How do I set up an automatic reply on WhatsApp Business?

Open WhatsApp Business, go to Settings, then Business tools. You will find Greeting message and Away message as separate options. Turn on the one you want, write your text, and choose when it should send. Greeting messages go to first-time or long-inactive contacts, away messages send outside the hours you set.

What is the difference between a greeting and an away message?

A greeting message welcomes someone who writes to you for the first time, or after 14 days of no contact. An away message tells people you are not available right now, for example after business hours or on a holiday. Greeting messages set a warm first impression, away messages manage expectations when you cannot reply straight away.

Can WhatsApp Business reply automatically to keywords?

The free app does not do keyword-based auto-replies. Its automation is limited to one greeting message, one away message and manual quick replies you insert yourself. If you want the system to read what a customer wrote and reply based on it, for example sending a price list when someone types price, you need the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API) with a CRM or chatbot.

How long can a WhatsApp away message be?

There is generous room, but shorter is better. A good away message is two or three lines: say you are away, when you will be back, and one thing the customer can do in the meantime, such as browse your catalog. Long paragraphs get skimmed and ignored.

Do automatic messages annoy customers?

Not if they are honest and useful. A short greeting or a clear away message reassures people that their message landed and tells them when to expect a reply, which most customers appreciate. What annoys people is a robotic auto-reply that repeats on every message or promises a fast reply that never comes. Keep them human and keep your promise.

WhatsApp Auto-Reply & Greeting Messages: Setup + Examples (2026)

Nothing loses a customer faster than silence. Someone messages your business at 9 pm, hears nothing, and by morning they have already messaged a competitor. WhatsApp Business gives you three simple tools to make sure every message gets at least an instant acknowledgement: greeting messages, away messages and quick replies. This guide shows how to set each one up, gives you templates you can copy, and explains where the free app's automation stops.

Greeting messages: a warm first hello

A greeting message sends automatically when someone writes to you for the first time, or after 14 days of no contact. It is your business saying hello before you have even seen the message. Set it up under Settings, then Business tools, then Greeting message. Turn it on, write your text, and choose who receives it.

Keep it short, name your business, and invite the customer to say what they need. Some examples:

Retail shop: "Welcome to Sharma Electronics. Thanks for messaging us. Tell us what you are looking for and our team will reply shortly."
Restaurant: "Namaste from Anna's Kitchen. For today's menu, tap the shop icon above. To order or book a table, just send us a message."
Service business: "Thanks for contacting CoolAir Services. Share your area and the problem with your AC, and we will get back with a slot and a quote."

Away messages: manage expectations after hours

An away message sends when you are not available, so nobody is left wondering. Under Business tools, then Away message, turn it on and choose a schedule: always send, send outside your business hours, or send during a custom period like a holiday.

The best away messages do three things: say you are away, say when you will be back, and give one useful next step. Examples:

After hours: "Thanks for your message. We are closed right now and open again at 10 am. We will reply first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, browse our catalog above."
Holiday: "We are closed for Diwali until the 5th. Your message is important to us and we will reply as soon as we reopen. Happy Diwali from all of us."
Busy period: "Thanks for reaching out. We are handling a high number of enquiries today and will reply within a few hours. For urgent orders, call us on the number in our profile."

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Quick replies: fast answers you send yourself

Greeting and away messages are automatic. Quick replies are different: they are saved answers you insert yourself during a live chat, by typing a short shortcut. They are perfect for the questions you answer over and over. Set them up under Business tools, then Quick replies.

Build a small set for your most common questions. A few that work for almost any business:

/hours: "We are open Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 8 pm. Closed on Sunday."
/location: "We are at Shop 14, MG Road, near the metro station. Here is our map pin in the profile above."
/pay: "You can pay by UPI, card or cash. Our UPI ID is sharma@upi. Please share a screenshot once done."
/delivery: "We deliver within the city in 1 to 2 days. Delivery is free above 500 rupees."

While chatting, type the shortcut and the full message appears instantly. This is one of the biggest time-savers in the app, especially when paired with WhatsApp Business on a computer.

Tips for messages that actually help

The tools are simple, so the difference between an automatic message that reassures and one that annoys is all in how you write it. A few rules that hold across shops and services:

Sound like a person, not a machine. Write the way you would greet someone at the counter. "Thanks for messaging, tell us what you need" beats a stiff "Your query has been registered".
Keep your promise. If your away message says you will reply in the morning, reply in the morning. A broken promise is worse than no message.
Give one clear next step. Point the customer to your catalog, your hours, or a phone number for urgent cases. A message that only says "we are away" wastes the moment.
Do not repeat on every message. Greeting and away messages are timed so they do not fire on every line a customer sends, which is exactly why you should not fake them with manual replies that do.
Match the season. Update your away message for festivals and holidays like Diwali or Holi, so it feels current rather than forgotten.

Where the free app's automation stops

These three tools cover the basics well, but they are deliberately limited. It is worth being clear about what the free app cannot do:

No keyword auto-replies. The app cannot read a message and reply based on its content. It will not automatically send a price list when someone types "price".
Only one greeting and one away message. You cannot run different automatic flows for different products or campaigns.
No follow-ups. The app will not chase a customer who went quiet after asking for a quote.
Quick replies are manual. Someone still has to be there to type the shortcut.

Moving to real automation

When you want the system to actually respond to what customers write, route enquiries, and follow up on its own, you move up to the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API) with a CRM. That combination allows keyword and menu-based auto-replies, chatbots that answer common questions any time of day, and automatic follow-ups, while a person steps in for anything the bot cannot handle. The path from the free app to the API is covered in WhatsApp Business app vs API, and it fits alongside teams of agents as described in WhatsApp for teams.

IndiaCRM's WhatsApp CRM brings this together: a shared inbox, keyword auto-replies, greeting and away automation, broadcasts and follow-ups, with every chat saved as a lead. Start with the free app's greeting and away messages today, get the habit of never leaving a customer in silence, and add real automation when the volume calls for it.