How to connect WhatsApp Business while keeping the app on your phone
Connect to Cognizy the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app. It keeps working on your phone, and conversations appear in both places.
3 min readBasicUpdated on November 12, 2026
Where to find it in Cognizy
Video lesson coming soon. For now, follow the steps below.
With this connection, the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app also starts working in Cognizy through Meta’s official connection. You don’t lose the app: you can keep replying on your phone, and anything sent there appears in Cognizy as a team message. Meta calls this coexistence.
Where to find it in Cognizy
Before you start
- Only the owner and admins can connect numbers.
- The number must be in the WhatsApp Business app (the one with the B icon), not regular WhatsApp. Update the app: Meta requires version 2.24.17 or newer.
- Have the phone with the app ready, unlocked, and connected to the internet.
- You need the Facebook account of the person who manages the business in Meta. If the business doesn’t have a business portfolio yet, you can create one during the process.
- Set aside 10 to 15 minutes. Conversation history comes in gradually after the connection.
- Messages sent from the app remain free. Messages sent through Cognizy follow Meta’s pricing for the official connection, charged to the card registered on the Meta account.
Step by step
- Step 1:
At the bottom of the menu, click Settings.
- Step 2:
In Channels, click WhatsApp.
- Step 3:
At the top of the screen, click Connect WhatsApp.
- Step 4:
Choose WhatsApp Business (stays on your phone), the first option, marked as Recommended. A Meta window opens on top of Cognizy. If the window doesn’t open, allow pop-ups in your browser for Cognizy and click again.
- Step 5:
In the Meta window, sign in with the Facebook account of the person who manages the business, choose the business, choose to connect the WhatsApp Business app you already use, and enter the number.
- Step 6:
Meta shows a verification code. Copy the code and leave the window open.
- Step 7:
On your phone, open the WhatsApp Business app. A message from the official Facebook account will arrive: tap its button to connect, confirm, choose whether to share conversation history, and paste the verification code.
- Step 8:
Back in the Meta window, continue to the end and finish. The window closes on its own.
- Step 9:
Cognizy lets you know that WhatsApp was connected, and the number appears in the list with the badge Also in the app. Conversation history appears within a few minutes.
How to know it worked
The number appears in the list as Connected, with the Also in the app badge. Send a message from the phone app to a customer: it appears in Cognizy, in Serve › Conversations, as a team message. Older conversations appear gradually.
If something goes wrong
The Meta window doesn’t open.
The browser blocked the pop-up. Click the blocked pop-up warning in the address bar, allow it for Cognizy, and choose the option again.
Meta doesn’t offer the option to connect the app I already use.
Check that the number is in the WhatsApp Business app (not regular WhatsApp) and that the app is updated. If the number was created recently, use the app for a few days and try again.
The message from the official account doesn’t arrive in the app.
Check that the number entered in the Meta window is the one in the app, that the phone has internet access, and that the app is updated. Close the Meta window and start again from Cognizy.
Meta says the number is already in use.
The number is already linked to another platform through the official connection. Disconnect it there first, or ask the previous provider to release the number, then reconnect it.
WhatsApp Web and other linked devices stopped working.
This is expected: when you connect, Meta disconnects the devices linked to the number. Connect them again in the app under Linked devices.
The history didn’t appear.
It comes in gradually and only if you agreed to share it in the app. Keep the WhatsApp Business app open on your phone for a few minutes. Group conversations are not imported.
Next step
Add a payment method to the Meta account (WhatsApp Manager) so you can send campaigns and message templates.
Sign in with your Cognizy account to save your progress.
Sign in