When a message does not reach its destination, Kanal shows its status and, if it failed, the cause returned by Meta. For the meaning of every status, see also: Understanding your WhatsApp message statuses.
"Pending": the message has not left yet
Pending means the message is in Kanal's sending queue and has not left yet. On a large campaign, sending is spread out: this status clears as the send progresses. No action is needed.
"Failed": the send did not go through
A failed message is not billed. To find the cause, hover over the send failure notice under the message in the Inbox: Kanal shows the error code and its explanation.
"Undeliverable" is not a separate status in Kanal: these messages appear as Failed, with code 131026.
The most common failure causes
Code | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
131026 | Message undeliverable: the number has no WhatsApp account, the customer has not accepted WhatsApp's latest terms, or uses an outdated version. This is the most common cause. | Check the number. If the failure repeats, ask the customer through another channel to update WhatsApp, or remove them from your sends. |
3 | Permission issue on Meta's side with the account's sending rights. | Contact Kanal support. |
131049 | Meta chose not to deliver this message to maintain healthy user engagement, for example if the customer has already received many marketing messages. | Wait at least 24 hours before resending: resending too early will fail again. |
131048 | Spam rate limit hit: too many recent messages from this number were blocked or reported as spam. | Slow down your sends and check your account quality. |
131047 | Outside the 24-hour window: the customer has not written to you for more than 24 hours. | Send an approved template instead of a free-form message. |
131050 | The customer chose, in WhatsApp, to stop receiving marketing messages from your business. | Do not resend: the message will not be received. |
For codes 131048 and 131049, your account quality and your audience's engagement play a key role: Understanding WhatsApp account quality.
Media
A file that is too heavy or in an unsupported format can also prevent sending: WhatsApp media formats and sizes guide. GIFs are accepted in marketing templates when the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp (formerly MM Lite) is enabled on your number: How to add a GIF in WhatsApp?
If the same error code affects many contacts, contact Kanal support and mention the name of the campaign or automation concerned.