TL;DR: WhatsApp error
131050means the recipient chose to stop receiving marketing messages from your business on WhatsApp. You cannot override it — only the user can opt back in. Stop sending marketing templates to them, suppress them, and subscribe to theuser_preferenceswebhook to track opt-outs.
What Error 131050 Means
Meta's details string is: "Unable to deliver the message. This recipient has chosen to stop receiving marketing messages on WhatsApp from your business." It's a per-business marketing opt-out. Meta's guidance: do not retry, and subscribe to the user_preferences webhook to be notified when users stop or resume marketing.
Where You See It
Typically a failed status webhook (status: failed, code: 131050) in statuses[].errors[]. This is a preference-state failure, not a "retry later" deliverability blip.
Common Causes
- The user explicitly opted out of marketing from your business.
- Your suppression list didn't update everywhere, or one tool sent after another recorded the opt-out.
- You treated a consent event like a temporary delivery failure.
How to Fix It
- Stop resending the same marketing message.
- Record the recipient as marketing-suppressed across all tools, numbers, and workflows.
- Subscribe to the
user_preferenceswebhook to capture opt-out/opt-in events. - Only resume marketing if the user later gives a fresh, compliant opt-in. You may still send permitted utility/service messages where appropriate.
How to Prevent It
- Maintain a single suppression source of truth and sync it across every campaign tool.
- Separate marketing consent from generic service consent.
- Keep marketing relevant and well-paced to reduce opt-out rate; enforce preferences before send-time.
Related Errors
/docs/whatsapp-error-131049— marketing cap/docs/whatsapp-error-131048— spam-rate restriction/docs/whatsapp-error-131026— undeliverable- See the full error reference
FAQ
What is WhatsApp error 131050? The user opted out of your marketing messages.
Can I override 131050? No — only the user can opt back in on their device.
How do I know who opted out? Subscribe to the user_preferences webhook.
Does 131050 mean the user blocked the business? Not necessarily — it specifically means they stopped your marketing messages.
How Dualhook Helps
Opt-out tracking is a genuine Dualhook strength. Dualhook can route the user_preferences webhook to your endpoint so your suppression lists stay accurate — without ever reading message content. See Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp and Maintain Account Health. The decision to stop marketing to a contact is enforced in your sending backend.