Stop automated messages reaching a contact

Some people should never get an automated message: the customer who asked you to stop, the competitor who filled in your form, the colleague you use for testing. Outbound control is the block list that keeps them out of auto-replies, follow-ups, chatbot replies and scheduled broadcasts — while their messages still reach your inbox, and anything you type yourself still sends.

The sending caps are a separate thing: they sit on the number itself, not on this tab. There is a section at the end of this page for them.

Before you start

A connected WhatsApp Business number. With none connected, the tab shows Connect a WhatsApp account first and a Go to Integrations button.
Your role includes WhatsApp access (Settings → Roles), and the number is ticked for you under Settings → Channel access.
Your workspace’s plan includes Outbound Control.
The phone number you want to block, with its country code.

The Outbound control tab stays in the tab strip whether or not you can use it. If it opens and reads Outbound Control isn't in your plan or No Outbound Control access, the plan or your role is the thing to fix — ask a workspace owner.

Steps

Open Outbound control

In the sidebar, under Automation, click Integrations, then the WhatsApp Business card, then the Outbound control tab.

There are five tabs on that page: Accounts, Link generator, Lead capture, Outbound control and Health & safety.

Automation → Integrations → WhatsApp Business → Outbound control.

The chip at the top left names the number this list belongs to. The block list is per number. Blocking someone on your sales number leaves your support number free to keep messaging them.

If you cannot see the WhatsApp Business card on the Integrations page at all, the card is being hidden from you rather than greyed out — ask a workspace owner for WhatsApp access.

Block one number

Click Block number. A modal opens titled Block phone number with an Input choice of Single and Paste multiple. Single is selected already.

Type the number into Phone number, country code first, as in 60123456789.

Include the country code. Spaces, hyphens, and parentheses are stripped automatically.

Anything that is not 7 to 15 digits is refused with That doesn't look like a valid phone number — 7 to 15 digits expected.

Read the amber notice — it is the exact scope of a block.

The amber notice at the foot of the modal is the whole behaviour in two sentences:

Blocked numbers won't receive auto-replies, follow-ups, chatbot responses, or scheduled broadcasts. Inbound messages from them still appear in your inbox.

Click Block number. The toast reads Phone number blocked. and the list jumps to page 1, where new rows sort to the top.

Or paste a whole list

Switch Input to Paste multiple and paste into the box — one number per line. Commas and semicolons work as separators too, and duplicates are removed for you.

As you paste, two live counters appear: {N} valid in green and {M} invalid (fix or remove before saving) in red, with the bad numbers listed underneath as red chips (the first six, then +{n} more).

Fix or delete every red chip — one bad row blocks the whole save.

Saving is blocked while any row is invalid — the bad rows are not skipped for you. Fix or delete them, then click Block {N} numbers. The toast reads {N} phone numbers blocked.

The numbers are sent one at a time, so a failure part-way through stops the batch and the toast tells you how many landed.

Take someone off the list

Click the unblock icon at the right of their row. A confirmation appears:

{number} will be removed from the block list and will start receiving automated outbound messages again (auto-reply, follow-up, chatbot, scheduled broadcasts).

Click Unblock. The toast reads Phone number unblocked.

Unblocking resumes real messages. A contact you unblock can be picked up by the next follow-up sequence, auto-reply or scheduled broadcast without anyone approving it again. If you only want to pause automation for a while, leave them blocked.

There is no way to edit a row. To correct a typo, unblock it and add the right number.

Reading the list

The heading reads Blocked phone numbers with a {N} blocked pill beside it. Each row shows the number in a monospace font with Blocked 3 Sep 2026 underneath when the date is known.

The list shows 10 rows per page, with Page {n} of {m} and Previous page / Next page at the foot when there is more than one. The search field takes a partial number — Search by number… — and filters as you type. Unblocking the last row on a page walks you back one page.

The list changes without anyone opening this tab

This is the part that surprises people. Five other places write to the same list, and the tab refreshes itself when they do.

Where	What does it
A row on the Leads page, or a bulk selection	Block outbound and Resume outbound
A conversation	Take over blocks the contact; Hand back unblocks them
The pause keyword	Sending your number’s pause keyword to a contact blocks them; the resume keyword unblocks them — see Message settings
An AI chatbot playbook	A stage or rule carrying Stop automated messages blocks the contact, with nothing to approve
A number’s Unreadable messages setting	Set to Alert, stop automation for this contact, it blocks whoever sent the unreadable message

One switch governs all automation to a contact. Pausing the AI in a thread, blocking outbound from a contact row and the pause keyword all write the same entry, and any of them stops AI replies, auto-replies, follow-ups and campaigns together. There is no way to stop only one of them. Messages you type yourself still go out, and their messages still arrive.

From the Leads page

In the sidebar, under Database, open Leads — or whatever your workspace renamed that page to. On a single row the action is Block outbound, and Resume outbound puts it back.

For several people at once, tick the rows, then open More actions in the bulk bar and look for the outbound submenu. It is labelled Outbound unless your workspace renamed that action under Database Configuration → Actions, so look for your own word for it. The same submenu offers Manage outbound, which brings you back to this tab. See Change many contacts at once.

