How to turn off the automatic message on WhatsApp (greeting, away, and bots)

To turn off an automatic message in WhatsApp Business, open Business tools → Greeting message or Away message and turn off the corresponding sending option. If the reply is coming from a connected platform, disable the flow on that platform instead. Quick replies are shortcuts triggered by the agent and need to be edited separately.

Menus can vary between Android, iPhone, and app versions. Check both message options before concluding the change didn't work.

Before turning it off: which message is firing?

WhatsApp Business has three native automations, and each one turns off in a different place:

• Greeting message — fires for anyone reaching out for the first time (or after 14 days of silence)
• Away message — fires outside the configured hours
• Quick replies — the / shortcuts; these only go out when someone uses them

If the automatic message is coming from a platform's chatbot/AI (not the app), you turn it off on the platform — we cover that below.

How to turn off the greeting message

1. Open WhatsApp Business → menu (⋮) → Business tools.
2. Tap Greeting message.
3. Turn off the "Send greeting message" toggle.

To just change the text, tap the message and edit it — good templates are here.

How to turn off the away message

1. Business tools → Away message.
2. Turn off "Send away message".

A common case: the away message fires at the wrong time because business hours are misconfigured (or the time zone changed). Before turning it off, check Business tools → Business profile → Business hours, and in the away message itself, the scheduling option ("Outside business hours" vs. "Always send").

How to delete quick replies

1. Business tools → Quick replies.
2. Tap the reply → trash icon (or edit the shortcut/text).

Automatic message that isn't from the app: bots and platforms

If you turned off everything above and the number is still replying on its own, the automation is coming from outside — a chatbot, AI, or flow connected to the number via the official API (or, worse, a QR Code tool someone plugged in one day). In this case:

1. Identify the platform (CRM, chatbot tool, marketing automation) — if in doubt, check Linked devices in the app and disconnect any session you don't recognize; an unknown session is also a sign of cloning.
2. Disable the flow on the platform — on decent CRMs, each automation has its own toggle; turn off the one that's bothering you instead of taking down the whole channel.
3. Check for "stacking": the most common mistake is the app's greeting and the platform's bot both active at the same time — the customer gets two welcomes. Rule: native automation OR the platform, never both for the same job.

When the right move is to adjust, not turn off

If the message arrives outside business hours or interrupts the agent, check the schedule and triggers before deciding whether it should stay active. Adjustments worth trying:

• "It feels too robotic" → swap the generic text for one with a name, context, and a real expectation for a reply (45 templates)
• "It replies on top of the agent" → configure the automation not to fire on conversations already assigned to a human (how it works in a well-built flow)
• "The customer hates the menu" → replace the options-based chatbot with AI that understands free-form text and hands off to a human at the right time

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I turn off the automatic message on regular WhatsApp (not Business)? Regular WhatsApp has no native automatic messages — if a "regular" number is replying on its own, there's a third-party app or a connected bot involved; disconnect it under Linked devices and remove the app.

I turned off the greeting, but it's still going out. Why? Either there's an active platform bot on the number, or the message you're seeing is the away message (check both toggles separately).

Can I turn it off for just some conversations? In the Business app, greeting/away lets you choose recipients (everyone, except contacts, only some). On platforms, you can exclude specific tags or queues.

Will I lose the saved messages if I turn it off? No — turning it off stops the sending, but the text stays saved for you to reactivate whenever you want.

Should I turn off automation for good? Only if it's misconfigured and you don't have time to fix it right now. The cost of having nothing is high: a lead outside business hours falls into the void. The ideal is to adjust — good automation is automation the customer doesn't even notice.

Source for the greeting message: WhatsApp Help Center. Editorial review: 09/07/2026.