How to Set Up Automatic Replies on WhatsApp Business (Step-by-Step Guide)

It's 23:40 on a Tuesday. A customer writes "do you have a table for four on Saturday?" You've already closed. The message sits there, unanswered, until the next day. By the time you open, that person has already booked somewhere else. WhatsApp Business automatic replies exist precisely to fill that gap: to let the customer know you read them, that they're not talking to a wall. In this guide you'll see how to activate them step by step, what you can really expect from them, and at what point it's worth moving on to something that actually understands what you're being asked.

What WhatsApp Business automatic replies are (and what they aren't)

The free WhatsApp Business app comes with two automatic messages: the away message and the greeting message. The away message triggers when you can't reply (at night, on weekends, when you're closed). The greeting message goes out the first time someone writes to you or after 14 days without activity, to show your face and start the conversation.

The important thing to understand from the start: they're fixed texts. You write a message and the app sends it exactly as is, always the same, no matter what the person asked you. They're useful to say "we'll get back to you" or "we're closed," but they don't read, don't understand, and don't answer what the customer actually wants to know.

How to set up the away message (step by step)

The away message is the most used one: it lets the customer know you're not available at that moment. Here's how to activate it:

1. 1Open the WhatsApp Business app and tap the three dots (top right on Android) or the Settings tab (on iPhone).
2. 2Go into Settings.
3. 3Tap Business tools.
4. 4Select Away message.
5. 5Turn on the Send away message option with the switch at the top.
6. 6Tap the message text to edit it and write your own. For example: "Hi! Thanks for writing to us. We're currently outside business hours, but we'll get back to you as soon as we open, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00."
7. 7Choose when to send it under Schedule: Always send, Custom schedule (you pick the range), or Outside business hours (uses the hours you set in your profile).
8. 8Under Recipients, define who: everyone, everyone except some contacts, or only specific contacts.
9. 9Save by tapping the checkmark or Save. Done: it's now active.

A concrete example of an away message that works well, by industry:

• Food service: "Hi! Thanks for writing. We're closed right now, but tomorrow at 11:00 we open and we'll take your order. If you want to get ahead, send us your address and we'll confirm the delivery."
• Beauty: "Hi! Thanks for writing to us. We're not available right now. Leave us your name and the service you're looking for, and tomorrow we'll confirm available times."
• Real estate: "Hi! Thanks for your inquiry. We're out of hours, but tomorrow first thing an advisor will get back to you. If you'd like, tell us what area and budget you're looking for and we'll prepare some options for you."

How to set up the welcome message (step by step)

The welcome message gives the first impression to whoever just discovered you. It's sent automatically only when someone writes to you for the first time or after 14 days of inactivity. The path is almost identical:

1. 1In the WhatsApp Business app, go to Settings.
2. 2Tap Business tools.
3. 3Select Welcome message.
4. 4Turn on Send welcome message with the toggle.
5. 5Edit the text. For example: "Hi! Welcome to [your business]. Tell us what you need and we'll help you right away."
6. 6Under Recipients, choose who you send it to (everyone is usually the most practical option).
7. 7Save. From now on, every new customer receives that greeting automatically.

Bonus: quick replies so you don't always write the same thing

Inside Business tools there's also Quick replies. They aren't automatic, but they save you a ton: you save texts you repeat a lot (the price list, the address, payment methods) and insert them by typing a slash "/" followed by a shortcut. You choose when to send them, but you don't have to type everything again.

The limits: how far free automatic replies can take you

The app's automatic replies are a great first step, but it's worth being clear about where they fall short so you don't get frustrated, and neither does your customer:

• They are fixed texts: they always send the same thing, no matter what you're asked. If a customer wants to know the price of a specific product, they still get "we'll get back to you soon."
• They don't understand the message: they don't read or interpret what the person writes. They don't tell the difference between "do you deliver?" and "how much is a dozen?"
• They don't take orders or book appointments: they can't close a sale, take down an order, or reserve a time slot on their own.
• They depend on the phone: the app needs the phone turned on, with the app active and a signal. If it turns off or runs out of battery, it replies nothing.
• Only two types of message: absence and welcome. There's no way to build real conversations with the free app.
• The welcome one doesn't repeat: if someone has already written to you before, they won't receive it again even if weeks go by.

In short: automatic replies cover the silence, but they don't resolve the inquiry. The customer keeps waiting for a person to show up. For many small businesses that's enough at the start. But when messages grow, answering everything by hand becomes impossible and you start losing sales to delays.

The next level: an AI that suggests real replies

Here's the key difference. An automatic reply sends a fixed text; an AI reads what the customer wrote and suggests a reply based on that. If they ask the price of the large pizza, the suggestion is the price of the large pizza. If they ask whether you deliver to a neighborhood, the suggestion talks about deliveries to that neighborhood. It's not a "we'll be with you shortly" sign: it's a real conversation, with your team approving each reply with one click.

Wando is an Argentine tool built for LatAm SMBs that connects an AI to your WhatsApp Business to suggest replies in Rioplatense Spanish, 24 hours a day. It plugs into your current number through Meta's official WhatsApp API (WhatsApp Cloud API), so you don't have to change your number or let anyone know. The AI learns from your business's real replies and improves on its own: it's not a flow-based chatbot you have to program and maintain.

Another important difference: because Wando runs on Meta's official API and not on the phone app, it doesn't depend on your phone being on. The AI suggests even while you're asleep or without a signal, and your team reviews and approves when it can. Control always stays with the business: the AI proposes, you decide. Plus, Wando comes with an inbox with AI suggestions, templates (HSM) and campaigns, contacts with tags, message and campaign statistics, multi-agent, time-based auto-replies, and audio transcription.

So, what's best for you?

If you're just starting out and receive few messages, set up the away message and the welcome message in the app: they're free, they activate in five minutes and they keep a customer from feeling ignored. It's the first step and we recommend it to everyone.

If inquiries are already piling up, you're losing sales because you can't reply in time, or you want someone to handle them while you sleep, that's when fixed replies fall short and it makes sense to move to an AI like Wando, which suggests replies based on what each person asks and leaves them ready for your team to approve with one click. The nice thing is that it's not one or the other from the start: you can begin for free with the app and, when WhatsApp starts to overwhelm you, make the leap without losing your number or your conversations.