A WhatsApp number needs reconnecting when its credential stopped being accepted — see error 190 for what causes that. The sequence matters, because the wrong first step can make the number harder to recover.
The order
- Settings → Inboxes → the inbox → Configuration. Reconnect from here. For a number connected through the guided sign-up this re-runs it; for a manually connected number this is where you replace the token.
- Account Health. Confirm the number now reports normally, and that the webhook is registered.
- Send one test message from your own phone to the number, and check it appears in Conversations.
- Retry what failed. Nothing re-sends by itself.
What the refusals during reconnection mean
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Failed to exchange code for access token | the guided sign-up did not complete. Start it again; do not paste a token as a workaround |
| The access token does not have the required permissions | the authorisation was approved without everything WhatsApp needs. Re-run it and approve all of it |
| Failed to fetch phone number information | Meta accepted the credential but would not describe the number. Usually transient; try again |
| Channel already exists for this phone number | the number is connected somewhere else on this installation — see the number is already connected |
| Reauthorization is not supported for this type of WhatsApp channel | this is not a Cloud API number. A number connected through another provider is reconnected through that provider's settings |
The two things not to do
Do not delete the inbox. It does not reconnect anything, it loses the inbox's settings and collaborators, and it can release the number from your Meta app — which turns a five-minute reconnection into a support case.
Do not connect the number a second time as a new inbox. A number can only be connected once across the whole installation, so this fails, and the failure message is easy to mistake for something else.
A worked example
An inbox shows the reauthorization banner on Monday morning. The administrator opens Configuration, reconnects through the guided flow, approves the permissions, and checks Account Health — the number reports normally and the webhook is registered. A test message arrives. They then go through Friday's three failed replies and press Retry on each. Total time, about four minutes.
Who can do this
Administrators only. Configuration and Account Health are not open to agents, and no custom role permission covers inboxes — see roles and permissions.
Limits
- Messages that failed while the number was disconnected are not re-sent. Retry each one.
- Incoming messages during the outage were still stored, which is why there is a queue to work through.
- Lynomia Chat cannot tell you which permission was missing. Meta reports a refusal, not a diff.
- A hand-made token will expire again. The guided sign-up is what stops this recurring.