# Follow your messages

See where each WhatsApp message stands, learn what each status means, open a failed message to find out why, retry or cancel it, and find the replies of your clients.

Every message that goes out or comes in through a line is one record in **Messages**, whichever app sent it. The demo holds seven, each in a different status, from a case update **Read** by the client to a notice **Suppressed** because its number is blacklisted.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- The **Viewer** access right on **WhatsApp** reads the messages; **Retry** and **Cancel** need **User**, deleting needs **Administrator**.
- You see the messages of the company you are working in.

## Read the board {#board}

Open **WhatsApp/Messages**. The messages are grouped by status, one column each. A card gives the contact, or the number when there is none, the status, the start of the text, the template, **Outbound** or **Inbound**, and the date. **Received** and **Suppressed**, among others, show no badge on the card: the column names them.

![Messages grouped by status; the invoice to Azure Interior is in Error.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13057-e0edb5d8/whatsapp-follow-your-messages-messages_board-en.png)

On a phone, the board shows one column at a time.

The list button at the top right shows them as rows; the search panel filters and groups them ([Search, filter and group records](/docs/essentials/search-filter-and-group-records)).

## What each status means {#statuses}

| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Draft** | Created, not queued yet. |
| **Queued** | Waiting in the queue of its line. |
| **Sending** | The line is sending it. |
| **Sent** | The line has sent it. |
| **Delivered** | It reached the recipient's phone. |
| **Read** | The recipient opened it. |
| **Replied** | The recipient answered it. |
| **Received** | A contact sent it to you. |
| **Delivery Uncertain** | The send was cut off and may have gone ([details](how-whatsapp-sending-works#uncertain)). |
| **Error** | The send failed; it waits for someone to act. |
| **Bounced** | The number is not on WhatsApp. |
| **Dead Letter** | It still failed after the automatic retries ([details](how-whatsapp-sending-works#retries)). |
| **Suppressed** | Stopped before sending: blacklisted number, marketing without consent or archived contact ([Consent and blacklist](consent-and-blacklist)). |
| **Cancelled** | Cancelled by a user, never sent. |
| **Expired** | It waited longer than its template allows ([details](how-whatsapp-sending-works#expiry)). |

**Delivered**, **Read** and **Replied** are reported back by WhatsApp through the line.

## Find a reply {#replies}

A client's answer arrives as an **Inbound** message, **Received**: here Hind Al-Wahmi's "Thank you. I will be at the court on time."

![A client's reply, received and kept as an inbound message.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13064-c5200524/whatsapp-follow-your-messages-reply_card-en.png)

On a connected line, the answer also lands in **Discuss**, under **WhatsApp** in the side panel, in a conversation with that number. It is shared with the users in **WhatsApp Responsible**, on the **WhatsApp** tab of the contact, or else with the line's **Notify User**. Answer there: your message leaves by WhatsApp from the same line and shows its status. [Talk with your team](/docs/discuss/talk-with-your-team) explains Discuss.

## Open a failed message {#failure}

1. Click the card of invoice INV/2026/00001 to Azure Interior, in **Error**. The status sits at the top; the **Content** tab holds the text as sent.
2. Open the **Extra Info** tab. **Failure Type** says what went wrong, here **Invalid Phone**, and **Failure Reason** gives the line's words: "The number is not registered on WhatsApp." **Retry Count** shows it was retried 3 times, and the **Dates** group when it was created, sent, delivered, read and answered.

![Why the message failed, and how many times it was retried.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13069-642fc639/whatsapp-follow-your-messages-failure_details-en.png)

## Retry or cancel {#retry-or-cancel}

3. Open the **Actions** menu. **Retry**, for a message in **Error** or **Bounced**, queues it again as it is, to the same number. **Cancel**, for a message in **Draft**, **Queued** or **Error**, turns it **Cancelled**: it never leaves.

![Retry and Cancel in the Actions menu of a failed message.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13075-b48194b5/whatsapp-follow-your-messages-retry_action-en.png)

On a phone, the **Actions** menu sits at the top of the form.

4. Choose **Retry**. The status turns **Queued** and the failure is cleared.

![Back in the queue, its failure cleared.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13077-aef1d7c0/whatsapp-follow-your-messages-requeued-en.png)

Retry suits a passing failure, such as a line that was down. A retry goes to the number the message holds: when that number is wrong, as here, correct it on the contact and send a new message from the record ([Send from any record](send-from-any-record)).

## FAQ {#faq}

### A message stays Queued. {#stays-queued}

Its line is not connected, or it is spacing its messages out ([How WhatsApp sending works](how-whatsapp-sending-works#pacing)). It leaves as soon as the line allows.

### What separates Error, Bounced and Dead Letter? {#error-bounced-dead}

**Bounced**: the number is not on WhatsApp. **Dead Letter**: the automatic retries are spent. **Error**: the line reported a failure. None is sent again by itself: use **Retry** on **Error** or **Bounced**, or send a new message.

### Can I delete a message? {#delete}

An administrator can, from **Actions**. Finished messages also go after the **Message Retention** period ([WhatsApp settings](whatsapp-settings#message-retention)).

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/whatsapp/follow-your-messages
- Updated: 2026-10-27
- Version: WhatsApp 19.0.2.3.9
- Verified: 2026-10-27