Connect WhatsApp Business to an external tool

On your phone, install the WhatsApp Business app from your app store. It is green, with the letter B, and it is free.

• If you already have it, open it, that is perfect.
• If you do not have it yet, ideally choose a number dedicated to your business, separate from your personal line.

Fill in your company name, your opening hours and a short description. This is your shop window.

This is the question everyone asks. Here is what really happens, and it is simpler than it looks.

The basic rule. A phone number lives in 1 app at a time. The same number therefore cannot be on standard WhatsApp and on WhatsApp Business at once. You choose, and that is that.

What WhatsApp offers during installation. When you open WhatsApp Business with a number already used on the standard app, it offers to transfer the account. Accept. Your conversations, your groups and your photos come with it.

Run a backup before you transfer. In standard WhatsApp, Settings, then Chats, then Backup. Wait for it to finish, allow 2 to 5 minutes depending on your history. The transfer goes very well in the vast majority of cases, and that backup lets you put everything back if you change your mind.

What happens to the old account. It is not deleted, it becomes the business account. The number moves house. Your contacts see no change of identity, just a profile that now shows your opening hours and what you do.

Keeping both apps on the same phone. That is possible, provided you have 2 different numbers, for example a second SIM card or an eSIM. With 1 number, Business takes over. That is how it is designed to work, nothing is broken.

The question to settle before you start. Do you want to separate work from personal life? If so, get a dedicated number and keep your personal number on the standard app. If not, transfer your current number, it is simpler and you keep all your customer conversations.

iPhone and Android. The method is the same on both. Only the path through the menus differs slightly. Trust the meaning of the action, not the exact word.

Beyond the connection to your agency, the business version brings 4 things the standard one does not have.

• A business profile with your opening hours, your address, your website and a description. It is what a customer sees before writing to you.
• Quick replies, ready-made messages you send in 2 taps. Handy for the questions that come up 10 times a week.
• The away message and the greeting message, which answer for you at night and at the weekend.
• Labels, to mark a conversation as new contact, pending or customer. It is the minimum for not losing anyone.

And what it does not do. The free version does not connect to an external tool. To plug WhatsApp into a CRM or into an agent that replies, you have to go through Meta's business platform, which we cover in the next steps.

The app asks you to confirm your number with a code sent by message.

Enter that code to confirm. Your WhatsApp Business account is now active in your name.

That verified number is the basis of the connection. Keep your phone to hand for the next step.

Connecting an agent to WhatsApp goes through Meta's business platform, tied to your business portfolio. It is the same space as your Facebook ads, at business.facebook.com. Nothing technical is asked of you.

Here are the 3 things to have to hand. They are enough for everything to fall into place.

• A Meta business portfolio. If it does not exist yet, it takes 5 minutes to create, and it is all described in our guide to the Meta ad account. And if your business has no Meta presence at all, start with creating your Facebook business Page.
• Your WhatsApp Business number, already verified. That is what you have just done in the previous step.
• Partner access opened to your agency, as described in our Meta Business tutorial. If it is already done for your ads, a good part of the road is behind you.

Where this happens on Meta's side. The screen is called WhatsApp Manager, at business.facebook.com/wa/manage/home. You do not need to go in, but it is useful to know where your numbers live the day you want to check something.

The final approvals take a few minutes, often through a simple Meta confirmation window in which you choose your number and your portfolio.

Good news about your app. In 2025 Meta opened up what it calls coexistence. Your number stays active in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, and it is connected at the same time to the tool that replies. Messages appear on both sides, in real time. You keep your statuses, your groups and your calls. Before this change you had to choose between the app and the connection, and that is no longer the case.

Once connected, your Conversational Agent answers your customers day and night, in the tone of your brand.

And you keep control. You take over a conversation, you pause the agent, you cut the connection. Whenever you like.

A word on labels. Meta regularly renames its screens, and WhatsApp Manager and the business platform have already carried several names. Trust the meaning of the action, here connecting a number, and use the settings search with the word WhatsApp.

Something new to know before you compare offers. On 3 June 2026 Meta launched its own smart responder, built straight into WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. It handles the usual questions, opening hours, address, prices, terms, and it can book or move an appointment. It was free at launch, and billing started on 1 August 2026, in the region of 4 to 5 pence per message. Many tutorials still present it as free, they predate the change.

What it does and what it does not do. It answers the repetitive questions well, and that is already most of the volume. It does not know your trade, it does not weigh up a particular situation and it does not know when to stay quiet. That is the whole difference with an agent tuned to your business, your prices and your limits. The full comparison of the 3 messaging apps is in WhatsApp, Messenger or Telegram.