orca.floHow to set up automatic replies on WhatsApp Business
WhatsApp auto reply is built into the free WhatsApp Business app: an away message, a greeting message and quick replies. Here is exactly how to set up each one, what they can’t do, and when an AI assistant that actually answers questions is worth paying for.
Updated
The short answer
To set an automatic reply in WhatsApp, use the WhatsApp Business app (it’s free). Open the Tools tab, tap Away message or Greeting message, switch it on, write your text, choose when it sends and who gets it, then tap Save. The personal WhatsApp app has no auto reply, so if your business still runs on it, move the number to WhatsApp Business first (your chats come with you).
Older versions of the app keep the same options under Settings → Business tools. If you see neither, update WhatsApp Business from the App Store or Google Play.
Which WhatsApp auto reply do you need?
| Away message | Greeting message | Quick replies | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Sends one fixed message when you’re busy or closed | Sends one fixed welcome message | Saved answers you insert with a shortcut |
| When it sends | Always, on a custom schedule, or outside your business hours | On a customer’s first message, or when they write after 14 days without messages in that chat | Only when you or your staff pick one |
| Who gets it | Everyone, everyone not in your address book, everyone except…, or only selected contacts | The same four choices | Whoever you’re chatting with |
| Limits | Same text for every customer; your phone must be online | Same text for every customer; switched off if Meta Business Agent is connected | Up to 50 saved; a person still has to send them |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free |
How to set an away message
Open Tools → Away message
In the WhatsApp Business app, open the Tools tab and tap Away message.
Switch it on
Turn on Send away message.
Write the message
Tap the message to edit it, then tap OK (on iPhone, Save). Say when you’ll reply and give one useful next step. Ready-made examples in English and Arabic.
Choose the schedule
Tap Schedule: Always send, Custom schedule (a set period, such as an Eid closure) or Outside of business hours. The last option only appears once your business hours are set in your business profile.
Choose who gets it
Tap Recipients: Everyone, Everyone not in address book, Everyone except… or Only send to….
Save and test
Tap Save, then message your business number from another phone. Away messages are sent from your phone, so it needs an internet connection.
How to set a greeting message
Open Tools → Greeting message
Open the Tools tab and tap Greeting message.
Switch it on
Turn on Send greeting message.
Write it
Tap Greeting message, edit the text, then tap OK. Welcome them and say what to send you (the service, a date, a photo of the item).
Choose recipients and save
Tap Recipients, pick one of the same four options, then tap Save.
Test it properly
It only goes to someone writing for the first time, or after 14 days without messages in that chat. A test from a number that messaged you last week won’t get it.
How to create quick replies
Open Tools → Quick replies
Open the Tools tab, tap Quick replies, then tap the add button.
Write the reply
Tap Message and write the answer you send most: prices, location, payment options. In the phone app a quick reply can include a photo or video (not on WhatsApp Web or Desktop).
Give it a shortcut
Tap Shortcut and type something easy, such as “prices”, then tap Save. You can keep up to 50.
Use it in a chat
In any chat, type “/” to see your quick replies, pick one, edit it if you like and send. The app also creates default replies for your hours and address from your business profile.
What the built-in auto replies can’t do
- Answer the actual question. “How much for a deep clean of a 2-bed in JLT?” gets the same away message as “hi”.
- Book an appointment, check availability or take an order.
- Reply in the customer’s language. It is one message, so you write it in both Arabic and English or choose one.
- Follow up with people who asked a price and went quiet.
- Tell you which chats are serious buyers. Every chat still waits for a person.
- Work while your phone is offline. The app sends them from your phone.
What about WhatsApp’s own AI (Meta Business Agent)?
Meta is adding its own AI to the WhatsApp Business app, called Meta Business Agent (Tools → AI agent where it’s offered). It answers questions about your hours, location, products, prices, payment and shipping from your catalog, profile and website. WhatsApp says it is only available in limited countries to select businesses, that not all languages are supported, and that the language it uses is set by your business phone number.
Turning it on switches off greeting messages, away messages and broadcast lists, and disconnects your linked devices (most can be linked again afterwards). Meta also uses the chats where it is on to improve AI at Meta. Read those trade-offs before you switch it on, and don’t run two AI tools on one number.
