# Write to a customer after 24 hours

> After 24 hours without a message from the customer, WhatsApp only lets you send a template it has approved.

## Steps

1. Prepare the template in **Sales › Templates** (see [Prepare a template](https://wyp.chat/en/help/creer-modele-campagne)). WhatsApp often approves it in less than an hour.
2. While the 24 hours are running, the reply box shows **You can reply freely for another …**, with the time left. After that, the reply box is replaced by **Free replies are over (24 hours passed)**. Click **Choose a template**. You can also write an **Internal note** for the team.

3. Choose the template, fill in its **Variables** if there are any, check the preview, then click **Send template**.

**Good to know** A marketing template never goes to an opted-out contact, whether they wrote STOP or turned off your offers in WhatsApp. No template listed: first get one approved, with **Manage templates**. Meta charges for templates separately (see [What Meta charges on WhatsApp](https://wyp.chat/en/help/prix-messages-whatsapp)). As soon as the customer replies, the 24-hour window opens again and you can write freely once more. Messenger and Instagram have no templates: after 24 hours, wait for the customer to write to you. Website chat and email do not have this limit, nor will RCS once it opens.

## Related articles

- [Prepare a template for your campaigns](https://wyp.chat/en/help/creer-modele-campagne) A WhatsApp campaign always sends an approved template. Create it in Sales › Templates, pick Marketing or Utility and send it to WhatsApp for approval.
- [Connect your WhatsApp Business number](https://wyp.chat/en/help/connecter-whatsapp) Until Meta approves WYP.chat, our team sets up this connection with you. The steps below describe it.
- [What you pay Meta on WhatsApp](https://wyp.chat/en/help/prix-messages-whatsapp) Meta charges your own card directly for WhatsApp messages beyond its free allowances. Rules, October 2026 rates for the UK, France and Spain, examples.

**Learn more**

- [The WhatsApp 24 hour window: what Meta allows and what it costs](https://wyp.chat/en/guides/whatsapp-24-hour-window)
- [The three WhatsApp Business template categories, and how Meta re-categorises them](https://wyp.chat/en/guides/whatsapp-template-categories)
- [WhatsApp Business message templates to copy, by type of business](https://wyp.chat/en/guides/whatsapp-message-templates)

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Source: https://wyp.chat/en/help/modeles-24h · Updated on 11 October 2026