# Understanding message template approval Learn how to read the approval status and quality rating on your WhatsApp message templates. This guide explains what each status means for sending campaigns and how Wavy keeps this information current. _Takes about 8 minutes to read._ ## Before you start > **Before you start** > > This is a conceptual guide to reading template status correctly. Approval state only ever reflects reality once a connected WhatsApp number has synced with Meta at least once. ## 1. The statuses Meta reports Meta reports seven statuses on a template, and Wavy adds one of its own for templates that have not been submitted yet. The seven Meta reports are PENDING, APPROVED, REJECTED, PAUSED, DISABLED, PENDING_DELETION, and IN_APPEAL. PENDING indicates you have submitted the template and are waiting for Meta's decision. APPROVED means Meta has accepted the template for use, while REJECTED means Meta has declined it. PAUSED and DISABLED block sending but are recoverable, PENDING_DELETION is used when a template is being removed, and IN_APPEAL is active while you are disputing a rejection. The eighth status you will see, LOCAL, is Wavy's own: it means the template exists in your workspace but has not yet been sent to Meta for review, so Meta has said nothing about it at all. ## 2. Quality ratings, separate from approval In addition to approval status, Meta assigns a quality rating that reflects how recipients interact with your messages. These ratings appear as green, yellow, or red, indicating the perceived quality of your template usage. You may also see a rating described as 'not enough feedback yet,' which Meta uses when it does not have sufficient data to assign a color yet. It is important to distinguish this 'not enough feedback yet' state from a template that has never been synced with Meta at all, as the two have different implications for your account standing. ## 3. Only an approved template can be used in a campaign For a template to be eligible for use in a marketing or service campaign, its status must specifically be APPROVED. Any other state—including rejected, paused, disabled, pending, pending deletion, under appeal, or not yet submitted—blocks the template from being sent in a campaign. Wavy applies this rule so that you are only attempting to send messages Meta has explicitly cleared for delivery, and so that the campaign gate and the flag shown in the template list cannot drift apart. ## 4. Paused or disabled is not the same as rejected A paused or disabled template is a recoverable state, not a rejection. These states typically occur when Meta temporarily restricts a template due to feedback or policy issues, but they clear automatically once Meta reinstates the template. You do not need to rewrite or resubmit the template just because it is paused, as Wavy does not ask you to change what Meta is already satisfied with once the issue is resolved. Treating a pause as a permanent rejection would be unnecessary and could lead to losing a template that only needed time for its feedback metrics to improve. > **Recoverable States** > > If you see a template marked as paused or disabled, do not assume it has been permanently rejected. These states are recoverable, and Wavy clears them on its own as soon as Meta reports the template as approved again. No manual intervention or content rewriting is required on your part while the template is in these states. ## 5. What Meta decided versus what you submitted Wavy keeps a clear record of the category you originally submitted a template under, separate from the category Meta actually assigned it during its review process. If Meta re-categorizes a template after approval, that decision is stored in a distinct field so the difference remains visible to you. This transparency ensures you can see exactly how your submission was interpreted by Meta. It prevents any confusion about whether a category change was made by you or by the platform's automated review. ## 6. Sync brings this up to date To ensure your workspace reflects the current reality of your templates, you can trigger a sync with Meta. This action pulls the latest status, quality rating, and category information for every template directly from Meta's servers. The sync process reports the number of templates that actually changed their state, rather than just the total number of templates checked. This metric helps you understand how much your template portfolio has shifted since your last check. ## Next - [Wavy documentation](/docs/wavy) - [Meta app for WhatsApp Cloud API](/docs/wavy/guides/meta-app-for-whatsapp-cloud-api) --- Status: reviewed · reviewed by gemini-3.8-flash Author: qwen3.8-27b