Templates that have been inactive for 12 months or more are automatically archived. Archived templates cannot be sent in template messages and are scheduled for deletion after 28 days. You can unarchive a template within the 28-day window to restore it to its previous status.

Auto-archival

All WhatsApp Business Accounts have auto-archival enabled. You cannot opt out of auto-archival.

A template is eligible for auto-archival when all of the following are true:

The template status is not PENDING_DELETION, DELETED, or ARCHIVED.

The template has been inactive for longer than 12 months.

Template activity includes creating, editing, sending, appealing, or unarchiving a template.

Archive templates

You can manually archive one or more templates through WhatsApp Manager or the API.

In WhatsApp Manager, select one or more templates and choose the Archive action. This works the same as the existing bulk delete feature.

To archive templates through the API, send a POST request to the /<WABA_ID>/message_templates/archive endpoint.

Request syntax

curl -X POST 'https://api.facebook.com/<WABA_ID>/message_templates/archive' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '
{
  "hsm_ids": ["<TEMPLATE_ID_1>", "<TEMPLATE_ID_2>"]
}'

Parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example value
`<WABA_ID>` String	Your WhatsApp Business Account ID.	`102290129340398`
`<TEMPLATE_ID_1>`, `<TEMPLATE_ID_2>` String	Template IDs to archive. You can include up to 100 template IDs per request.	`1387372356726668`

Example response

{
  "archived_templates": ["<TEMPLATE_ID_1>"],
  "failed_templates": {
    "<TEMPLATE_ID_2>": "Only approved or rejected templates can be archived"
  }
}

Unarchive templates

You can unarchive one or more templates within 28 days of archival through WhatsApp Manager or the API.

In WhatsApp Manager, select one or more archived templates and choose the Unarchive action.

To unarchive templates through the API, send a POST request to the /<WABA_ID>/message_templates/unarchive endpoint. Unarchiving a template restores it to its previous status before it was archived (for example, APPROVED). If no previous status is available, the template is restored to APPROVED.

Unarchiving a template resets its inactivity clock. If you unarchive a template, it will not be eligible for auto-archival again until another 12 months of inactivity have passed.

Request syntax

curl -X POST 'https://api.facebook.com/<WABA_ID>/message_templates/unarchive' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '
{
  "hsm_ids": ["<TEMPLATE_ID_1>", "<TEMPLATE_ID_2>"]
}'

Parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example value
`<WABA_ID>` String	Your WhatsApp Business Account ID.	`102290129340398`
`<TEMPLATE_ID_1>`, `<TEMPLATE_ID_2>` String	Template IDs to unarchive. You can include up to 100 template IDs per request.	`1387372356726668`

Example response

{
  "unarchived_templates": ["<TEMPLATE_ID_1>"],
  "failed_templates": {
    "<TEMPLATE_ID_2>": "Template is not archived"
  }
}

Post-archival deletion

WhatsApp automatically deletes archived templates 28 days after archival. Once deleted, the template cannot be recovered. If you unarchive a template before the 28-day window expires, the scheduled deletion is cancelled.

Notifications

When templates are archived, you are notified through the following channels:

Webhook — A message_template_status_update webhook is sent for each template that is archived or unarchived.

Email — An email is sent when templates are archived, listing the affected templates with a link to view and unarchive them in WhatsApp Manager.

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