⚠️ What does the red triangle mean?
If while managing a chat you see a red triangle next to one of the messages, it means that an error occurred in processing or sending that particular message. The system is alerting you that what you tried to send did not reach its destination or could not be processed by the social network.
🔍 How to identify the exact error?
Finding out what went wrong is very simple: you just need to hover your cursor (mouse) over the red triangle (no need to click). When you do, a small text label will appear explaining the error in detail.
🚨 Most common incidents
While there are multiple technical reasons, these are the three main reasons why this alert usually appears in your inbox:
Expired conversation (Outside window): You tried to send an organic message (normal text) in a conversation that was already inactive or expired, meaning it exceeded the 24-hour attention window allowed by Meta. (Error code
470or131047).Issues with destination account: The phone number you're trying to write to does not have an active WhatsApp account or there is a conflict with the Terms and Conditions of service for that line.
Meta quality control: Meta's system (WhatsApp) is performing security assessments or experiments on user experience quality control and stopped the message.
📖 WhatsApp Error Codes Catalog and Solutions
Below, we present the official table (Meta error codes guide) with all error codes that may appear, their meaning (Cause) and what you can do to fix them:
Error code | Cause (Description) | Possible solution |
0 | Failed to authenticate user | Verify that your access token is valid and has not expired. |
1 | Unknown API. | Check the URL and endpoint the request is being made to. |
2 | Service temporarily unavailable | Problem with Meta servers. Wait a few minutes and try again. |
3 | The app does not have sufficient permissions | Go to Meta for Developers and make sure you grant the necessary permissions to your token/app. |
4 | Too many requests | You have reached the API request limit. Reduce the send speed. |
10 | Insufficient permissions to access the resource | Verify that your user or token has the appropriate admin roles. |
33 | The company's phone number has been deleted. | You will need to register a new number or appeal the deletion in your WhatsApp Manager. |
100 | The request contains invalid parameters | Review the structure of the data you're sending (missing data or incorrect format). |
190 | The access token has expired | Generate a new permanent access token or renew the temporary one in Meta. |
368 | The business account has been disabled for violating WhatsApp policies | Go to the "Account Quality" section in your Meta Business Suite to see details and appeal the decision. |
400 | Could not download multimedia content sent by sender | Ask the user to send the file again or verify that the format is supported. |
401 | Invalid API key. | Verify that the API key configured in your connection is correct. |
402 | The message was not sent because there were one or more errors related to the payment method | Go to Business Manager and update or add a valid credit card. |
403 | The endpoint is blocked. | Contact our Technical Support team to review your channel connection. |
404 | Contact does not exist | Verify that the customer's phone number is correct and has WhatsApp installed. |
408 | Could not send the message because it was pending for too long | Latency error. Try sending the message again. |
410 | Could not send the message during its lifetime | The system could not deliver the message in time. Retry the send. |
429 | Frequency limit reached | You are sending messages too quickly. Wait a moment and slow down the send speed. |
430 | An error occurred related to your certificate | Check your webhooks configuration and security certificates. |
432 | An error occurred related to your certificate signature | Validate the security certificate signature in the technical configuration. |
433 | An error occurred related to your certificate signature | Validate the security certificate signature in the technical configuration. |
470 | More than 24 hours have passed since the last customer message. Please use a message template | The response window has closed. Use a WhatsApp Template (HSM) to resume contact. |
471 | Message failed due to message quantity restrictions for this phone number | You reached the daily send limit (Tier). Check your messaging level in WhatsApp Manager. |
472 | The message could not be sent because the user's phone number is part of an experiment | Temporary internal Meta restriction. No action required on your part. |
480 | The message was not sent because it is possible that the user who owns this phone number has changed. | Revalidate the contact; it is possible that the line has changed owners. |
500 | Error sending message | Internal and temporary error. Try again later. |
1000 | Unsupported format or exceeds maximum allowed size | Compress your file (PDF, video or image) or send it in an accepted format. |
1001 | The message length exceeds 4,096 characters | Shorten your text before sending it (WhatsApp does not support such long messages). |
1002 | Invalid recipient type | Make sure you are sending the message to a valid phone number. |
1004 | Conflict with file creation | There was an error when trying to upload or process your multimedia. Try again. |
1005 | Access denied | Verify the access permissions of your technical integration. |
1006 | File or resource not found | The multimedia file has expired or the provided ID is incorrect. Upload it again. |
1007 | The recipient is not on the authorized list | If your app is in development mode, you must add this number to your test list in Meta. |
1008 | A required parameter is not found | Fill in all required fields in the message or template you are sending. |
1009 | Invalid parameter value | The data type you are sending is not correct (e.g. you sent text instead of a number). |
1010 | The message contains an unrequired parameter | You are sending more information than the template or API has requested. |
1011 | The service is not ready | The system is initializing. Wait a few seconds and retry. |
1013 | The number does not have a valid WhatsApp account | Ask your customer to confirm if their number has the WhatsApp app active. |
1014 | Unknown protocol in URL | Make sure to use |
1015 | Client frequency limit reached | You must pause sends temporarily because you exceeded the allowed limit per second. |
1016 |