# WhatsApp account restrictions and appeals

The same sending symptom can come from a volume ceiling, a quality or policy restriction, or a ban, and each path has a different owner.

## Check the state in Bird

Open **WhatsApp > Numbers** in Bird and select the number. Read these fields together:

- **WhatsApp status**: includes states such as `connected`, `flagged`, `rate_limited`, `restricted` and `banned`.
- **Quality rating**: the quality value Meta last reported.
- **Messaging limit**: the volume Meta permits for the owning portfolio.
- **Send rate**: the throughput Meta permits for the number.

For a failed message, open the message details and keep the event, normalized error, `meta_error_code` and description. A `rate_limited` error means the send was throttled. The [failed-versus-rejected explanation](/explained/whatsapp/whatsapp-failed-vs-whatsapp-rejected) explains why the event type matters.

For a connected Business Account, read its `ban` field through the WhatsApp Business Account operation. Bird can include an `appeal_url` to Meta Business Support when the account's owning portfolio is known.

## Check the state in Meta

Open [WhatsApp Manager](https://business.facebook.com/wa/manage/home/) and open **Phone numbers**. The number's row shows its status, quality rating and messaging limit. A quality warning belongs to the number. An account or policy issue belongs in Meta's support tools.

Open [Business Support Home](https://business.facebook.com/business/help/186007118118684), select the business portfolio that owns the WhatsApp Business Account, and open the WhatsApp account or issue shown there. Meta's available controls determine whether the issue can be reviewed.

## Request a review

When Meta provides **Request review**, open the issue details, choose the available appeal reason, add accurate context, and submit it. Keep the policy or commerce requirement that Meta names in the issue in view while you prepare the request.

Meta's WhatsApp Business help article says a banned WhatsApp Business app account can show **Request review** and that most app reviews finish within 24 hours. That article does not promise the same timeline for a WhatsApp Business Platform account. For the Platform, follow the review status in Business Support Home and do not invent a completion date.

If Meta does not show a review option, the decision may not be appealable through that account. Contacting WhatsApp outside the review flow or through another account does not change the decision. A provider cannot remove a Meta ban.

## What Bird support can do

Bird support can help you identify the Bird message, number or Business Account, explain the state Bird last received from Meta, and confirm whether the failure was `failed` or `rejected`. Include the message identifier, number identifier, event, error and `meta_error_code` when you open a case.

Bird support cannot change Meta's quality rating, messaging limit, restriction, policy decision or ban. Bird also cannot approve a Meta appeal or promise when Meta will finish it. Use Meta's review control for the decision, then read the number or account again in Bird after Meta responds.

## Prevent a repeat issue

- Collect and honor [WhatsApp opt-in](/explained/whatsapp/what-is-whatsapp-opt-in).
- Send content that follows Meta's [WhatsApp Business Policy](https://business.whatsapp.com/policy) and [Commerce Policy](https://www.facebook.com/policies_center/commerce).
- Watch the [number quality and messaging limit](/docs/knowledge-base/whatsapp/number-quality-and-messaging-limit) before a quality problem becomes a sending restriction.
- Treat a failed or rejected send as evidence to investigate, not as proof that the number is banned.

Related pages:

- [WhatsApp number setup](/docs/guides/whatsapp/phone-number-setup)
- [WhatsApp Business verification](/docs/knowledge-base/whatsapp/business-verification)
- [Why WhatsApp number pre-verification fails](/docs/knowledge-base/whatsapp/pre-verification-failures)

## Related resources

- [Connecting WhatsApp to Bird: from buying a number to a live channel](/learn/whatsapp/connecting-whatsapp-to-bird) (video)
- [Connect WhatsApp](/products/whatsapp) (product)
- [Build your first integration](/learn/paths/integration) (course)

[Get an implementation brief](/learn/workspace?topic=whatsapp-connect)