Flows: Flow Activation

Where do I activate a flow?

There are two paths, and both end in the Flow Dashboard.

1. From the Flow Dashboard: find the flow with the Draft badge in the table and click Activate in its row. The status changes from Draft to Active.
2. From the Flow Builder: finish the flow, click Save, then activate it in the Flow Dashboard.

The Flow Builder has no Activate button of its own, so activation always runs through the dashboard. For the wider picture of how flows are built and managed, see the Flows overview.

What has to be in place before I can activate?

• A trigger. It is a mandatory field in the Starting point block.
• At least one Messages block.
• No message at WA Pending. Every message has to be approved by Meta first. This check is what stops a flow going live with content that cannot be sent.

How is this different from sending a newsletter?

A newsletter is sent once, by hand, to a segment you choose at that moment. A flow is activated once and then keeps running: every contact who fires the trigger goes through it individually and in real time. That is why there is no send button and no recipient list to pick — the trigger decides who enters and when.

What happens after activation?

• The flow runs in the background, permanently, with no further effort from you.
• Every contact who fires the trigger and passes all filters enters automatically — there is nothing to do per contact, so the flow scales without extra work.
• Several contacts can sit at different points of the same flow at the same time, independently of each other.
• A Delay block holds contacts in the queue; "Clients currently waiting: X" shows how many are waiting there right now.

How do I deactivate a flow?

Open the flow detail view and use the status toggle under Manage your Flow to switch the flow to Inactive. The flow itself is untouched: nothing is deleted, and you can activate it again whenever you want without rebuilding anything.

What do the flow statuses mean?

• Draft — created but not active. Nothing is sent.
• Active — live. The flow starts automatically every time the trigger fires.
• Pending — waiting for a condition or an approval, for example a message still at WA Pending.

The flow is Active but nothing is being sent — what now?

An active flow only starts for a contact when the trigger actually fires and every filter passes. So an Active status with no sends usually points at the entry logic rather than at the activation. Our guide on what to check when a WhatsApp flow is not triggering walks through the usual causes in order.