> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs-next.gallabox.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Unsupported Messages

> Why a customer's message sometimes arrives empty or as "unsupported", which WhatsApp message types Gallabox does receive, and what to do when one doesn't come through.

> **Who can use this?**
>
> * Applies to every plan and every WhatsApp channel. Nothing to enable or configure.

<Info>
  Occasionally a customer sends you something and the Inbox shows **"You received a message, but WhatsApp Business API doesn't support it yet."** The message did arrive — but WhatsApp's Business API didn't pass along its content, so there's nothing for Gallabox to display.

  This is a limitation of the WhatsApp Business API itself, not of Gallabox. The same message would be unreadable on any platform built on it.
</Info>

## Why this happens

WhatsApp has two different products. The **consumer app** supports a wider set of message types than the **Business API** that platforms like Gallabox connect to. When a customer sends something from the consumer app that the Business API has no equivalent for, Meta forwards a placeholder marked `unsupported` instead of the content.

Gallabox receives the notification that a message arrived, along with who sent it and when, but not what was in it.

## What Gallabox does receive

Everything in this list comes through normally:

| Type                                            | Notes                                        |
| ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **Text**                                        | Plain text messages                          |
| **Image**, **Video**, **Audio**, **Voice note** | Delivered as media you can open and download |
| **Document**                                    | The file itself comes through                |
| **Sticker**                                     | Rendered in the conversation                 |
| **Location**                                    | Shown as a static location                   |
| **Contact card**                                | Shared contact details                       |
| **Reaction**                                    | Emoji reactions on your messages             |
| **Button and list replies**                     | Replies to interactive messages you sent     |
| **Order**                                       | Cart submissions from your WhatsApp catalog  |
| **Payment**                                     | Payment status updates                       |
| **Call events**                                 | WhatsApp Calling activity                    |

If something in this list isn't appearing, that's a genuine problem rather than an API limitation — see [WhatsApp Failed Messages](/reports-and-analytics/whatsapp-failed-messages).

## Known unsupported cases

**A document sent with a caption.** When a customer attaches a file — PDF, PPT, DOC, CSV — *and* types a caption with it, the Business API doesn't deliver the pair. This is the case support sees most often.

Beyond that, WhatsApp doesn't tell us what the original message was, so the placeholder can't be resolved into a specific type. In practice it covers message types the consumer app offers that the Business API has no representation for.

<Note>
  Meta expands Business API support over time, and types that are unsupported today may start arriving later without any change on your side.
</Note>

## What to do about it

The message is unreadable, but the conversation isn't lost — you know who sent it and when.

1. **Reply and ask.** The customer is in an open conversation, and the 24-hour service window is running, so a free-form reply costs nothing. "Sorry — that didn't come through on our end. Could you resend it?" works.
2. **Ask for the specific thing you need.** If you can guess what they were sending, name it: "Could you send the file on its own, without a caption?" for the document case, or "Could you type the address as text?"
3. **Don't ask them to resend the same way.** If the format isn't supported, sending it again produces the same placeholder.

<Info>
  A canned response is worth setting up for this if your team hits it regularly — see [Canned Responses](/whatsapp/canned-responses).
</Info>

## FAQs

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Did the customer's message actually reach us?">
    It reached WhatsApp and Gallabox was notified, but the content wasn't included. Reply in the conversation and ask them to resend — they'll see your message normally.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is this a Gallabox bug?">
    No. WhatsApp's Business API sends a placeholder marked "unsupported" in place of the content, and Gallabox has nothing further to show. Any platform on the Business API behaves the same way.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Will it be fixed?">
    That's Meta's to change, not ours. They add Business API support for new message types periodically, and when they do, those messages start arriving with no change needed on your side.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A customer says they sent a PDF and we see nothing.">
    Most likely they attached it with a caption. Ask them to send the file on its own, then type any note as a separate message.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does an unsupported message still open the 24-hour service window?">
    Yes. It counts as an inbound customer message, so you can reply with free-form text at no charge.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Will my bot or AI agent handle these?">
    No — there's no content for them to read. Design flows so an unrecognised input falls back to a human handoff or a clarifying question rather than a dead end. See [Add Fallback Handling](/ai-agents-and-bots/bots/flow-builder#add-fallback-handling).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related Articles

* [WhatsApp Failed Messages](/reports-and-analytics/whatsapp-failed-messages) — for messages that fail to send, rather than fail to arrive
* [Canned Responses](/whatsapp/canned-responses) — save a standard reply for asking customers to resend
* [Omnichannel Inbox](/conversations/omnichannel-inbox) — how conversations arrive and how to work them