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The 60-second version
Failed messages show up in two places, and they work together:
- In the conversation — the message bubble turns to Failed and spells out the reason, so you know what happened right where it happened.
- In the Failed Messages dashboard — one list of everything that failed across the whole workspace, so nothing slips through unnoticed.
Tip
The single most useful habit: read the reason before you act. It tells you whether re-sending will help or whether the message was never going to land.
A failed message in the chat
Inside a conversation, a message that didn’t send is marked Failed with a plain-language reason and, where relevant, a Learn more link to the official explanation.
Quality-related block
131049Term 3 enrichment classes are filling up — reply to reserve your child’s spot 📚
Reason: Meta has temporarily limited sending to this contact to protect their experience.
This is a Meta policy decision, not an Exabloom issue.
WhatsApp Business · 4:12 PM · FailedLearn more
The Failed Messages dashboard
Opened from your Inbox, the dashboard collects every failed message in one scannable list — so you’re not hunting conversation by conversation. The header shows how many are active and how many you’ve dismissed.
Failed Messages
3 active failures · 1 dismissed
Filter:Last 24 hoursAll sourcesAll error types
ML
Mei Ling5 min ago
Hi! Just checking if you’re joining…
Manual24-hour window expired
Open
AR
Arjun Rao22 min ago
Our June holiday programme is now…
Bulk SendNetwork timeout
Open
SN
Siti Noor1 hour ago
Reminder: your class is tomorrow…
WorkflowDo Not Disturb enabled
Open
- Filter by Time range (last 2h up to 7 days), Source (Manual, Bulk Send, Workflow), and Error type to zero in on what matters.
- Open () jumps to the conversation, where you can re-send if it makes sense.
- Dismiss () clears a failure you’ve dealt with off the active list. Show dismissed then Restore brings one back if you dismissed it too soon.
Reference
What each reason means
The reason isn’t just a label — it’s the instruction for what to do next. Here are the common ones, and whether a re-send will help.
Couldn’t be deliveredRetryable
Meta reports the contact was unreachable — a poor connection, a deactivated number, or a temporary block. WhatsApp doesn’t tell us exactly which. → Often transient — try again later. If it keeps failing, reach them another way.
24-hour window expiredWon’t help to retry
More than 24 hours have passed since the contact last messaged you, so a free-form message won’t send. → Re-open the conversation with an approved template.
Quality-related blockWon’t help to retry
Meta has temporarily limited sending to this contact to protect their experience — not an Exabloom issue. → Wait for them to message first, or re-engage with an approved template.
Network timeout / Message timed outRetryable
A temporary hiccup reaching WhatsApp. → Usually transient — re-send from the conversation.
Max retries exceededRetryable
Exabloom already retried automatically and gave up. → Open the chat and send again once conditions look right.
Payment issueWon’t help to retry
A billing problem on the WhatsApp/Meta side stopped the send. → Check your WhatsApp Business billing, then re-send.
Do Not Disturb enabledWon’t help to retry
The contact is marked Do Not Disturb, so Exabloom held the message. → Respect the setting, or lift DND on the contact if appropriate.
Media download failedRetryable
The attached image/file couldn’t be fetched to send. → Re-attach the file and send again.
WhatsApp disconnectedRetryable
The channel dropped, so the message is stuck in the queue. → Reconnect the channel — see your disconnection alert.
Good to know & pitfalls
- Not every failure is worth retrying. A “Quality-related block” or an expired 24-hour window won’t change on a re-send — the reason tells you whether trying again will help, or whether you need a template instead.
- Dismiss is just for your triage view. Dismissing clears a failure off the active list (you can Show dismissed and Restore it later) — it doesn’t resend or delete the message.
- Failures come from everywhere. The source badge — Manual, Bulk Send, or Workflow — tells you whether a person or an automation sent the message that failed.
- A wave of failures often means a channel dropped. Lots of “WhatsApp disconnected” at once points at a connection problem, not bad numbers — reconnect the channel first.
- To resend, open the conversation. The dashboard is for spotting and triaging failures; the actual re-send happens in the chat where the message lives.
Need a hand?
Our Singapore-based team is one message away — happy to help you get set up.