Coexistence
Move to the WhatsApp API without changing your number
Coexistence lets you keep the number your store already uses when connecting to the official API. Your customers keep writing to the same place they always have.
It's the objection that stalls almost every migration: “I've had this number for three years, I can't change it.” You don't have to. This page explains exactly what stays, what's lost, and how it's done.
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What is WhatsApp coexistence?
It's Meta's official feature that lets the WhatsApp Business app and the API run on the same number, instead of forcing you to pick one.
Before Meta enabled this, moving to the API meant registering a new number and starting from scratch: telling customers, updating your email signature, changing the button on your store, and accepting that people would keep writing to the old number for months. Coexistence removes that step entirely.
The number stays connected to both at once: the app keeps working on the phone, and the platform receives the same messages, with history kept in sync between the two.
What stays, and what gets lost?
Your number, contacts, and up to 180 days of history are kept. Groups, broadcast lists, and a few social features of the app are lost.
This table is the part almost nobody publishes, and it's exactly what you need before deciding:
| What happens when you turn on coexistence | |
|---|---|
| Your phone number | Kept. It's the same one as always. |
| Contacts | Synced from the app. |
| Individual chat history | Imported up to 180 days back, if you authorize sharing it. |
| Files and media | Only from the last 14 days. Anything older doesn't transfer. |
| Groups | Don't work over the API. The most noticeable loss. |
| Broadcast lists | Disabled. |
| Disappearing and view-once messages | Disabled. |
| Live location | Disabled. |
| Sending speed | Capped at 20 messages per second, more than enough for customer support. |
What are the requirements?
The WhatsApp Business app on version 2.24.17 or later, and a Shopify store. The guided connection handles the rest.
- The WhatsApp Business app installed and updated to version 2.24.17 or later.
- The number can't already be connected to another API platform.
- A Shopify store: ConexiaChat only works with Shopify.
- Syncing has a 24-hour window to complete. If it's left half-done, you have to start over.
How do you do it, step by step?
You install the app on Shopify, choose to keep your number, and authorize the sync from your phone. No code required.
- 1 Install ConexiaChat from the Shopify App Store One click from your Shopify dashboard.
- 2 Choose to keep your current number In the guided connection, instead of registering a new one.
- 3 Authorize the sync from your phone From the WhatsApp Business app, you approve sharing contacts and history. This step needs to be completed within 24 hours.
- 4 Check that your chats are there Once it's done, your conversations from the last few months show up in the inbox, with Shopify order history right next to them.
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What if I'd rather start with a new number?
You can do that too. A new number avoids coexistence's limitations, in exchange for your customers having to learn a different contact.
It makes sense in two cases: if your current number is registered to an employee who might leave, or if you want to keep store support separate from the phone you use to talk to suppliers. In every other case, keeping the number your customers already have saved is almost always the better call.
Whichever option you pick, you end up in the same place: the shared inbox with Shopify data inside the chat.
Frequently asked questions
Will my customers notice anything?
No. They keep writing to the same number and see the same conversations they always have on their phone. The change happens entirely on the business side.
Can I keep using the WhatsApp Business app on my phone?
Yes, that's exactly what coexistence is for: the app and the platform run on the same number, with history kept in sync between the two.
Do previous conversations get lost?
Not if you authorize sharing them: individual chats up to 180 days back get imported. Media files only transfer if they're from the last 14 days.
What happens to my WhatsApp groups?
Groups aren't supported by the WhatsApp API, so they stop working on the number you move to coexistence. If your operation depends on groups, it's worth weighing that before migrating.
Can I undo this?
Yes. Disconnecting is done from the WhatsApp Business app's own settings, not from the platform.
Does this stop my account from getting banned?
Moving to the official API takes you out of the gray area where a lot of bans happen, because it's the path Meta recognizes for sending from software. That said, no platform can guarantee you won't get banned: you still have to follow WhatsApp Business's policies. The documented causes of bans — and how to avoid them — are in this guide.
Keep your number, gain the rest
Install the app, choose to keep your number, and check in your own inbox what history got synced.
Install on Shopify14-day trial. No credit card.