If your WhatsApp Business number is currently connected through another provider, such as Intercom, Gorgias, Zendesk, Twilio, or any other WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, you can move it to Text without changing the number and without losing your standing on WhatsApp.
Before you begin: this article covers numbers that are already on the WhatsApp Business Platform through another provider. If you do not have an existing number with another provider and are setting up WhatsApp for the first time, follow Connecting WhatsApp to Text.
Creating a new WhatsApp Business Account in Text
When you set up WhatsApp in Text, we suggest creating a new WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) rather than trying to reconnect to the one your current provider created.
It avoids a billing problem. Your old provider's credit line remains attached to their WABA and may not always be cleared.
It keeps your assets intact. Your display name, quality rating, messaging limits, Official Business Account status, and approved templates all transfer to the new WABA with the number.
It gives you clean ownership. Some providers create the WABA under their own Business Manager. A new WABA created during Text's sign-up belongs to your portfolio from the start.
It is the path Meta and most providers recommend, and it follows the same setup flow you may have seen elsewhere.
Creating a new WhatsApp Business Account in Text and migrating your number to it is faster, cleaner, and avoids billing issues than reconnecting your old one.
What happens during a migration
A migration moves your number from your current provider's WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) to Text. The number keeps working the whole time - there is no downtime, and you don't need to do anything additionaly.
What carries over:
Your phone number
Your display name
Your quality rating and messaging limits
Your Official Business Account status (green badge), if you have it
Your approved message templates with a green quality rating, up to WhatsApp's limit of 250 templates per account
What does not carry over:
Conversation history. WhatsApp does not transfer past messages between providers. Export or back up anything you need before you switch off the old channel.
Template quality rating resets temporarily after the migration and will show as UNKNOWN for roughly 24 hours before rebuilding. This is expected and resolves on its own.
Low-quality, paused, or rejected templates. If you are over the 250-template limit, the extras will not copy and must be recreated in WhatsApp Manager after the migration.
Before you start
All of the following must be checked before you begin. The migration will not complete if any of these are missing.
Your number is registered on the WhatsApp Business Platform, not the free WhatsApp Business app. If it is only in the app, you will need to delete it from there and register it fresh.
Two-step verification is turned off on the number. You can do this in WhatsApp Manager by selecting your number and going to Two-step verification. If your current provider owns the WABA, they will need to turn it off for you.
Your Meta business is verified. You can check this under Business Settings and then Business verification.
Your display name shows Approved in WhatsApp Manager, with no pending display name change requests.
Your new WABA has a payment method added. The new WABA needs billing in place before the number can be migrated into it. Without a credit card on the new WABA, the migration will return an error.
Do not disconnect from your old provider yet. Keep the number live there until Text confirms it is connected.
How to migrate a WhatsApp number to Text - step by step:
Step 1. Turn off two-step verification on your number
Open WhatsApp Manager and find your phone number. Turn off two-step verification for that number. If your current provider manages your WhatsApp account on your behalf, ask them to do this step for you before you continue.
Step 2. Confirm your display name is approved
In WhatsApp Manager, check that the display name for your number shows the status "Approved." If you have a name change request pending, cancel or resolve it before moving on. An unapproved or pending name will block the migration.
Step 3. Create a new WhatsApp Business Account in Meta Business Suite
Go to Meta Business Suite and create a new WhatsApp Business Account under your business. Do not reuse the account your current provider created. Do not add any phone number at this stage — you are only setting up the destination account.
Step 4. Add a payment method to the new account
Open the settings of the new WhatsApp Business Account you just created and add a payment method. Meta requires billing to be set up on the destination account before a number can be migrated to it.
Step 5. Start the connection in Text
Open Text and go to the WhatsApp Business section. Click to start connecting your number. If you already have numbers connected, use the Add phone number option. This opens Text's secure sign-up flow, which runs directly through Meta.
Step 6. Log in and select your new account
Log in with your Facebook business account. When asked to select a WhatsApp Business Account, choose the new one you created in Step 3. Do not select the account associated with your previous provider.
Step 7. Enter the number you want to migrate
Select the option to add a new number. Enter the phone number you are migrating along with a display name, then click Next.
Step 8. Confirmation
You will see a notice confirming that this number is being migrated from another provider. Click Next to continue.
Step 9. Verify the number
Meta will send a 6-digit verification code to your phone number by SMS or voice call. Enter the code when prompted.
Step 10. Confirm the connection and send a test message
Once verified, your number will appear as Connected in Text. Send a test message in and out to confirm everything is working.
Only after confirming the number works in Text should you disconnect WhatsApp in your old provider and cancel any related billing there. Messages sent before the cutover will still be billed through your previous provider, so a small residual charge on their side is normal.
Migrating from specific providers
Gorgias
Gorgias supports migrating numbers out. Before you start, check whether your WhatsApp Business Account sits in your own Meta portfolio or in Gorgias's. If two-step verification or data localization was enabled, it must be turned off before the migration can proceed. Gorgias support can handle this on your behalf if needed. Because of the credit line issue described above, this is one of the cases where creating a new WhatsApp Business Account in Text and migrating the number into it is strongly recommended over reusing the existing account.
Zendesk
Zendesk is a WhatsApp Business provider and supports migration out. To turn off two-step verification, go to WhatsApp Manager, find your number, open Two-step verification, and turn it off. Meta will send a confirmation to your registered email address. Note that your number may be briefly unavailable during the cutover, so plan the migration for a low-traffic window if possible.
Intercom
Standard WhatsApp API numbers on Intercom are fully migratable. Two-step verification must be off before the migration step can run. If the number was connected through a third-party Intercom connector rather than directly, confirm where the WhatsApp Business Account actually lives before starting, as it may not be in your own Meta portfolio.
Other providers (Twilio, 360dialog, Wati, ManyChat, Freshworks, and Front)
For any other provider, the process follows the same pattern. Turn off two-step verification, make sure your Meta business is verified and your display name is approved, then create a new WhatsApp Business Account in Text and migrate the number into it.
Frequently asked questions
The account is likely owned by your previous provider's Business Manager, not yours. You can ask them to share it with you, but the cleaner path is to create a new WhatsApp Business Account under your own business in Meta Business Suite and migrate the number into that instead.
Removing your old provider's app does not detach their credit line, and a payment method cannot be fully deleted once it has been added to an account. Creating a new WhatsApp Business Account in Meta Business Suite sidesteps this entirely. The old credit line stays with the old account and revokes automatically over time.
There are four things to check. Two-step verification may still be on for the number. Your Meta business may not be verified. Your display name may not have "Approved" status. There may be a pending name change request on the number. Clear all four and try again.
This is expected. Quality ratings reset to "Unknown" after a number moves to a new provider and typically rebuild within 24 hours based on new traffic data.
No. Meta's end-to-end encryption means conversation history cannot be transferred during a migration. Only the phone number moves to Text.