> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://howto.paigeme.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Get a WhatsApp number from Green Pages > Green Pages Numbers are South African mobile numbers you rent for R90 a month and register with WhatsApp Business. Buy one, register it and manage it from the Numbers section of the Settings tab, without owning a SIM. The **Numbers** section of the [Settings tab](/guides/settings-project) is for people who don't have a phone number to use with WhatsApp. A **Green Pages number** is a South African mobile number that you rent by the month and register with WhatsApp Business. Green Pages looks after the number for you. It works like a virtual number: there is nothing to plug in, and the confirmation code WhatsApp sends to the number is passed on to you. You buy and manage a number in **Settings → Numbers**, and you register it in **Settings → WhatsApp**. You never have to leave Paige. **Numbers is being rolled out gradually.** If there is no **Numbers** section just below **WhatsApp** in your Settings, it isn't available on your account yet. Only the **project owner** or a **workspace admin** sees it. ## What a number costs * **R90 a month** for each number. The first month is paid up front, and the same card is charged again every 30 days. * Each number has **its own subscription**. It is billed separately from your Paige subscription and from your credits. See [Billing](/guides/billing#green-pages-numbers-are-billed-separately). * You have **3 days (72 hours)** from buying a number to register it with WhatsApp Business. If you don't, the number can go back on sale and the first month isn't refunded. Already have a number you can use? You don't need this page. Go straight to [Connect your WhatsApp number](/whatsapp-setup). ## Getting a number Everything in Numbers happens on one page. Nothing opens a separate screen, so there is no Back button to look for. This sets up Numbers on the account you are signed in to Paige with. Nothing is charged at this point. The page shows three steps, numbered in the order to do them. You finish each one right there, and a finished step stays on the page with a green tick so you can see what is done and what is left. 1. **Accept the terms.** Read the terms of use, tick the box and click **Accept the terms**. 2. **Your details.** Enter your first and last name and click **Save my details**. A number is registered to a person. 3. **Verify your WhatsApp number.** Enter your own WhatsApp number and click **Send me a code on WhatsApp**, then type the 6-digit code you receive and click **Verify**. This is the WhatsApp number your registration codes are sent to, so it must be one you can read. If the page says it could not refresh your details after you finish a step, click **Try again**. What you did was saved, and you are not asked to do it twice. Under the steps, **Available numbers** lists the numbers you can buy. **Buy this number** is greyed out, with a short note such as "Finish step 3 above to buy", until all three steps have a tick. As soon as the last one is done the buttons work. You don't need to reload the page. Click **Buy this number** on the one you want. Buying opens right there, under the **Available numbers** heading, and the rest of the page stays where it is. **Back to the available numbers** closes it again. Click **Hold this number**. It is kept for you for 10 minutes while you pay. **Cancel** lets it go. Then click **Pay**. A secure Paystack window opens for your card. You pay the first month now, and the same card is charged every 30 days after that. When the payment is confirmed you see **This number is yours**. Under it, **Next: connect it to WhatsApp** tells you where to go: click **Register** to open **Settings → WhatsApp**, where you connect the number. ### If something interrupts you * **You left the page while a number was on hold.** **Settings → Numbers** shows **You have a number on hold**. Click **Continue** to go back to it. If you had already paid, it takes you straight to the confirmation. * **The payment didn't go through.** The page says so and no number is bought. * **You paid, but the number could not be given to you.** You are refunded in full and emailed about it. ### Need more numbers, or a different one? Click **Ask about a number** below the list, type your question and click **Send message**. Your name and email address are filled in for you, and Green Pages replies to that address by email. If the message can't be sent you are told so, and what you typed stays in the form so you can try again. ## Registering your number with WhatsApp Business You have **3 days (72 hours)** from buying a number to register it. A number that is still waiting to be registered has two buttons, in **Your numbers** and on the project's number at the top of the page: * **Register** takes you to **Settings → WhatsApp** for the project you are in. That is where you connect the project to WhatsApp Business, and where the number gets registered. * **Manage** opens the number in a popup. It shows the time you have left to register, what happens if you run out of time, and the number's subscription. **Register** is in the popup too. You connect a