Short answer: WhatsApp Status ads are Meta ads that appear between status updates in WhatsApp’s Updates tab, never in chats or calls. You create them in Meta Ads Manager with the WhatsApp Status placement, and they can send people to a WhatsApp chat with your business or to your website. Meta is introducing them gradually, so they may not be available in your country yet.
What WhatsApp Status ads are
Meta says these ads only appear in WhatsApp Statuses, which are separate from chats and calls. A status is a single vertical image or video with a 9:16 aspect ratio that disappears after 24 hours.
WhatsApp says more than 1.5 billion people visit the Updates tab every day to see status updates or channels. Its business site lists promoted channels as coming soon: they will help people find a business by boosting its channel in the directory.
Personal messages, calls and status updates stay end-to-end encrypted and can’t be used to show people ads. The ads themselves are not end-to-end encrypted: like all active Meta ads, they are public, searchable and stored in the Meta Ad Library. Our guide to the Meta Ad Library shows how to look them up.
WhatsApp’s business site lists ads that click to WhatsApp as a separate product. Our guide to WhatsApp ads covers those.
What you need before you start
For ads that send people to your website, Meta asks for a Facebook Page for your business. For ads that open a WhatsApp chat, you need a Facebook Page and a WhatsApp Business account, set up in the WhatsApp Business app itself or integrated through the API. Our guide to the WhatsApp Business app shows how to set the app up.
You must include the Instagram Stories placement to use WhatsApp Status. With the awareness objective, Dynamic Creative also has to be off, or you can’t select WhatsApp Status as a placement.
Meta rolls the feature out gradually and warns that your country may not have it yet. For the app destination, Meta adds that it may not be available to you at this time, and WhatsApp’s business site lists it as coming soon.
In our view, choose the WhatsApp chat destination only if someone can answer new chats quickly.
Objectives, audiences and what doesn’t work
Meta lists six campaign objectives for Status ads: Awareness, Engagement, Traffic, Leads, Sales and App promotion, with App promotion still in testing.
The audience can use locations, languages and age. Status ads include people on WhatsApp whose age is unknown by default, and you can uncheck that box. That choice isn’t available if your ad account has a minimum age set for age-restricted goods and services.
Meta warns that narrow targeting may keep delivery low and recommends Advantage+ audience. For what Advantage+ does, see our guide to Meta Advantage+.
Some features keep your ads out of WhatsApp Status. Meta’s list includes Shops ads, Meta experiments such as A/B tests, the Collection format, and Instant Experience, Facebook event and phone call destinations. Meta notes that the list may not cover every case.
Custom and lookalike audiences without Advantage+ custom audience may substantially reduce delivery. Detailed targeting without Advantage+ detailed targeting may restrict it.
How to create a WhatsApp Status ad
In Ads Manager, click + Create and choose an objective. With Traffic or Engagement, pick Messaging apps as the conversion location, choose your Facebook Page and check the box next to WhatsApp. With Engagement, Meta notes that Messaging apps may be called Message destinations. If the tool is new to you, start with our guide to Meta Ads Manager.
In Placements, Advantage+ placements is on by default and includes WhatsApp Status. If you switch to manual placements, keep Instagram Stories selected along with WhatsApp Status.
Meta automatically opts out advertisers who used brand safety and suitability controls on Facebook, Instagram or Threads in the past 12 months. You can opt in to the placement again.
At the ad level, choose a single image or video, or a carousel of 2 to 10 cards, and fill in the message template for chats. Meta allows a single video of up to 60 minutes.
Image and video specs for Status ads
For images, Meta recommends JPG or PNG at 720 x 1,280 pixels, with a minimum of 500 x 320. Any aspect ratio smaller than 1.91:1 is supported.
Videos can be MP4, MOV or GIF, at 720 x 1,280 recommended and 120 x 120 at least. Video captions are not supported, and Meta asks that the file container carry no lists or special boxes.
Carousels take 2 to 10 image cards: video isn’t supported there yet, and 9:16 is recommended. For the other placements, our ad sizes guide has the specs.
