Template Categorization

When creating a new template, or managing existing ones, it's important to understand how WhatsApp categorizes your template for pricing purposes.

1. Consider template category guidelines before creating a new template
2. Stay updated on your template's approval status after template creation
3. Learn about automatic category updates to templates in production

Template Category Guidelines

These guidelines are also outlined in our PDF explainer

Our template category guidelines are how we define the category of message templates.

Message templates can be categorized as:

• Marketing templates – Enable businesses to achieve a wide range of goals, from generating awareness to driving sales and retargeting customers.
• Utility templates – Enable businesses to follow up on user actions or requests, since these messages are typically triggered by user actions.
• Authentication templates – Enable businesses to verify a user’s identity, potentially at various steps of the customer journey.

Marketing template guidelines

Marketing templates are our most flexible. They can enable businesses to achieve a wide range of goals, from generating awareness to driving sales and more.

Note: Examples are illustrative only. Templates that contain similar content, or the example text above, may be categorized differently based on the exact content.

The following templates are also considered marketing:

• Templates with mixed content (e.g. Both utility and marketing, such as order update with a promo, or a feedback survey with promotional content).
• Templates where contents are unclear (e.g. where contents are only “{{1}}” or “Congratulations!”).

Utility template guidelines

Utility templates are typically triggered by a user action or request. They must include specificity about the active or ongoing transaction, account, subscription or interaction to which they relate. For example, an order confirmation must contain an order number.

Authentication template guidelines

Authentication templates enable businesses to verify user identity (usually with alphanumeric codes) at various steps of the customer journey:

• New account creation
• Account integrity, access or recovery
• New or existing orders/transactions

Authentication templates are our most restrictive, so for a template to be classified as authentication, a business must:

• Use Cloud API authentication message templates in Template Library: These templates include optional add-ons like security disclaimers and expiry warnings.
• Configure a one-time password button: Such as copy-code or one-tap
• Follow content restrictions: URLs, media, and emojis are not allowed for authentication template content or parameters. Parameters are also restricted to 15 characters.

How we assign a category during template creation

When you create a template, you indicate the template's category, based on the guidelines above. We validate the category you indicated per the contents of the template and our guidelines. We will then create the template and set its status to one of the statuses below, based on the outcome of the validation process.

a. When you create a template and we approve it, you can request a review up to 60 days from the creation date.

b. For utility templates we may update to marketing, you can request a review up to 60 days from the date we updated the category.

Approved status

APPROVED status means we agree with the category chosen in your template creation request and that the template successfully passed template review. It can now be used to send messages.

Status Alerts — An email and WhatsApp Manager alert will inform you that the template was approved, and a message_template_status_update webhook will be triggered with the event property set to APPROVED.

Pending status

PENDING status means we agree with the category chosen in your template creation request, however the template is undergoing template review.

Status Alerts — The outcome of template review will be communicated via email and WhatsApp Manager alert. Upon completion, a message_template_status_update webhook will be triggered with the event property set to APPROVED or REJECTED.

Rejected status

REJECTED status indicates that we disagreed with the category you designated in your template creation request.

Status Alerts — Rejections are communicated via email and WhatsApp Manager alert. Upon review completion, a message_template_status_update webhook will be triggered and the event property set to REJECTED, with the reason property set to INCORRECT_CATEGORY.

If your message template is rejected, you have the following options:

• Create a new message template via WhatsApp Manager or the API.
• Edit the template's category, and resubmit for approval.
• Request a review.

Duplicated Templates from Phone Number Migration

All eligible templates are automatically duplicated in the destination WABA and category checks will be performed to ensure that all duplicated templates are correctly categorized.

How we update a template's category after initial approval

Automatic category updates can apply to approved templates only that were not initially approved per our template category guidelines. We provide advance notice on different surfaces, like through webhook and email, before we take action on these templates.

Read on to learn specifics about how we handle this process.

How it works

For templates approved as utility, but should actually be marketing

• Notice period — We provide 1-day advance notice before the template category is updated to marketing.
  • As of April 16 2025 — If you are warned for template categorization misuse:
    • 24 hour notice will not be provided before changing template categories from UTILITY to MARKETING
    • Category changes will be instant
• Template category — The template category is changed to MARKETING
• Template status — There is no change to template status; it remains APPROVED and can continue to be used to send messages.

For templates approved as marketing or utility, but should actually be authentication

This process was introduced on October 1, 2024

• Notice period — We provide advance notice.
• Template category — There is no change in the template’s category.
• Template status — On the first day of the following month, the template status is changed to REJECTED and can no longer be used to send messages.

