Blog / API & technical

Migrating to the official WhatsApp API: a guide without losing data

Migrating to the official WhatsApp API is the step every business takes when the WhatsApp Business app is no longer enough: you need to manage several operators, send reliable notifications and have the green check. The main worry is always the same: will I lose my number, my contacts, my conversations? The short answer is that the number is kept, but some things change. In this guide we explain what is really kept, what isn't and how to prepare the migration with SendApp to do it without surprises.

Why migrate to the official API

The WhatsApp Business app is designed for a single device and modest volumes. As you grow, the limits become apparent: you can't have a team manage the same number in an orderly way, you don't have serious automations, you don't have the green check. The official API solves this, offering stability, multi-operator management, approved templates and anti-ban protection.

• Management of the same number by several operators
• Green check of a verified account
• Reliable transactional notifications with templates
• Automations and AI agent 24/7

What is kept and what changes

Here's the most important point to clarify before starting, to avoid wrong expectations.

The number is yours and you take it with you. You keep the contacts and organize them in SendApp's CRM with tags. The chat history of the WhatsApp Business app, however, stays tied to the phone and isn't transferred to the API environment: it's a feature of Meta's architecture, not a SendApp limitation. That's why it's worth preparing beforehand.

Before migrating, export and save the important conversations from the WhatsApp Business app and tidy your contact list in a clean sheet (numbers in +39 format). This way you re-import contacts into the CRM without losing anything useful.

Preparing the migration: the checklist

A smooth migration is prepared. Before connecting the number to the official API, verify you have these elements ready.

• Contact list exported and cleaned, with numbers in international format
• List of recurring messages to turn into templates
• Contacts' consent (opt-in) for promotional communications
• An active SendApp account to land on

The migration steps

With SendApp you activate the official API by connecting your number to Meta's guided process. If the number was in use on the WhatsApp Business app, it must be deactivated from that app to be connected to the API (a number can't be on both at the same time). Once connected, you create the templates for your recurring messages, import the contacts into the CRM and configure the AI agent and the inbox. From that moment the number operates through the official API.

After the migration: making the most of the new tools

Once migrated, you have tools the app didn't offer: broadcast campaigns with variables, an AI agent that answers 24/7 with handover, a shared multichannel inbox with the team and calendar sync with Google Calendar. The time spent on the migration pays off right here, in the ability to scale without losing order.

How to do it with SendApp

SendApp accompanies you in the migration to the official Meta API: you connect the number, create approved templates with the green check, import and organize contacts in the CRM with tags and activate the AI agent and the multichannel inbox. With the Cloud API messages are billed by Meta according to the per-conversation model, with no markup from SendApp. Plans start at 19 euros a month; if you prefer not to migrate right away, the WhatsApp Web via QR mode with no per-message cost remains available.