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

# A customer didn't receive my message

> If a customer says your reply never arrived, the fastest way to find out why is to check the message's delivery status in the conversation.

If a customer says your reply never arrived, the fastest way to find out why is to check the message's **delivery status** in the conversation. The most common cause on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram is the channel's messaging window — but the status tells you exactly where the message got stuck.

## Before you begin

* Open the **Inbox** and the conversation in question.
* Find the message you sent and look at its status indicator.

***

### 1. Read the message's delivery status

Every outbound message moves through statuses so you always know where it stands:

| Status        | What it means                                                        |
| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Sending**   | Cura is handing the message to the channel right now.                |
| **Retrying**  | An attempt didn't go through, so Cura is automatically trying again. |
| **Sent**      | The channel *accepted* the message — see the note below.             |
| **Delivered** | It reached the customer's device.                                    |
| **Read**      | The customer has opened it.                                          |
| **Failed**    | It couldn't be delivered, even after retrying.                       |

If the status is **delivered** or **read**, the message arrived — ask the customer to check the right chat or refresh their app.

<Warning>
  **Sent** does not mean received. It only means the platform accepted the message from Cura. **Delivered** and **read** come later, from the channel's own webhooks — on WhatsApp, for example, the ticks advance only when Meta reports back. If a message sits on **sent** and the customer says nothing arrived, work through the steps below.
</Warning>

### 2. If it's stuck on sending or retrying, wait briefly

A message in **sending** or **retrying** is still being handed off. Give it a moment — a transient network blip or provider hiccup usually clears on its own, and Cura retries automatically several times with a short, growing delay before it gives up. Most transient issues self-heal within about two minutes.

<Check>If it moves to sent or delivered, you're done. If it lands on failed, continue.</Check>

### 3. If it says "sent" but the customer didn't get it

**Sent** means the platform accepted the message, not that it reached the phone in the customer's hand. If it stays on **sent** and never advances to **delivered**:

* Double-check you have the **right number or handle** — a reply sent to the wrong contact still shows as sent.
* Confirm the messaging window was open when you sent (see step 4). A message accepted at the edge of a closing window can still fail to deliver.
* On WhatsApp, **delivered** and **read** ticks depend on the customer's own app and on Meta's delivery webhooks reaching Cura. If those webhooks are delayed or missing, the status can stay on **sent** even though the message went through.

If the customer genuinely didn't receive it and the handle and window both check out, contact support — delivery webhooks may not be reaching your account.

### 4. If it failed, check the channel's messaging window

Some channels only let you send a free-form reply for a limited time after the customer's last message. When that window has closed, Cura blocks the send and marks it **failed** before it ever reaches the platform.

| Channel                            | Free-form reply window                                                                                |
| ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **WhatsApp**                       | **24 hours** from the customer's last message. After that, blocked.                                   |
| **Messenger & Instagram**          | **24 hours** free-form, then up to **7 days** so your team can still respond. After 7 days, blocked.  |
| **LINE, Telegram, website widget** | **No window** — you can reply any time. A failure here points to a different cause (check steps 5–6). |

To fix a window-blocked message:

* Check when the customer last messaged you and compare it against the limit for that channel.
* **Wait for the customer to message again**, which reopens the window, then resend your reply.

For the full limit on every channel and why the window exists, see [Messaging windows by channel](/faqs/messaging-windows-by-channel).

<Note>
  When a message is blocked by the window, Cura marks it **failed** and the conversation shows the reason — for example, *"WhatsApp only allows free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message."* There is no owner-side setting that reopens a closed window; only a new inbound message from the customer does. WhatsApp template/broadcast sending is not available in Cura.
</Note>

<Note>
  On Instagram you may instead see *"this Instagram account is pending Meta approval for replies outside the 24-hour window."* That's a Meta app-review step for messaging in the 24-hour-to-7-day window. Reply within 24 hours where you can, and contact support to complete Meta approval.
</Note>

### 5. If it failed for another reason, check the channel

A failed message can also mean the channel itself needs attention.

* **"Needs reconnect" / "please reconnect this inbox"** — the channel's connection (its Meta or LINE authorization) has expired. Go to **Integrations → Channels**, reconnect the channel, then resend. See [A channel shows as disconnected](/faqs/channel-disconnected).
* **LINE messages suddenly stop near month-end** — you may have hit your LINE Official Account's monthly push-message quota. Upgrade your LINE messaging plan in the LINE console, or wait for the monthly reset. Replying promptly (within LINE's reply window) doesn't consume push quota.

<Check>Once the channel is connected and you're inside the messaging window, resend the message and watch it reach delivered.</Check>

<Note>
  A failed message doesn't resend itself once the underlying issue is fixed — use the **Retry** action on the message, or resend it manually from the conversation. Manual retry starts a fresh set of attempts.
</Note>

### 6. If an *inbound* attachment never arrived

Sometimes it's the customer's file that's missing: their text shows in the conversation but the photo, video, or document they sent didn't come through.

* Inbound attachments over **25 MB** are dropped as they arrive — only the text (if any) is kept.
* Ask the customer to resend a **smaller version (under 25 MB)** or share a link instead. This is a hard inbound size cap, not a per-account setting.

For the sizes and file types Cura can send *out* on each channel, see [Attachment and media limits](/faqs/attachments-and-media-limits).

<Note>
  Still not delivering after these checks? Contact support at [support@cura.so](mailto:support@cura.so) with the message ID, the channel, and roughly when you sent it.
</Note>

***

### Related articles

* [Messaging windows by channel](/faqs/messaging-windows-by-channel)
* [Attachment and media limits](/faqs/attachments-and-media-limits)
* [A channel shows as disconnected](/faqs/channel-disconnected)
* [My AI isn't replying — what do I check?](/faqs/ai-not-replying)
* [Replying to a customer](/inbox/replying-to-a-customer)
* [The Inbox explained](/inbox/the-inbox-explained)