Onboarding — Keep Your App (Coexistence)
Connect WhatsApp Business without giving up the WhatsApp Business App — your chat history and contacts import automatically, and messages you send from your phone still show up in BillionBiz.
New with this release
Coexistence onboarding is part of the current release wave. If you don't see the behaviour described here yet, your account may not have it enabled.
If you already run your store's WhatsApp number through the WhatsApp Business App on your phone — replying to customers yourself, keeping your existing chat history — you don't have to give that up to connect BillionBiz. Meta calls this coexistence: your phone keeps working exactly as before, and BillionBiz gets API access to the same number alongside it. Your last 180 days of chats and your contact list import automatically, and anything you send from your phone keeps appearing in the BillionBiz inbox too.
What you get
- No need to migrate off the WhatsApp Business App — keep replying from your phone if you want to.
- Up to 180 days of chat history and your contact list import into BillionBiz automatically.
- Messages you send from your phone show up in the BillionBiz Conversations inbox, tagged Sent from phone.
- A progress card on the Setup tab shows exactly how much of the import is done.
How you get into coexistence mode
Screen: Plugins → WhatsApp Business → Setup. The connect card offers two buttons: the primary Connect with WhatsApp button, and — below a divider — I already use the WhatsApp Business app — keep my chats. You must click the second one to enter coexistence mode; it isn't detected or turned on automatically from the standard button.
Click the coexistence button
On the Setup tab, click I already use the WhatsApp Business app — keep my chats, not the primary green button.
Complete the popup as usual
Meta's popup opens the same guided flow described in Connecting WhatsApp Business — sign in, pick your Business Portfolio, and select the phone number that's still active in the WhatsApp Business App. Because you started from the coexistence button, Meta keeps the app-onboarding sub-flow active for this number instead of asking you to register it as brand-new.
Accept the history-sharing prompt on your phone
Right after the popup finishes, Meta sends a prompt inside the WhatsApp Business App on your phone (see below) — you have to accept it there for history and contacts to import.
Clicked the wrong button?
If you connect an already-active WhatsApp Business App number through the primary Connect with WhatsApp button instead, Meta rejects it with "This phone number is already registered to a WhatsApp account" rather than silently falling back to coexistence. Close the popup, and retry using the I already use the WhatsApp Business app — keep my chats button instead — that's the only way to open the coexistence sub-flow.
If you don't have a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) yet
Don't try to create a new WABA directly on business.facebook.com and connect it manually — Meta currently doesn't support creating a WhatsApp Business Account that way for business portfolios with an India or Brazil address. Embedded Signup is the supported path for creating a new WABA; it can create one for you as part of the connect flow. See Connecting WhatsApp Business to start there.
Eligibility
Coexistence isn't available for every number or every Meta account. Before you rely on it:
- WhatsApp Business App version. The phone must be running WhatsApp Business App 2.24.17 or later. Update the app from your phone's app store if the coexistence button's popup doesn't offer the option to keep your existing account.
- Meta account status. The Meta Business Portfolio connecting to BillionBiz needs Tech Provider (or Solution Partner) status and completed business verification — these are set up at the platform level, not per merchant, so if coexistence isn't offered at all, this is the most likely reason and isn't something you can fix from the Setup tab.
- Region. Coexistence follows Meta's own regional rollout — it isn't guaranteed available for every country. If the coexistence button opens a popup that doesn't recognise your existing WhatsApp Business App account, Meta hasn't enabled it for your region or account yet; use the primary Connect with WhatsApp button instead (your existing app keeps working on the phone, it just won't sync history into BillionBiz). India is in Meta's supported set.
- Number activity and history. Meta only offers coexistence once the number has been actively
used on the WhatsApp Business App for at least 7 days — and ideally 2 to 4 weeks — with real,
two-way conversations, not just installed and idle. A brand-new number, or one that's barely been
used, gets refused even though everything else about the setup is correct.
Don't keep retrying
Every retry of the connect flow resets Meta's activity clock for that number. If coexistence didn't work, the fix is almost always to wait and keep using the WhatsApp Business App normally for real conversations — not to click connect again and again.
- Numbers with a prior API/provider connection. If this number was ever connected to a WhatsApp Business API or another provider before, Meta requires it to be disconnected first — see the "already registered" scenario in Troubleshooting below — and then observes a cooldown period before it's eligible for coexistence again.
The opt-in prompt on your phone
Right after Meta detects coexistence, it sends a prompt inside the WhatsApp Business App on your phone asking whether you want to share your existing chat history and contacts with the connected business. You have to accept this prompt on your phone — BillionBiz can't do it for you.
- If you accept, Meta starts sending your history and contacts to BillionBiz in the background. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on how much history you have.
- If you decline, no history or contacts import, but the connection itself still works — new messages after the connection date flow through normally either way.
Watching the import progress
Screen: Plugins → WhatsApp Business → Setup.
Once coexistence is active, an Import from WhatsApp card appears on the Setup tab, right below the connection status. It shows:
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Phase chip | The current import phase, or Complete once everything has arrived |
| Progress bar | How much of the history import Meta has delivered so far |
| Contacts imported | A running count of contacts added to your Customers list from your phone's contact book |
| Messages imported | A running count of historical messages that have landed in your inbox |
The card checks for updates automatically every 15 seconds while the import is in progress, and stops refreshing once it reaches 100% or you declined the history-sharing prompt on your phone.
