Can you move from WhatsApp Business on your phone to a CRM with the same number and keep your existing chats? Yes. You can use WhatsApp coexistence for this—not as a permanent setup, but as an intermediate step to move the available history into your CRM.
Connecting an existing number to WhatsApp Business API normally requires deleting the account in the WhatsApp Business app. This removes the chat history from your phone, and it does not automatically appear in your CRM. That is why many people assume they will have to give up their old chats before switching to the API.
There is another sequence: first connect the number temporarily through coexistence, import your chats into the CRM, and only switch the number fully to the API after checking the import. With AnyLinga, you can do this for Kommo, amoCRM or HubSpot.
How the transfer works:
This lets you keep your number and bring your available past chats into the CRM without starting customer relationships from scratch. Important limits: WhatsApp transfers messages from the 180 days before connection and media files from only 14 days before connection. Group chats are not transferred.
Important: this is a one-way transfer. You cannot transfer imported chat history and CRM data back to the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. Deleting the account in the app removes the history from your phone; check the import in your CRM before deleting it. This applies specifically to past chat history: while coexistence is active, new messages can appear in both the app and the CRM.
Coexistence connects the number in your WhatsApp Business app to Cloud API without removing it from the app. In this process, it serves as a temporary bridge for transferring history, not a required setup for ongoing work. If you need to understand the differences between the app and the official WhatsApp Business API, read the comparison before you start.
First, check the requirements:
It is easier to connect from a computer: you will need to scan the QR code shown in the Meta window using WhatsApp Business on your phone.
In AnyLinga, open “Channels” and enable “WhatsApp Business API”. In the “Connect WhatsApp Business” window, select “My WhatsApp Business on my phone”. Below this option, you will see: “Connect it and keep it linked to the app on your phone.” Click “Connect my WhatsApp”.
A Meta window will open. Enter the number, scan the QR code using the WhatsApp Business app, and confirm the transfer of your chat history.
Immediately after connecting, keep your phone online and the app open. The history arrives within the first few minutes or hours. Wait for it to transfer before checking the available import options.
While coexistence is active, the app on your phone keeps working. New messages sent from the app and from the CRM will appear in both places. But this does not mean you can later export old history already saved in your CRM back to your phone.
After the number is connected, WhatsApp can transfer the available history to AnyLinga. The next step is a bulk import, which moves the received history into your CRM. Contacts are created or linked to chats according to the integration’s rules; this does not copy your phone’s entire address book.
Open “Channels” and find the connected number. Next to “WhatsApp Business API”, click the import icon labeled “Import chat history from the phone”.
The “Import WhatsApp history” window offers four periods: 7, 30, 90, and 180 days. Each shows a message count. Select the period you need, check the deadline in the “Import available until …” line, and read the warning about deals and duplicates. Select the confirmation checkbox and click “Import”.
Choose a period based on how much past conversation your team needs in the CRM. A shorter period limits the amount of history imported. The 180-day period covers all messages WhatsApp provides. Selecting 180 days does not extend media availability: media files are available only for messages from the 14 days before connection.
Before starting a bulk import, consider its impact on your pipeline:
During the import, “History import: N of M” appears below the number. Use this indicator to check whether the process is complete.
Do not confuse the two deadlines. WhatsApp history synchronization must take place within 24 hours after connection. AnyLinga requests it automatically as soon as the number is connected. The bulk import button in AnyLinga is available for seven days after connection. This seven-day window does not extend WhatsApp’s 24-hour synchronization deadline.
You can also work without a bulk import. When a customer sends a new message or you message them, AnyLinga automatically transfers the available history for that chat to the CRM. It uses the history WhatsApp has already provided, within the 180-day limit. AnyLinga stores the received history for 180 days. However, for a full switch to the API, it is better to run a bulk import and check the results in advance rather than wait for new customer messages.
Before moving to the next step, open several important chats in your CRM. Check the history, contacts, attachments for the available period, and how the deals were created.
If your team uses Kommo, CRM setup is covered in the Kommo integration guide.
This is the main goal of the process described here if you want to stop using the phone app and keep working with the same number in your CRM. Coexistence was needed to transfer the available history; you do not have to keep using it.
Proceed to step 3 only after the import is complete and you have checked the chats you need in your CRM. Deleting the account in the app removes WhatsApp history from your phone. History already imported into the CRM stays there, but you cannot transfer it back to the WhatsApp Business app.
To switch:
After that, the number works through the API rather than the phone app—with templates, bulk messaging, and multiple agents. You do not need a smartphone to keep working.
If you want to keep replying to customers from your phone, you can stop after step 2 and keep coexistence. You do not need to stop using the app just to transfer your history.
Yes. First, connect the number through coexistence, transfer the available history to your CRM through AnyLinga, and check the results. Only then should you delete the WhatsApp Business account on your phone and connect the same number for API-only use.
No. With coexistence, the WhatsApp Business app keeps working, and the history stays on your phone. You can bring the available history from the previous 180 days into your CRM. If you later delete the account in the app, the history will be removed from your phone, so first make sure everything you need has been transferred to the CRM.
No. This method transfers available history from the app to the CRM, but not back. Having new messages synchronized across both interfaces during coexistence does not mean you can restore the entire CRM history in the app.
The import transfers data associated with the available chats. Corresponding contacts are created or linked in the CRM according to the integration’s rules. Your phone’s entire address book is not imported separately: do not assume that contacts without available chats have been transferred.
WhatsApp transfers messages sent or received during the 180 days before connection—about six months. Media files are available only for messages from the previous 14 days. Selecting a longer import period does not make older files available.
No. Group chats are not included in the history WhatsApp transfers when connecting through coexistence.
WhatsApp history synchronization must finish within 24 hours after connection. After that, you need to disconnect the number and go through the connection process again to retrieve the history again. This is a separate deadline, unrelated to AnyLinga’s seven-day window for importing history already received.
No. If working from your phone is convenient, you can keep coexistence. But if your goal is to move fully to the CRM and the official API with the same number, complete step 3 after checking the import.
Written by
Max Shishkin — founder of AnyLinga
Solo founder building AnyLinga from Argentina. Read the founder story.
Start with an AnyLinga trial period. Connect your existing WhatsApp Business number through coexistence, import the available chat history, and check the chats in your CRM. You can then use the same number exclusively through the API without having to keep working in the phone app.
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