Filter contacts
A filter narrows the Contacts page to the people who match your conditions. It is how you choose who a broadcast goes to, who to export, and whose tags to change.
A good filter is the difference between a message that feels written for someone and one they block. Sending less, to the right people, protects your quality rating and gets more replies.
Apply a filter
- Go to the Contacts page and click Filter.
- Choose a field, such as Tags, and the value to match.
- Add more conditions if you need them, joined with AND or OR.
- Click Apply.
The list now shows only matching contacts. A dot above the Filter button tells you a filter is active. If you are about to broadcast and the dot is not there, you are about to send to everyone.
From a filtered list you can select contacts and Broadcast to them, Export them, or change their tags with Actions → Manage Tags.
What you can filter on
| Field | Matches contacts by |
|---|---|
| Name | Their name |
| Mobile Number | Their number |
| Tags | Tags you gave them |
| Source | How they arrived: IMPORT, ORGANIC, or a source you set in a CSV |
| First Message Tags | The tag given for the first thing they wrote to you |
| Opted in | Whether they are subscribed to your messages |
| Any attribute | Values you imported or a chatbot collected, such as city or preferred size |
You can also filter on Last Seen, Created At, Campaigns, Requested, Intervened, Closed and Incoming blocked.
AND and OR
AND keeps only contacts that match every condition. Each one you add makes the list smaller.
OR keeps contacts that match any condition. Each one you add makes the list bigger.
| Filter | Who you get |
|---|---|
Tag vip AND city Mumbai | VIP customers in Mumbai only |
Tag vip OR city Mumbai | All VIP customers, plus everyone in Mumbai |
Tag diwali_2026_signup AND Opted in Yes | Diwali sign-ups who have not unsubscribed |
Most broadcast audiences are built with AND. Reach for OR when you want to combine groups that are each worth messaging on their own, such as two sign-up campaigns with the same offer.
Filters worth saving in your head
Who a broadcast will really reach: Opted in is Yes. Opted-out contacts are skipped when a broadcast goes out, but they still show in your filters. Add this condition when you check the count, so the number you see is the number who will get it.
Never these people: Tags not has dnd. Keep a dnd tag for anyone who must never be messaged, and exclude it from every broadcast. See Remove and block contacts.
Check the count before you send
The number of matching contacts is what your broadcast will cost you from today's messaging limit.
A new number can send to 250 different people in 24 hours, and the limit is shared across all your WhatsApp numbers. If your filter returns more than you have left, messages beyond the limit fail. Tighten the filter, or split the audience over two days. See Messaging limits and quality.
A very small count is worth a second look too. If a filter you expected to match 2,000 people matches 40, a condition is probably wrong, most often an AND that should have been an OR.
When filters are not enough
Filters work on what WhatsApp Marketing knows: tags, attributes, and how people interacted with your number. If you want to reach people based on something that happened elsewhere, such as a purchase in your store, record it on the contact first. Import a CSV with a tag for that group, then filter on the tag. See Add and import contacts.
To follow up on a broadcast you already sent, such as everyone who read it but did not reply, work from the campaign's own results instead. See Manage broadcasts.
Updated about 1 month ago