7. Block and unblock contacts

Block a contact when you need to stop communication while retaining the history for your team. The block applies across the business, including other workspaces that have handled the same contact.

Open the contact panel in Contacts or Inbox and select Block. Staff can block and unblock contacts; an Admin role is not required.

Blocking effects

The block belongs to the contact across the business, not just the open thread or selected workspace. Converso closes that contact's open and snoozed conversations, clears snooze deadlines and turns off AI handling. A system message records why the conversation closed.

Communication changes depend on the channel:

• Webchat: incoming actions are rejected.
• AI: the agent does not answer the blocked contact.
• WhatsApp: incoming messages are not added as ordinary conversation messages. Converso also attempts a WhatsApp block for numbers the contact has written to.
• Email, where enabled: inbound channel mail and continuity replies from a resolved blocked contact are discarded.

If the WhatsApp block cannot yet be applied, the contact panel can show that blocking will occur when the person next writes. It also shows WhatsApp block state when available. The local block and a provider-side block are separate results; inspect an error rather than assuming the external action succeeded.

Blocking a contact

1. Open the contact and verify their identity and history.
2. Select Block.
3. Check the blocked indicator and any WhatsApp-specific status.
4. Review the affected conversations if several workspaces handled the contact.

Existing messages, tags, identities and notes remain. Blocking does not remove the contact from historical reporting. Because affected threads close, it can change closure counts. There is no special block-notification preference, and blocking does not erase notifications already generated.

Outgoing messages

Do not reopen a blocked conversation to continue sending messages. The current application does not consistently prevent staff replies after a blocked thread is manually reopened, so the block is not a universal outgoing-message control.

Unblocking

Select Unblock on the contact. Converso clears the local blocked state and attempts to release the WhatsApp block where applicable. Previously closed conversations remain closed and AI ownership is not restored automatically. Start or reopen the appropriate interaction when communication resumes.

Messages rejected or discarded during the block are not a queue that Converso replays afterwards. Ask the customer to resend information you need. External provider behaviour should be checked separately if a sender reports a delivery result that differs from the Converso history.

Deletion and merging

Delete only when you intend to remove the contact and associated data. Blocking keeps the history available for review. A merge keeps the surviving contact's blocking state; it does not automatically combine the block flags of both records. Review that state before and after any merge involving a blocked contact.

Related guides: Manage contacts, Merge contacts, Statuses, Permissions.