Green Pages number exactly like any other number. The full walkthrough of Meta's side is on [Connect your WhatsApp number](/whatsapp-setup). These are the parts that are different. Open **Settings → WhatsApp**. Above the two tick boxes you see **Connect one of your Green Pages numbers**, with each number you hold that is not connected yet. Click the copy button next to the one you want. Tick the two boxes and click **Connect WhatsApp**. When Meta asks for your WhatsApp phone number, paste the number. It is not filled in for you. Choose to verify by **text message (SMS)**, not a phone call. WhatsApp sends a 6-digit code to the number. As soon as a message arrives for the number, **View your code** opens by itself under that number in **Settings → WhatsApp**. You can also open it by clicking the number. Click **Show code**, then type the code into Meta's window. The code is passed on to your own WhatsApp as well. Paige then links the number to the project and marks it as registered. There is nothing else to do. **Wait 10 minutes before asking WhatsApp for another code.** A code usually arrives within a minute, but it can take up to 10 minutes. Asking again sooner makes the wait longer. If you do ask again, only the newest code works. Only the person who bought a number sees its code. If a colleague's number is being connected to a project you manage, you see the number to type, but not the code. Ask them for it. ### You don't confirm the registration yourself There is no "I've registered this number" button in Paige. Once WhatsApp has accepted the number for your project, Paige marks it as registered and the countdown stops. This usually happens within a few seconds of finishing Meta's setup. If it doesn't, Paige checks again by itself every 15 minutes, so you don't need to do anything. ### Emails about registering * **An email asking you to confirm.** When WhatsApp sends its code to a number that is not connected to a project yet, you get an email about 30 minutes later saying we believe you have registered the number, and asking you to confirm it. You get this email once for a number. * **Reminders.** If the number is still not confirmed, you are reminded about 24 hours and about 6 hours before your time runs out. In Paige there is nothing to press: connect the number in **Settings → WhatsApp** and Paige marks it as registered. If you registered the number somewhere other than Paige, click the button in the email. It opens your numbers on the [Green Pages Numbers site](/guides/numbers-site), where you can confirm it yourself. The code, or any part of the message, is never put in an email. ### If a number isn't registered in time It can go back on sale, and the first month isn't refunded. If a message had already arrived for the number, it is not put back on sale by itself. It is put on hold, and the number says **Finish connecting it in Settings → WhatsApp**. ### If Paige could not link the number A project can have one Green Pages number, and a number can be linked to one project. Paige never moves a number for you. If you connect a number to a project that already has a different Green Pages number, or a number that is already linked to another of your projects, WhatsApp is connected but the number is not linked. **Settings → WhatsApp** tells you why and what to do: 1. Open **Settings → Numbers** on the project that has the number in the way. 2. Click **Disconnect from this project**. Paige then checks again within about 15 minutes. If WhatsApp on your project is still connected to your number, Paige links it and records its registration. The notice goes away as soon as you have disconnected the other number. If the number is still not linked after an hour, write to [info@greenpages.app](mailto:info@greenpages.app). If the number in the way belongs to someone else and you don't manage the project, ask the project owner to disconnect it. **A project connects to one WhatsApp number at a time.** If you click **Register** for a number while the project is already connected to another one, **Settings → WhatsApp** says so. Register that number from a project that is not connected yet, or [disconnect the current number](/whatsapp-setup#changing-your-whatsapp-number) first. ## Your numbers **Your numbers** is under the available numbers on the same page. It lists every number you hold, where each one stands, and the next thing to do. Click **Manage** on a number to open it in a popup. The list stays as it is underneath, and **Close** puts the popup away. On a phone the popup fits the screen and you scroll inside it. Before it cancels a subscription or asks for re-verification, Paige asks you to confirm. ### Cancelling a subscription **Cancel subscription** stops the monthly charge. The number keeps working until the end of the month you have paid for, and the payment you have already made is not refunded. You can change your mind with **Keep my subscription** before it ends. To stop paying for a number, this is the button to use. Disconnecting a number from a project does not cancel it. ### When a payment fails Nothing is switched off straight away. You are emailed, and **Pay now** appears on the number. It charges the card you already have on file. If there is no card that can be charged, the page tells you who to write to. The email tells you the date by which the payment has to be made. If the number is still unpaid on that date, the subscription ends. ### What happens when a subscription ends Whether you cancel or a payment stays unpaid, the number is cancelled with the mobile network once the subscription has ended. **That cannot be undone.