If your workspace has more than one WhatsApp number, a modal opens first so you can choose which numbers the block applies to. With exactly one number it acts immediately, with no modal.

The modal is titled Block outbound or Resume outbound — or Block outbound for {N} leads when you selected several. It lists your numbers with an All accounts row at the top, and where it can work out the contact’s current state it annotates each number Currently blocked or Currently active. The confirm button counts what you ticked: Block ({N}) or Resume ({N}), and stays disabled until you tick something. If it says No accessible WhatsApp accounts., your access does not cover any connected number — ask an owner to check Settings → Channel access.

From a conversation

The automation line in a thread carries a Take over button. Its tooltip says exactly what it does:

Pauses AI replies, auto-replies, follow-ups and campaigns to this contact. Messages you send still go out.

Hand back reverses it: Let the AI, auto-replies, follow-ups and campaigns message this contact again.

On a thread with no AI, the wording drops the AI: Pauses follow-ups, auto-replies and campaigns to this contact. Messages you send still go out.

Without the right access, an AI line replaces the button with a tooltip reading Pausing the AI for this contact needs the Outbound control permission. An admin can do it from Integrations → WhatsApp → Outbound control. A follow-up-only line offers View instead, which opens the lead record: Open this contact's lead record, where every sequence they are in is listed.

That tooltip’s wording is its own. In the Roles editor the permission an owner grants is spelled WhatsApp.

Blocking a whole selection from your contact list

If you arrived on this tab from a contact selection, a band appears above the list before anything is added. It reads Loading your selected contacts… and then {N} contacts from your Leads selection — ready to add to the block list, with one removable chip per number, a button Add {N} to block list, and Dismiss.

Nothing is blocked until you press that button, and everything is added to whichever number the chip at the top is currently on. Check the chip first.

Cap how fast messages go out

The sending caps are not on this tab. They live on each number, in the Send safety section of the account drawer. Two ways in:

Integrations → WhatsApp Business → Accounts → click the number’s row, then scroll to Send safety.
Integrations → WhatsApp Business → Health & safety → the number’s Send safety → link, which opens the drawer at that section.

Send safety is per number. Nothing here saves until the bar at the bottom of the drawer.

Control	What it does
Skip opted-out contacts	`Auto-skip people who replied STOP.`
Auto-capture STOP replies	`Record an opt-out when someone replies STOP / unsubscribe.`
Add opt-out footer	`Append an unsubscribe line to free-form sends.`
Footer text	Appears only with the switch on. Up to 280 characters; starts as `Reply STOP to unsubscribe.`
Spread large campaigns	`Send over multiple days within your tier.`
Daily send cap	Appears only with Spread large campaigns on. `Leave blank to derive the cap from your messaging tier.`

The last four sit under Sending defaults — Applied to new campaigns unless overridden when scheduling. — so they are the starting point for each new campaign, not a hard ceiling on one you are scheduling.

Daily send cap does nothing on its own: it only applies with Spread large campaigns switched on, and left blank (it shows Auto (from tier)) it follows whatever Meta’s messaging tier for your number allows.

Nothing in the drawer takes effect until you use the single save bar at its bottom — see Message settings.

The Health & safety tab is also where you see each number’s health score out of 100, a red Restricted pill if Meta has restricted it, and either Opt-out enforced or No opt-out guard. It carries two guides — Recovery guide and Learn about safe sending — worth reading before a large send.

If something goes wrong

What you see	Why	What to do
`No blocked numbers yet`	Nothing is blocked on this number yet	`Add numbers here to skip them in auto-replies, follow-ups, chatbot responses, and scheduled broadcasts.`
`No matching numbers`	Your search matched nothing on this number	Clear the search. Remember the list is per number — check the chip
A blocked contact still got an automated message	They were blocked on a different number	Switch the chip to the other number and block them there too
A blocked contact’s messages keep arriving	Working as intended — only automated outbound is suppressed	Nothing to fix. Anything a person types still sends, too
Someone appeared on the list and nobody admits to it	A Take over, a contact-row block, a pause keyword, a chatbot playbook or an unreadable-message setting wrote it	Check the five sources above
Save is refused with red chips showing	At least one pasted row is not a valid number	Fix or delete every red chip — invalid rows are never silently skipped
The toast says fewer numbers were blocked than you pasted	Numbers are sent one at a time and the batch stopped on a failure	Search for the ones missing and add them again
A follow-up says `Sending is paused on this number`	The whole number is paused, separately from this per-contact list	There is no control for that in Raion Hub — message support
`Failed to load blocked numbers.`	The list could not be fetched	Reload the page; if it keeps happening, message support
The tab says your plan or role does not include Outbound Control	The tab is always visible; only its contents are gated	Ask a workspace owner to upgrade the plan, or to give your role WhatsApp access
An old /outbound-control bookmark	That address now redirects here	Nothing to fix — the bookmark still works, but the tab is the real home