What is a template, and when do I need one?
Updated 12 October 2026
The Short Answer
A template is wording Meta has approved in advance, with blanks for the bits that change per person. You need one when more than 24 hours have passed since someone last messaged you, because after that WhatsApp will only deliver approved wording.
A template is not a mass message. It is a sentence approved ahead of time, filled in per person.
What is a template?
Wording Meta has already approved, with blanks for the bits that change — a name, a place, a date.
You are not sending the same message to everyone. The blanks fill in from each person's own record, so what arrives is about them.
When do I need one?
WhatsApp lets you reply freely to anyone who messaged you in the last 24 hours. After that it will only deliver a message whose wording has already been approved.
So: inside 24 hours, write whatever you like. Outside it, you need a template.
What happens if I do not have one?
Nothing is lost. PropKaki asks before sending: Meta needs to approve this first. Press Send Once Meta Approves and your message goes to Meta exactly as you wrote it, then out from your number the moment it's approved — usually within a day.
If you would rather send it straight away yourself, the same box offers Send Manually — Open in WhatsApp and Copy the Message.
Do I need templates at all if I reply fast?
If you always answer inside 24 hours, rarely.
The catch is that the moment you need one is a moment you do not want to wait — a client who went quiet three days ago, a launch you want to tell forty people about. Having two or three approved in advance is the whole point.