** What it means for WhatsApp depends on the number: | The number is | What happens | | - | - | | **Connected to one of your Paige projects** | You lose the number. WhatsApp on it can stop at any time and cannot be recovered. | | **Not connected to a project**, and registered in your own WhatsApp Business account | It keeps working in WhatsApp for as long as it stays registered there, but it can never be verified again. | The page tells you which applies before you confirm a cancellation, and again on the number once it has ended. The emails you get say the same. To keep a number, pay or undo the cancellation **before the subscription ends**, or write to [info@greenpages.app](mailto:info@greenpages.app). Once the number has been cancelled with the mobile network, nobody can get it back. ### Asking for a number to be re-verified **Request re-verification** is for a registered number that needs a new code. For example, you are moving it to another WhatsApp provider, or you have lost your two-step PIN. Green Pages reconnects the number on its side, which can take a little while. The page shows when it is ready and how long you then have. The new code is passed on to your own WhatsApp, and you can also read it in **Settings → WhatsApp**: the number is listed there with **View your code** for as long as the request is open. **Read the code in Settings → WhatsApp** in the popup takes you there. ### Payments and invoices **Payments**, at the bottom of **Your numbers**, lists everything you have paid for all your numbers. Click an invoice number to download that invoice. Invoices are in this one list, not in a number's popup. ### Changing where your codes are sent Step 3 at the top of the page shows the WhatsApp number your codes go to. **Change number** lets you verify a different one. Your codes keep going to the current number until the new one is verified, and **Keep my current number** closes it without changing anything. ## Numbers and your project You don't choose a number for a project in **Settings → Numbers**. You connect the number in **Settings → WhatsApp**, and Paige links it to that project by itself once WhatsApp shows it as connected and verified. Linking does not change the number's subscription, what you pay, or where its registration codes are sent. Once a number is linked, the top of the page shows the number, where it stands (for example waiting to be registered, active, or a payment that failed), and how long you have left to register it if you haven't yet. The button under it is the next thing to do, and **Manage this number** always opens the popup. ### If Register is missing on a number A number that this project cannot take has no **Register** button, and a short note says why: either this project already has a Green Pages number, or the number is connected to another project. Register it from the right project, or disconnect the other number first. ### Disconnecting a number from a project **Disconnect from this project** removes the number from the project. It does not cancel the number and does not change its subscription in any way. The number is linked to a project again the next time it is connected in **Settings → WhatsApp**. ### A number connected by someone else If another member of your workspace connected their number to a project you own or administer, you see the number itself and one short status: * **Active** * **Waiting to be registered with WhatsApp Business** * **Needs attention from its owner** * **Subscription ended** You don't see their card or charges, why it needs attention, any dates, the time left to register it, or its registration code. You cannot pay for it or cancel it. Only the person who bought the number can do those. You can still disconnect the number from the project. If it says **Needs attention from its owner**, ask them to check it. If it says **Subscription ended**, the number is lost. WhatsApp on it can stop at any time and cannot be recovered, so a bot that runs on it can stop answering. ### If you leave a workspace If you leave a workspace while your number is connected to one of its projects, the number is still yours. You still pay for it, and you can cancel it from **Settings → Numbers** in any of your own projects. It stays linked to that project until someone there clicks **Disconnect from this project**. To use it on a project of your own afterwards, write to [info@greenpages.app](mailto:info@greenpages.app). ## Related pages The full walkthrough of Meta's embedded signup, business verification and your Meta payment method. The same numbers on their own website, for people who register a number outside Paige. On a phone, Settings sits behind the **☰** menu and each section is its own screen. See [Use Paige on your phone](/guides/mobile-app). This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.