away message.
3. Under Away message, tap the message to edit it, then confirm.
4. Tap Schedule and choose Always send, Custom schedule (only during the period you set) or Outside of business hours (only available once business hours are set in your business profile).
5. Tap Recipients to choose who receives it — the same four options as the greeting message.
6. Tap Save.

Step 3: quick replies

These don't send themselves — they are shortcuts for messages you send often (your address, your hours, parking). They save typing, but someone still has to see the message and hit send.

1. On the Tools tab, tap Quick replies.
2. Tap the add button.
3. Tap Message and write the reply. You can attach an image or video too (not from Web or Desktop).
4. Tap Shortcut and set the short word that pulls it up.
5. Tap Save.

In a chat, type "/" to see every quick reply, including default replies the app builds from your business profile (hours, address). You can store up to 50, and a deleted quick reply can't be recovered — keep a copy outside WhatsApp.

What to write

An illustration: sample texts for a made-up hair salon. The message won't answer the question, so it should at least say when you will and what the customer can do meanwhile.

• Say when you actually reply, not "as soon as possible".
• Promise nothing you aren't sure of — a fixed message also goes out on the day things changed.
• Ask the customer to say what they need, so in the morning one message can answer it.

And "sending an automatic message" to many customers?

Greeting and away messages respond to someone who wrote to you. To send a message to many people at once, the app has marketing messages: according to WhatsApp's Help Center you pay for each delivered message, they are available only in some countries, and in some they have become business broadcasts. That is a mailing tool, not a reply to customers who write in.

Frequently asked questions