Meta restrictions

What Meta can block, how to see the reason, what to check in your portfolio and how to request a review.

Reviewed on Oct 24, 2026

On this page

What Meta can restrict
How a restriction escalates
How to see what is restricted
Why it happens
Check your business portfolio
If what you sell is not allowed
Request a review
If the restriction is not lifted
How to avoid it
Official help from Meta

What Meta can restrict

Meta can restrict three different things, and each one is reviewed on its own: your Facebook account, your business portfolio or your WhatsApp Business account. With the WhatsApp Business account restricted you cannot send new messages or reply. Customers can still write to you, and your data, message history and business profile stay intact.

If your messages in Conversations fail with a notice that your WhatsApp Business account is temporarily locked, Meta locked your account: your customers’ messages keep coming in, but Meta rejects what you send from yavendió!, including your seller’s replies. Reconnecting or resetting the connection does not lift it. You request a review from Meta in Business Support Home, and Meta aims to decide within 48 hours, though some reviews take longer.

How a restriction escalates

Meta escalates its measures: first a warning; if it happens again, temporary blocks that get longer, from 1 or 3 days without templates up to 5, 7 or 30 days without any messages; then an indefinite lock that only a review lifts; and, if the account does not change, permanent disabling. The most serious violations, such as scams, lead to immediate deactivation.

How to see what is restricted

What is restricted and why shows in Business Support Home, the section of Meta Business Suite where Meta shows account issues, restrictions and appeals. Meta also warns you with a banner in WhatsApp Manager, in your notifications and by email to the portfolio’s admins.

Why it happens

Meta restricts an account when its activity does not meet the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service, the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy or the WhatsApp Commerce Policy. Most common:

Messaging people who did not agree to receive your messages
Sending prohibited content
Selling products the WhatsApp Commerce Policy does not allow
Many reports or blocks from customers
Using unofficial versions of WhatsApp

Check your business portfolio

Check your business portfolio in Meta Business Suite:

The name is your real business name, without words like WhatsApp or Meta
The category and contact details are complete
You finished business verification, if Meta asks for it
Your Facebook and Instagram catalogs have no products the WhatsApp Commerce Policy does not allow

How to verify your business, in the Meta Business Help Center →

If what you sell is not allowed

If what you sell is not allowed by the WhatsApp Commerce Policy, requesting a review does not lift the restriction, and a new number ends up restricted too. In that case you need to remove those products from your catalog or change what you offer on WhatsApp.

Request a review

The review is requested in Business Support Home, from the restricted account, with Request review. Meta asks for three things: access to that page, a mobile phone that can receive a code by SMS or WhatsApp, and a valid official photo ID, in a clear photo showing all four corners.

Meta aims to decide within 48 hours, but some reviews take longer, and the account stays restricted meanwhile. There are three outcomes: the restriction is lifted and you can message again; it is upheld, and you can fix what breaks the policy and request another review; or, after severe or repeated violations, the account is restricted permanently and no further review can be requested.

Meta’s official guide: why your account was restricted and how to request a review →

If the restriction is not lifted

Using another number is the last resort and only works when the restriction is on your WhatsApp Business account. If what is restricted is your portfolio, your Facebook account or what you sell, a new number ends up restricted too.

How to avoid it

To avoid restrictions:

Only message customers who agreed to receive your messages
Use approved templates to write first
Use only the official WhatsApp Business app
Keep your catalog within the WhatsApp Commerce Policy

Official help from Meta

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