Skip to content
MirageCHATEngagePublishGrow
Start free
Menu
Back

Fix “This phone number is already registered”

6 min readTroubleshootingUpdated

All WhatsApp guides
On this page
  1. What the message means
  2. 1. Check the number and the app
  3. 2. Find the business portfolio that holds it
  4. 3. Disconnect the platform you used before
  5. 4. Don’t pick Meta’s test number
  6. Then connect again

In short

Meta shows this when your number is still held somewhere else — usually by another business portfolio, sometimes by a platform you used before. Meta’s window doesn’t say where. Four checks, in this order, find it. Your chats stay on your phone the whole time — none of these steps deletes them.

What the message means

Meta’s window with the phone number +44 7700 900123 and the error: This phone number is already registered to a WhatsApp account. Beside it, the list of numbers with Meta’s +1 555 test number crossed out.
What you see in Meta’s window — and the test number you should never pick. Illustration with sample names; Meta’s screens may look slightly different.
  • Connecting the number on your phone (“Stays on the phone”): the WhatsApp Business app is fine — something else at Meta still holds it. Go through the four checks below.
  • Connecting a dedicated number (“Moves to MirageCHAT”): the number is still in a WhatsApp app on some phone. Delete it from that app first — or, to keep using the app, choose Stays on the phone instead.

1. Check the number and the app

  1. Read the number from the app

    Open WhatsApp Business › Settings and tap your business name. Type the number into Meta’s window exactly like that — with the country code, without a leading 0.

  2. Check the version

    Settings › Help › App info. It needs 2.24.17 or newer; update it from the App Store or Google Play if not.

  3. Personal WhatsApp?

    If the number is in the ordinary WhatsApp (the icon without a B), install WhatsApp Business on the same phone and choose to use the same number. It offers to bring your chats along.

Two phone screens of WhatsApp Business: Settings with the business name Seaside Villa and its number, and App info with the version number.
Where the app shows your number and its version. Illustration with sample names.

2. Find the business portfolio that holds it

This is the cause most of the time: the app was once linked to a different business portfolio — an old agency’s, a colleague’s, or one you created and forgot. Meta names it, but only in one place:

  1. Open your own portfolio

    Go to business.facebook.com and pick your business in the portfolio list at the top left.

  2. Add your WhatsApp account there

    Settings › Accounts › WhatsApp accounts, press Add and choose to link your WhatsApp Business app. Enter the number; Meta sends a code to the app.

  3. Read Meta’s answer

    If another portfolio holds it, Meta says “already added to a different business” — and names that portfolio.

  4. Remove it there

    If you manage that portfolio: open it, go to Settings › Accounts › WhatsApp accounts, choose the account and press Remove. If you don’t, ask its admin to do it — they need only that one click.

Business settings at business.facebook.com, WhatsApp accounts, with a Link dialog showing: Account already added to a different business — first remove it from Harbor Point Media.
The only place where Meta names the portfolio. Illustration with sample names.

Don’t delete WhatsApp Business from your phone, and don’t use “Delete account” in the app — that erases your chats. Removing the account from a portfolio doesn’t touch a single message.

3. Disconnect the platform you used before

Used ManyChat, WATI, a CRM or another inbox with this number? Meta is moving WhatsApp accounts to a model where one number can work with several platforms; until yours has moved, the old platform still holds the number. Free it on both sides:

  1. At Meta

    In your portfolio: Settings › Accounts › WhatsApp accounts, choose the account, open Partners, choose the old platform and press Remove access.

  2. On your phone

    WhatsApp Business › Settings › Account › Business platform, tap the old platform and press Disconnect.

  3. Wait a few minutes

    Meta needs a moment to free the number. Then connect again.

Business settings, WhatsApp accounts, the Partners tab of the account Seaside Villa, with Acme Messaging listed and a Remove access button.
At Meta: the old platform under Partners. Illustration with sample names.
Two phone screens of WhatsApp Business: Account settings with Business platform highlighted, and the Business platform screen with a Disconnect button.
On the phone: Settings › Account › Business platform. Illustration with sample names.

4. Don’t pick Meta’s test number

When Meta’s window lists phone numbers, it can include one that starts with +1 555 and says Test number. It is Meta’s sample for developers — customers can’t reach it. Choose your own number, or Add a new number.

Then connect again

  1. Start over in MirageCHAT

    Go to Channels, press WhatsApp and choose Connect the number on my phone.

  2. Go through Meta’s window

    Same screens as before — step by step. This time it passes.

  3. Done

    MirageCHAT says “WhatsApp connected: +…” and, if you allowed it, your recent chats start arriving.

Meta sometimes renames a button or swaps two screens in its own window. If a name here differs, the step itself stays the same.

Ready?

Opens MirageCHAT in this tab. Sign in first if you’re not already.

Open Channels

Related guides

Move WhatsApp from another platformBring a WhatsApp number from ManyChat, WATI, respond.io or any other platform to MirageCHAT — keeping its name, quality and limits.10 minConnect WhatsAppKeep your number in the WhatsApp Business app or connect a dedicated number — with Meta’s window explained screen by screen.5 minCreate your Meta business portfolioWhat a Meta business portfolio is, why WhatsApp needs one, and how to create it in two minutes — while you connect, or beforehand at Meta.4 min

Still stuck? Write to info@miragechat.io with your workspace name. Never send passwords or codes.

Try MirageCHAT free for 14 days

No credit card is required, and then Free — 2 accounts, the inbox and Instant Post. Provider charges such as WhatsApp or SMS stay on your own provider account.

Start free trial