How we notify you

For templates approved as utility, but should actually be marketing

For templates approved as marketing or utility, but should actually be authentication

Your options in this process

When you receive notice that a template’s category will be updated or a template will be rejected, you can:

• Create a new template
• For utility templates that will be updated to marketing
  • You can request a review
    • If the review is approved – The template’s category will not be updated as previously notified.
    • If the review is not approved – The template will be updated to marketing, as previously notified.
• For marketing or utility templates that will be rejected
  • You cannot request a review.
  • Businesses on Cloud API can browse our template library to identify available options for your identity verification use case. We recommend businesses browse, choose and create a new template from the template library before the utility/marketing template is rejected, to avoid workflow disruptions.

You have 60 days to review and appeal these changes in Business Support Home.

Learn which template(s) will be updated or have been updated

Via API

You can use the GET //message_templates endpoint to get the list of templates that have been or will be updated.

Request the category and correct_category fields, which will return the IDs of all of the WABA's templates, and each template's category and correct_category values. You can then compare these values:

GET //message_templates?fields=category,correct_category

• If the values match (e.g. they are both MARKETING), the template's category has already been updated with the correct_category value.
• If they mismatch and the correct_category is not an empty string or null (e.g. category is UTILITY but correct_category is MARKETING), the template's category will be updated on the first day of the next month with the correct_category value.
• If the correct_category value is an empty string or null, the template has not been impacted.

Via WhatsApp Manager

The WhatsApp Manager's Manage Templates panel identifies any templates whose categories will be updated.

How to update a template category or request a category review

Edit your template's category

Via API

You can either edit the category and content or just edit the category only.

• The template will undergo category validation and template review again.
• If the template passes validation and review, its category will be updated and a template_category_update webhook will be triggered.
• The new_category property in the webhook payload will indicate its new category.

Via WhatsApp Manager

On the Manage Templates tab:

1. Select your template
2. Edit the content so it aligns to the guidelines of that category
3. Re-submit the template for approval

If the template passes validation and review, its category will be updated and a template_category_update webhook will be triggered. The new_category property in the webhook payload will indicate its new category.

Qualifications and outcomes for category review:

You can request Meta to review the category of your template if:

• It is categorized as UTILITY or MARKETING and status is REJECTED
• It is categorized as MARKETING and status is APPROVED

Possible outcomes after you submit a request of your template’s category:

• Review is approved – The category will be updated. A template_category_update webhook will be triggered. The new_category property in the webhook payload will indicate its new category.
• Review is rejected – The category will not change.

How to request a category review

A review can only be requested via WhatsApp Manager.

In the sidebar of WhatsApp Manager, select the Message Templates dropdown, and then Message Templates. You should see a rejection banner with the template in question. Click Go to Business Support.

Click Template Category Updates, select the templates you would like reviewed and then click the Request Review button to begin the review process.

How to view templates submitted for review:

In the Business Support sidebar, click Template category Updates, and then the In review tab.

How to view template category decisions

If the template category change is not approved: The template can be viewed in Business Support under the Template category updates > Unchanged tab. The template’s category will change to the correct category during an automatic category update.

If the template category change is approved: the template can be viewed in Business Support under the Template category updates > Reversed tab. If the template category was already changed during automatic category update, it will be reverted to its previous category.

Restrictions on businesses misusing the template categorization system

New restrictions on template category misuse :

How it works

We provide written notice before we restrict businesses from using the WhatsApp Business Platform for utility messaging in the following way:

• Warning – If we detect a business is misusing our template categorization system to secure the utility category for templates that should be categorized as marketing, we will send a written warning before we restrict them from using utility messaging on the WhatsApp Business Platform.
  • As of April 16 2025 — After you are given a warning:
    • A 24 hour notice will not be provided before changing template categories from UTILITY to MARKETING
    • Category changes will be instant
• Restriction – If we detect misuse after this warning, we will introduce the following restrictions which would prevent the WhatsApp Business Account from using the WhatsApp Business Platform for utility messaging for 7 days:
  • As of April 16 2025 — We will no longer reject all previously approved UTILITY templates. Instead, they will be re-categorized as MARKETING
  • For 7 days – Disable category reviews for these templates
  • For 7 days – Disable creation of new utility templates

Notices when action is taken

We trigger the following notices:

• Warnings – Email is sent to all WhatsApp Business Account admins (people with ‘full control’ of the WhatsApp Business Account). An account_update webhook will be sent out indicating utility restriction WARN for the WhatsApp Business Account.

• Restrictions – When we introduce or lift restrictions, email is sent to all WhatsApp Business Account admins (people with ‘full control’ of the WhatsApp Business Account). We also trigger a change to the restriction_info object in the account_update webhook.

Your options in this process

Businesses that believe we have applied these restrictions in error can request a review via Business Support.