WhatsApp has one rule that matters every day: you can write freely only within 24 hours of the customer’s last message.
- Inside the window, send anything from the reply box: text, photos, voice notes, files, location.
- Every new message from the customer opens a fresh 24 hours.
- After that, WhatsApp delivers only a template Meta has approved, and Meta charges for it.
Answer after the window closes
- Open the conversation. Above the reply box: The free reply window has closed., with when the customer last wrote.
- Press Send template and choose one in Choose a template….
- Fill in the values — the first is pre-filled with the customer’s first name when known — check the preview and press Send template.
- When the customer answers, the window opens again.
No template yet?
- An owner or admin creates one in Channels › Message Templates (the page is titled WhatsApp Templates). Approval is usually instant for verified businesses, otherwise up to about 24 hours.
Good to know
- Follow-up › Scheduled message sends ordinary text, not a template. Pick a time after the window and MirageCHAT asks first, because WhatsApp may refuse it.
- If your number stays on the WhatsApp Business app, the window opens only when a customer writes after you connected. For older chats, reply from your phone or send a template.
- To write to someone who never wrote to you, use + (New conversation).
- An online shop’s “Your order is ready” is Utility; “20% off this weekend” is Marketing.