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Use a number that's already on WhatsApp

Where Meta allows it, keep the number on your WhatsApp Business app and connect it to Zymbler too. Free it first if a provider holds it.

5 min readUpdated By the Zymbler team

If the number you want to use is already on the WhatsApp Business app, you can usually keep it there, where Meta allows it. Meta calls this coexistence: the same number stays on the phone in your pocket and works in Zymbler. You keep answering from the app whenever you want to; Zymbler answers the rest.

You do not need to delete anything, and you should not. Deleting the account wipes the chats off the device and throws away the history Zymbler would otherwise import for you.

Careful
Don't delete your WhatsApp account
Old guidance said to free the number up first. That was true before coexistence and is wrong now — deleting loses your chats and, if Meta accepts the number for coexistence, buys you nothing. Releasing a number only applies if it sits on another provider (see below).

Keep the number: connect it as it is

This is the usual path, where Meta allows it. The number is on the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, and it stays there.

  1. Start the connection in Zymbler

    Channels → Connect WhatsApp. Meta's signup popup opens.

  2. Pick the number you already use

    Choose the number that is on your WhatsApp Business app. Meta recognizes it and offers to continue with it rather than blocking you.

  3. Approve the connection on your phone

    The WhatsApp Business app shows a prompt to link the number. Approve it there — this is what keeps the app working alongside Zymbler.

  4. Say yes to sharing your chat history

    You'll be asked whether to share your chat history. Say yes and Zymbler imports your one-to-one chats and uses your saved contact names on them. Say no and everything still works — you start from today.

  5. Finish in Zymbler

    The number appears in Channels. Your chats arrive in the Inbox over the next few minutes as Meta sends them.
Tip
The import has a 24-hour window
Meta allows the history request once, within 24 hours of connecting, and Zymbler makes it the moment the number goes live. If Zymbler couldn't make the request, Channels shows “We couldn't import your chats” with a Retry import button that works for 24 hours after connecting. After that, the only way back is to disconnect and connect again. Where Meta allows it, up to about 6 months of one-to-one chats come across; photos and other files show as placeholders such as [Photo].

When the number does need to move

Two cases still need the number released first. If Meta blocks setup with "Phone Number In Use", you are in one of them.

On the regular WhatsApp app (not WhatsApp Business)

Coexistence works with the WhatsApp Business app, not the consumer one. You do not have to delete anything: install the WhatsApp Business app on the same phone, and when it starts it offers to move the number and your chats across. Then follow Keep the number above.

Deleting the consumer account is the last resort, not the first move — and if you do it anyway, back up your chats first.

On another BSP or Meta WABA

If the number is connected to another WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (for example Twilio, Vonage or 360dialog), it's held in their account and they need to let it go.

  1. Log into the BSP's dashboard

    Whichever one you used previously.

  2. Find the number under their 'Phone Numbers' or 'Senders' section

    Naming varies by provider.

  3. Use 'Release Number' or 'Disconnect'

    You typically need to be the WABA admin on their side. If you aren't, contact their support — they're used to this request.

  4. Wait 15 minutes, then retry

    The Meta-side registry refreshes after the BSP releases.

If the number is on another Meta WABA you administer directly (not via a BSP):

  1. Go to business.facebook.com → switch business portfolio to the source one.
  2. WhatsApp Manager → Account tools → Phone numbers → find the number → Delete. WhatsApp's help says a number can only be deleted if no paid messages were sent from it in the last 30 days, and that numbers deleted from a WhatsApp Business Platform account can't be used again for another WhatsApp Business Platform account. Ask the provider or the account's admin before you delete.
Tip
Delete vs. migrate
Meta also documents migrating a number between providers, but Zymbler doesn't take migrated numbers, and Meta said in August 2026 that migration isn't supported for accounts on its new WhatsApp account model. WhatsApp's help says that once you delete a number, all its WhatsApp Business Platform data is deleted, so check with the account's admin first.

Diagnostic: where is the number now?

If you don't know where the number is, run this 30-second test:

  1. Open WhatsApp on any other phone

    Yours, a colleague's, doesn't matter.

  2. Try to send a message to the number as if it were someone else's

    Look at the chat window that opens.

  3. Read the result

    A business profile means the number is registered on WhatsApp: on an app or with a provider. Check your own phones first. Business app → keep it, connect as it is. Regular app → move it to the Business app first. If neither app on your phones has it, a provider or another WABA holds it, especially if you also get a "Phone Number In Use" error during setup.

About the OTP

Keeping the number does not ask you for a one-time code: you approve the link inside the WhatsApp Business app instead, and the app carries on working the whole time.

The 6-digit OTP belongs to the release path. When a number arrives from another provider Meta shows Add phone number → Verify and sends a six-digit code by SMS or voice call. Either way, the last step is setting your Display Name.

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