How to create a WhatsApp Business catalog, add collections and share it

The short answer

A WhatsApp Business catalog is a product list that lives on your WhatsApp Business profile. Customers can browse it, open an item, ask about it in the chat or forward it to a friend, without leaving WhatsApp. To build one, open the Tools tab in the WhatsApp Business app, tap Catalog and add items one by one. It is free, and for a shop with a few dozen products it takes under an hour.

This guide covers the app first, using the menu names in WhatsApp's Help Center as of 30 Oct 2026, then explains how catalogues work on the WhatsApp Business API. If you have not set up the app yet, start with how to create a WhatsApp Business account. For what a catalogue is in general, see the WhatsApp catalog glossary entry.

Step 1: prepare the product list

Typing products on a phone is slow, so prepare them in a sheet or notebook first. For each item you need:

Also check that everything you list is allowed. Catalogue items must meet WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy, which prohibits or restricts categories such as firearms, alcohol and tobacco, drugs, medical and healthcare products, and adult products, among others. Read the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy yourself if you sell anything regulated, such as medicines or supplements.

Step 2: add items to the catalogue

1. Open the Tools tab and tap Catalog.
2. Tap Add new item.
3. Tap Add photos and videos and choose from your gallery or take new ones (up to 10).
4. Enter the product or service name.
5. Tap Country of origin, choose the country, and tap Save.
6. Add the optional details: Price, Sale price, Description, Website link and Product or service code.
7. Tap Save.

Repeat for each item. Services work the same way: a salon can list 'Bridal makeup trial, 90 minutes' with a price, and a coaching centre can list a course.

Worked example: Rangoli Home

Priya runs Rangoli Home, a home-decor shop in Jaipur that sells block-print cushion covers and table linen on Instagram and WhatsApp. Her first catalogue has 24 items. A typical entry:

When a customer forwards that item back to her with "2 of these?", Priya sees the code and the price at once and replies with the total of ₹1,098 plus delivery, instead of scrolling through Instagram to work out which cover they mean.

Step 3: check the review status

Every photo, video and item is reviewed to confirm it meets the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy. Customers can see an item only after it is approved. Approved items are added to the catalogue automatically; a rejected item shows a red exclamation mark next to its image.

If you think an item was rejected by mistake:

1. Tap the rejected item.
2. Tap Request another review.
3. Explain why it meets the policy and tap Continue.

Before appealing, compare the item with the policy's prohibited categories and make sure the name, photos and description describe the same product.

Step 4: group items into collections

Collections are sections inside your catalogue, such as 'Cushion covers', 'Table runners' and 'Diwali gift sets'. You must add the items first. Then:

1. Tap Tools → Catalog.
2. Open the menu, tap Collections, then the add icon.
3. Enter a name and tap Next.
4. Select the items for this collection and tap Done.

WhatsApp reviews collections against its Commerce Policy before customers see them, and says this should take no more than 24 hours. From the same Collections menu you can add or remove items, reorder items and collections, rename or delete a collection. Put your best sellers in the first collection, because that is what customers see first.

Step 5: share items and the catalogue link

A catalogue only works if customers open it. You can share a link to one item or to your entire catalogue:

1. Go to Tools → Catalog and select the item (or open the catalogue).
2. Tap Share.
3. Choose Send link via WhatsApp Business (into a chat), Add to my status, Copy Link, or Share Link (email or another app).
4. Optionally edit the message that goes with the link, then send.

You can also share a product from inside an individual or group chat. A few limits to know:

• Collections cannot be shared as a single link. Share the catalogue link and tell customers which collection to open, or send the items one by one.
• The auto-generated links cannot be customised, and editing them can break them.
• Inside WhatsApp the link opens the item or catalogue directly; from email or a browser the person picks how to open it. WhatsApp notes that links may not open on Android versions older than 6.0.

Good places for the catalogue link: your Instagram bio and story highlights, your greeting message, the labels or lists you use to message repeat customers, and a QR code on your shop counter.

Step 6: keep it up to date

An out-of-date catalogue causes more trouble than no catalogue, because customers order items you cannot ship. Three habits help:

• Hide, don't delete, out-of-stock items. Press and hold items to select several, then hide them. Hidden items stay in your catalogue manager so you can unhide them when stock returns. WhatsApp notes this feature may not be available to everyone yet.
• Update prices before a sale using the sale price field, and remove it when the sale ends.
• Delete items you will never sell again: long press the image and tap the delete icon.

Using a Meta catalogue from Commerce Manager instead

If you already sell on Facebook or Instagram with a catalogue in Meta's Commerce Manager, you can connect that catalogue to the WhatsApp Business app instead of typing items again. You need the catalogue in Commerce Manager and the Facebook Page linked to it connected to your WhatsApp Business account. Then go to Tools → Catalog, open the menu, tap Catalog settings and Connect catalog.

Two things change. Your existing app catalogue is archived and hidden from customers, and you can no longer edit products in the app: changes are made in Commerce Manager (or in the store platform feeding it), and WhatsApp says they appear in the app within 24 hours. Disconnecting brings the old app catalogue back. WhatsApp says this feature may not be available to everyone yet.

How catalogues work on the WhatsApp Business API

On the WhatsApp Business Platform there is no in-app catalogue editor. The catalogue is a Meta commerce catalogue created in Commerce Manager (or through Meta's Commerce API, often fed by Shopify or WooCommerce) and connected to your WhatsApp Business account. Each item has a retailer ID, which is your SKU. You then send it in messages:

Customers can add up to 99 units of each item to a cart and send it to you as an order. A cart belongs to one chat on one device and does not move across devices. Meta also says businesses in India must comply with online selling laws.

What changes compared with the app:

• Many agents and automation. A chatbot can send the right products when a customer asks for 'blue covers', and the order lands in your system instead of one person's phone.
• The 24-hour rule. Free-form product and catalogue messages need an open customer service window. To start a conversation, use an approved template.
• Cost. Meta charges per delivered template message on the API; see WhatsApp API pricing.
• Coexistence numbers. If you keep the Business app on the same number through coexistence, catalogue, orders and Status stay in the app and are not supported through the API.

In Broadchat, products from Shopify, WooCommerce or a WhatsApp catalogue store appear under Ecommerce → Products, Ecommerce → Store Front sets up the store customers browse, and the chatbot's send-message step can send product, multi-product and catalogue messages. The ecommerce playbook and the Shopify integration show how this fits together, and the WhatsApp marketing strategy guide covers how to promote the catalogue once it is live.

If you set up WhatsApp catalogues for shop owners as an agency, you can offer the API version under your own brand with a white-label platform.