Note
If you declined the prompt on your phone, the card shows that instead of a progress bar — this doesn't affect anything else about your connection, and you can still use every other WhatsApp feature normally.
Where imported and phone-sent messages show up
Once history starts arriving, open the Conversations tab — every imported conversation appears there alongside anything customers send you directly through BillionBiz. Two small badges under a message bubble tell you where it came from:
- Imported — a message from your 180-day history import, not sent live through either channel.
- Sent from phone — a message you sent from the WhatsApp Business App itself, after connecting, synced into BillionBiz automatically.
Messages without either badge were sent or received directly through BillionBiz.
Note
Imported and phone-sent conversations don't open a live 24-hour reply window the way a fresh customer message does — they're there for your record and for continuity, not treated as an open support conversation waiting on a reply.
What's different in coexistence mode
A handful of things work differently while you're keeping the app alongside BillionBiz — these are limits Meta places on coexistence numbers, not something BillionBiz can change:
- Message rate. Coexistence numbers are capped at roughly 20 messages per second, lower than a Cloud-API-only number. This rarely matters for day-to-day replies, but keep it in mind if you're planning a large broadcast.
- No groups, broadcast lists, or calls via the API. Anything you do in WhatsApp groups, broadcast lists, or voice/video calls on your phone stays on your phone — none of that syncs to or from BillionBiz.
- Media older than 14 days imports as a placeholder. Text history imports fully across the full 180-day window, but photos, videos, and documents older than 14 days show up as a placeholder in the imported thread rather than the original file — Meta doesn't deliver media that old through the coexistence history sync.
- Catalog messages may not behave the same as a Cloud-API-only number. If you rely heavily on sending product catalog messages from the automated bot or conversation flows, test that flow on your specific number before depending on it — Meta's coexistence numbers can behave differently here, and this is an area we're still validating.
Troubleshooting — real scenarios & how to fix them
These are the issues merchants actually run into when connecting coexistence, and what fixes each one.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Meta says "This phone number is already registered to a WhatsApp account. To continue, migrate this phone number or disconnect it from the existing account." | See the three causes below — this is almost always one of them. | Work through "Already registered" below. |
| The connect popup fills in a +1 country code, or the number looks wrong | You typed the number before picking your country in the dropdown | Pick your country (e.g. IN +91) first, then type the number |
| Clicking the green Connect with WhatsApp button gives the "already registered" error | You used the primary button instead of the coexistence one | Close the popup and click I already use the WhatsApp Business app — keep my chats instead |
| Meta's "Select the business assets" step won't let you click Next | Meta requires a catalog selection on this step even though it isn't labelled required | Pick an existing catalog, or choose "Create a new catalog," then Next unlocks |
| The popup never mentions your existing app — it behaves like a plain new-number setup | Coexistence hasn't been rolled out for your region/account yet, or your number doesn't meet Meta's activity requirement | Use the primary Connect with WhatsApp button instead for now — your WhatsApp Business App keeps working on the phone, it just won't import history into BillionBiz yet |
| Connection succeeds but no history or contacts ever show up | The phone-side "share your chat history" prompt was missed or declined | Reconnect isn't needed — see "The opt-in prompt on your phone" above; if it was declined, there's no way to trigger it again except reconnecting |
"Already registered" — work through these in order
This is the single most common blocker, and it's almost always one of three causes:
Check you're on the WhatsApp Business App, not regular WhatsApp
Coexistence only works with the green WhatsApp Business App, not the ordinary blue WhatsApp app. If your number is on regular WhatsApp, coexistence isn't available for it — you'd need to move the number to the Business App first, which is a separate migration outside BillionBiz.
Check the number has real history on the Business App
Meta needs the number to have been actively used on the WhatsApp Business App — with real conversations, not just installed — for at least 7 days, ideally longer. A number you just activated on the Business App minutes ago will be refused even if everything else is correct. Use the app normally for a week or two, then try connecting again.
Check for a previous API or provider connection
If this number was ever hooked up to a WhatsApp Business API or a different messaging provider, disconnect it first: on the phone, open WhatsApp Business App → Settings → Account → Business Platform → Disconnect. After disconnecting, Meta applies a cooldown of roughly 1–2 months before the number is eligible for coexistence again — there's no way to skip this from BillionBiz.
Don't keep retrying the connect flow
Retrying the connect popup after a rejection doesn't help — each attempt resets Meta's tracking of how long the number has been active, which pushes eligibility further away instead of closer. If you hit the "already registered" error, fix the underlying cause first (above), then try once.
Why don't I see the coexistence option at all?
If the I already use the WhatsApp Business app — keep my chats button doesn't appear, or its popup never recognises your existing app, that's a platform-level rollout limit — see Eligibility above — not something wrong with your store's setup. The primary Connect with WhatsApp button still works in the meantime; your WhatsApp Business App keeps running on your phone exactly as before, it just won't sync history into BillionBiz until coexistence becomes available for your account.