When an AI auto reply makes sense
- The same ten questions arrive every day (prices, availability, location, delivery) and answering them takes hours.
- Customers message after hours and book whoever answers first.
- Your customers write in Arabic and English, sometimes in the same chat.
- You lose leads who asked a price and never heard back.
- You want bookings and orders taken in the chat, not just acknowledged.
- If none of that sounds like your business, the free away and greeting messages are enough. Keep them on and answer by hand.
How an AI auto reply works with OrcaFlo
OrcaFlo connects to the WhatsApp Business number you already use: you scan a QR code from Linked devices → Link a device, the way you open WhatsApp Web. It reads each message and answers from your own price list, services and policies within seconds, in the customer’s language, including Gulf Arabic. It understands voice notes and photos, books appointments into real open slots, follows up with people who went quiet, and hands complaints, big orders and anything it isn’t sure about to your team with an alert on your phone.
It stays switched off until you press Go live, so you can chat with it yourself first. Free for 14 days, then from $14.99 a month + 3¢ per message. No setup fee. The trade-off: it isn’t Meta’s official API, so there’s no verified badge. See the Business app vs the API.
Once an AI answers every message, switch off the app’s away message (and usually the greeting message), so customers don’t get two replies to one message.
Setting up an AI auto reply, step by step
Collect your answers
Your price list, services, opening hours, locations, delivery or booking rules, and the ten questions customers ask most. In OrcaFlo these go in Knowledge Base, or you can import your website.
Decide what must go to a person
Complaints, refunds, big orders, anything medical or legal. Write these down as hand-over rules in its instructions (how to review them).
Connect and test
Connect your number, then chat with the assistant the way a customer would: awkward questions, Arabic, typos, voice notes. Nothing is sent to customers while you test.
Go live and watch the first week
Read conversations daily at first and tighten its instructions where it hesitated. You can take over any chat with Pause bot (getting started).
Don’t get your number restricted
Whatever you use, automation on a brand-new number, or messages to people who never contacted you, is the fastest way to get restricted. Read how to avoid a WhatsApp Business ban first. This guide is also available in Arabic: الرد الآلي في واتساب للأعمال.
Questions
Install the free WhatsApp Business app, open the Tools tab and tap Away message (for when you’re closed) or Greeting message (for first-time customers). Switch it on, write the message, choose the schedule and recipients, and tap Save. In older versions the same options are under Settings → Business tools.
No. Away messages, greeting messages and quick replies are only in the WhatsApp Business app, which is free. You can move your number from WhatsApp to WhatsApp Business and keep your chat history; back up first and save your contacts to your phone’s address book.
Yes. Away messages, greeting messages and quick replies in the WhatsApp Business app cost nothing. AI assistants that answer questions are paid services. OrcaFlo’s price: Free for 14 days, then from $14.99 a month + 3¢ per message. No setup fee.
Usually because the customer messaged you in the last 14 days (greetings only go to first-time chats or after 14 days of silence), your recipient setting excludes them, or Meta Business Agent is connected, which switches greetings off. Also check your phone is online and the app is up to date.
The built-in away and greeting messages can’t: they send the same text to everyone. To answer prices, availability and bookings automatically you need an AI assistant connected to your number, such as OrcaFlo or, where Meta offers it, Meta Business Agent.
No. Away and greeting messages are sent from your phone, so it needs an internet connection. OrcaFlo also works through the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, so keep that phone charged and online.
No. The free app has away and greeting messages, and an AI assistant like OrcaFlo links to the app by QR code. You need the API for things like a verified badge at scale or very large broadcasts; see the app vs the API.
Related
WhatsApp auto reply message examples for UAE businesses
Read more GuideWhatsApp Business app vs the WhatsApp Business API
Read more GuideHow to keep your WhatsApp Business number from getting banned
Read more For clinics & medical centresA WhatsApp receptionist for your clinic that never puts a patient on hold.
Read moreStop losing customers to slow replies.
Free for 14 days, then from $14.99 a month + 3¢ per message. No setup fee. Let OrcaFlo answer tomorrow’s messages.