Opt-in

Opt-in & opt-out

5 min readUpdated October 2026All plans

An opt-in is a customer's permission to receive WhatsApp messages from you. An opt-out means they don't want messages any more. Tanvik keeps an opt-in status on every contact so you can send campaigns only to people who agreed, and so people who said no are left out.

What opt-in means

WhatsApp's Business Policy expects you to have a person's permission before you send them messages they didn't ask for, such as offers and reminders. In Tanvik every contact has one of three statuses:

Status	Meaning
Opted in	You have their permission. They can receive messages.
Opted out	They said no, or you marked them DND. Messages to them are blocked.
Unknown	There is no opt-in or opt-out record for this number yet.

Messaging people who didn't agree puts your number at risk. When people block or report your messages, WhatsApp can lower your number's quality rating and limit how many people you can message.

Collecting consent

Ask for permission wherever you already talk to customers, and tell them clearly that you'll contact them on WhatsApp. For example:

a tick box on your website, checkout or sign-up form
a sign-up sheet or counter card at your shop
asking customers to send a message to your WhatsApp number

Keep a note of how and when each person agreed. Then record the opt-in in Tanvik using one of the ways below.

Tip: When a customer messages you first, you can reply freely for 24 hours from their last message. See Reply, assign & organise conversations.

Recording opt-ins in Tanvik

When you add a contact

In Customers › Contacts, click Add contact and set Opt-in status to Opted in (can receive messages).

For an existing contact

Click the contact in the list, click Edit in their details, change Opt-in status, and click Save.

In bulk with a CSV import

Everyone you bring in with Import on the Contacts page is marked opted in, except numbers that have already opted out, which stay opted out. Only import people who agreed. See Import & manage contacts.

Workspaces whose plan includes Opt-in also have an Opt-in tab on Settings › Channels & WhatsApp (you can also reach it from Subscribers and opt-in under More settings in Settings › Workspace › General, which is shown to admins). For WhatsApp numbers connected through Meta, the tab says Opt-in managed by Meta and has nothing to set up. Manage opt-in status from Contacts instead.

On other connections the tab shows how many numbers are Opted in and Opted out, a list you can filter by All, Opted in and Opted out, and a search by phone. Click Add phone to record one number as opt-in or opt-out, or Import CSV to bring in many (upload a CSV or TXT file, or paste numbers one per line).

Opt-outs and STOP replies

A contact becomes Opted out when:

they reply STOP to your messages
someone on your team clicks Mark DND (stop future messages) for them in the Inbox (open the chat's … menu)
you set their Opt-in status to Opted out (blocked) on the Contacts page

On the Contacts page, click Opted out in the left column to list every contact who stopped messages. In Leads, a lead who can't be messaged shows a Do not disturb tag.

If your plan includes Reports, you can see and download the full list: press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac), type Reports and open it, scroll to Logs & exports and open the Opt-outs tab. It shows each number, name, source (for example Replied STOP, Manual or Marked DND) and when they opted out. Click Export CSV to download it.

Tip: Download the opt-out list to keep your own files in sync. An import never re-opts in a number that opted out; to change that, edit the contact once the person has agreed again.

Opt-in and your campaigns

Opted-out numbers are automatically left out of your campaigns. When you choose a campaign audience you can narrow it further:

Opted in only (can receive messages) sends only to contacts marked opted in.
All contacts (DND excluded) sends to everyone except contacts marked DND.

Marking a contact DND also stops agent messages from the Inbox until DND is removed.

Only switch someone back to opted in if they have asked to hear from you again, for example by messaging you or signing up again.

Common questions

Most of my contacts show "Opt-in not known". Can I still message them?

It only means Tanvik has no record either way. If you have their permission, record it so your records stay accurate and you can use the Opted in only audience.

A customer who replied STOP wants messages again. What do I do?

Open the contact, click Edit and set Opt-in status to Opted in (can receive messages). Or, in the Inbox, choose Remove DND (allow messages) from the chat's … menu.

I don't see an Opt-in tab on Channels.

The tab only shows when Opt-in is part of your workspace. You don't need it to manage opt-ins; use the Contacts page.

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