These are two different states, with two different causes and fixes. Both are visible under WhatsApp > Connections.
Restricted: you hit your messaging limit #
Your number has already started conversations with as many unique customers as your tier allows in the current rolling 24-hour window.
- What still works: you can keep replying to customers who messaged you.
- What stops: new business-initiated messages, including campaigns and notifications.
- How it clears: on its own, as the 24-hour window rolls forward.
- How to avoid it: check your Messaging Limit before each campaign and split large lists across days.
Flagged: your quality rating dropped to Low #
- What it means: enough recipients blocked or reported your messages for Meta to warn you.
- What happens next: if your rating returns to Medium or High within 7 days, the number goes back to Connected. If it doesn’t, it returns to Connected anyway, but on a lower messaging limit.
- What to do now: pause marketing campaigns, keep sending only messages customers expect, remove unresponsive and opted-out numbers, then watch the rating daily.
- What not to do: keep pushing volume. More sending while Flagged risks a further drop.
Tell them apart quickly #
If your campaign stopped partway through the day but replies still work, it is a limit problem. If your Quality Rating shows Red, it is a quality problem. Both at once means fix the quality first.
Source: Meta: Capacity, Quality Rating and Messaging Limits. Meta changes these rules from time to time, so check the source if something looks different in your account.
Found this useful?Add as Preferred Source on Google