The pane always says why a chat did not open. Find the message below. If the pane shows none, work through the checks at the end.
Your browser blocked the new tab #
Your browser blocked the new tab. Allow pop-ups for Excel and click again. This happens most often in Excel on the web, because the chat opens in a new tab. Allow pop-ups for the Excel site in your browser (look for the blocked pop-up icon in the address bar), then click Open this chat again.
Excel could not open your browser (Mac) #
Excel could not open your browser from here. Copy the link below and paste it into your browser to open the chat for row 3. On a Mac, Excel sometimes cannot hand the link to your browser. The pane then shows the chat link with a Copy link button. Click it, and the pane says Link copied. Paste it into your browser’s address bar. Paste the link into your browser and the chat opens as usual. If copying does not work, the pane says Copying did not work here. Select the link and copy it by hand. Select the link shown and copy it with your keyboard.
Could not open the chat #
Could not open the chat. Check your default browser, then click again. Chat Merge asked Excel to open the link in your default browser and that did not work. Make sure a default browser is set on your computer and works, then click again. You can also try WhatsApp Web instead of the chat page in Settings.
The WhatsApp app did not open #
Sent row 3 to the WhatsApp app. If nothing opened, check that WhatsApp is installed, or switch to WhatsApp’s chat page in Settings. This appears only when Open chats in is set to the WhatsApp desktop app. Check that WhatsApp is installed and that you are logged in. If Excel showed a prompt, see Excel asks to open an application. Switching to WhatsApp’s chat page needs nothing installed.
The row has no valid number #
Row 5 has no valid number: number too short. Fix it in Excel or choose another row. Correct the number in your table and choose Use selected table to read it again. See Fix numbers that cannot be used.
The message cannot be used #
- Write a message first. The message box is empty.
- This message is too long for a chat link. Shorten it by about 120 characters. A chat link has a size limit that includes the number and the message after field values are filled in. Shorten the message by the amount shown.
- The message uses a column that does not exist (or several): fix the message or rename the column so the field matches a column heading. Matching ignores capital letters and spaces around the name.
No contacts yet #
No contacts yet. Click any cell in your contact table, or insert sample contacts from the menu (top left). Click any cell inside your table. If the pane still shows nothing, choose Use selected table in the 1. Choose contacts card. If the table has a header row but no rows under it, add the contacts first.
No phone column was found #
No phone column was found. Choose the column with the phone numbers in the list above. Open the Phone column list in 1. Choose contacts and choose the column that holds the numbers.
The chat opened but the status column did not update #
The chat opened, but the status column could not be updated. This is usually a protected sheet. Unprotect it or turn the status column off in Settings, see Track who you have messaged.
Open next chat says every row has been opened #
Every row has been opened. Every row already has a status. If the pane says Every row with a valid number has been opened, the rows left have a number problem, so fix the numbers listed under 1. Choose contacts. To go through the list again, clear the status column from the menu.
Still nothing #
- Click once and wait a second. A second click within a moment is ignored on purpose, so one click opens only one chat.
- Check Settings to see where chats open, and try another choice.
- Reload the add-in with Reload add-in in the menu and try again.
If it still does not open, copy the diagnostic info from About and contact support with your Excel version and platform.