In our view, design the image for a vertical phone screen first, then check how it looks in Instagram Stories.
Who sees Status ads and how to measure them
Meta says WhatsApp collects very limited information about its users. To choose status ads, it uses basic account information such as country code or age, and device information such as language. It also uses general location such as city or country, not precise location. And it uses activity in Status and Channels, such as the channels people follow and how they interact with ads.
Information from other Meta apps applies only to people who added WhatsApp to an Accounts Center. That is optional, off by default and can be removed at any time.
You can opt out of WhatsApp Status at any time by deselecting the placement. If you have opted out of Instagram Stories in a campaign, WhatsApp Status is opted out too.
WhatsApp’s help center says Ads Manager reporting shows metrics such as impressions, clicks and messaging conversations started.
In our view, judge a Status ad by the chats it starts, not by its impressions.
Your WhatsApp Status ad, step by step
- Check that your Facebook Page and your WhatsApp Business account are connected.
- Create a campaign in Ads Manager with a supported objective, and pick WhatsApp or your website as the destination.
- Keep Advantage+ placements on, or select both Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status.
- Upload a vertical image or video, or a carousel of images.
- Make sure someone answers new chats, and compare the conversations each ad starts.
Steps 1 to 4 follow Meta’s help articles. Step 5 is our advice.
Before you publish a Status ad
- Your Facebook Page and WhatsApp Business account are connected.
- Instagram Stories is selected along with WhatsApp Status.
- In an awareness campaign, Dynamic Creative is off.
- The campaign has no Shops ad, Collection format, A/B test or Instant Experience.
- The image or video is vertical, at the recommended size.
- Someone can answer the chats the ads start.
RememberWhatsApp Status ads appear only in the Updates tab, between statuses. Set them up in Ads Manager with Instagram Stories included, use vertical images or video, and have someone ready to answer the chats.
Through our Meta Ads service, we plan, make and run your ads on Facebook and Instagram, in English and Spanish. We build them to end in a WhatsApp chat with you. The page, the Instagram account and the ad account stay in your name. Meta bills your card, and we never pay for your ads, resell them or add a margin.
Questions about WhatsApp Status ads
Are there ads on WhatsApp?
Yes, in the Updates tab. Meta shows them between status updates, never in personal chats or calls. WhatsApp’s business site also lists promoted channels as coming soon. Meta is introducing Status ads gradually, so they may not be available in your country yet.
Can WhatsApp read my chats to show me ads?
No. Meta says personal messages, calls and status updates are end-to-end encrypted and can’t be used to show ads. To pick ads, WhatsApp uses information such as country code, language, general location and activity in Status and Channels.
What do I need to run WhatsApp Status ads?
A Facebook Page for ads that send people to your website, plus a WhatsApp Business account for ads that open a chat. Ads Manager is where you create them, and the Instagram Stories placement must be included.
Why can’t I select the WhatsApp Status placement?
Meta points to a few causes: Instagram Stories isn’t selected, Dynamic Creative is on in an awareness campaign, or the campaign uses an incompatible feature such as Shops ads or an A/B test. Brand safety controls used in the past 12 months also opt you out, and the feature may not be available in your country yet.
What size should a WhatsApp Status ad be?
Meta recommends 720 x 1,280 pixels for images and videos, with JPG or PNG images and MP4, MOV or GIF videos. Any aspect ratio smaller than 1.91:1 is supported, and video captions are not supported.
Sources
We read these pages on November 7, 2026. Meta Business Help Center: About ads in WhatsApp Status, Create Ads in WhatsApp Status in Meta Ads Manager and About end-to-end encryption for advertisers using WhatsApp Status. WhatsApp Help Center: How to create ads in Status on the WhatsApp Business app. WhatsApp Business: WhatsApp Ads in Status and Channels. From our own site: our Meta Ads page and our guides on WhatsApp ads, the WhatsApp Business app, Ads Manager, Advantage+, the Ad Library and ad sizes.