## Overview

Three tools give you full control over what a **WhatsApp Web** inbox imports. Two of them live on
the **Features** tab and are **independent** — they are different contact-creation paths, and
turning one off does not turn the other off:

- **Sync contacts** (**Features** tab): imports the **member list** of the groups and communities
  the number belongs to as platform contacts. It ships **off by default** — no member list is
  imported unless you ask for it. When enabled, contacts are created with their **real name and
  phone**; community participants with hidden data are created as a **"Private contact"** and
  completed automatically once their number becomes known.
- **Create contacts for group/community senders** (**Features** tab): controls the other path — the
  person who **sends a message** inside a group or community. It ships **on**, so no already
  connected inbox changes behavior. **If participants keep becoming contacts even with "Sync
  contacts" off, this is the option you need to uncheck.** With it off the message still arrives
  and the bubble still shows the sender's **name and phone number** — only the contact is not
  created.
- **Ignore list** (**Ignored** tab): numbers, groups and channels that must **never** create a
  contact, conversation or message on this inbox — nor receive outbound sends. Perfect for
  announcement groups, bot numbers and channels outside your support flow.

## Prerequisites

- **Administrator** profile.
- An existing **WhatsApp Web** inbox (paired or not).

## Step by step

### Control group contact import

1. Open **Settings → Inboxes → your WhatsApp Web inbox → Features**.
2. Toggle **Sync contacts** (member list).
3. Toggle **Create contacts for group/community senders**.
4. Click **Save changes**.

To keep **no** group participant in your contact list, turn **both** off.

### Ignore numbers, groups and channels

1. Open the inbox **Ignored** tab.
2. To add one entry, type the value in the **Add** field — the type is auto-detected:
   - Number/contact: `5511999999999`, `+55 11 99999-9999` or `5511999999999@s.whatsapp.net`
   - Group: `120363043211123456@g.us`
   - Channel: `120363144038483540@newsletter`
3. To add many at once, click **Import**: paste the list (one per line, or comma-separated) **or**
   upload a `.txt`/`.csv` file. The report shows how many were created, duplicated and invalid
   (with a per-line reason).

## Settings & options

- **Types**: each entry gets a badge — **Contact**, **Group** or **Channel**.
- **Search and filter**: search by number/ID and filter by type.
- **Removal**: delete entries individually or select several and use **Delete selected**.

## Use cases

- Keep announcement groups and communities from generating thousands of irrelevant contacts.
- Block bot/spam numbers before they create conversations.
- Keep news channels out of the support flow.

## Tips, limits & best practices

- Blocking works **both ways**: inbound messages from an ignored entry are dropped and outbound
  sends to it are refused with a clear error.
- Detection works even when WhatsApp delivers the event with a **LID address** (anonymous
  identifier): the platform resolves the LID to the real number automatically.
- Adding a rule does **not** delete existing contacts and conversations — it only blocks new
  traffic. Remove manually anything you don't want to keep.
- Ignoring a community does **not** ignore its sub-groups — add each group you want blocked.
- Both contact options apply **only** to groups and communities. One-to-one chats, channels and
  status keep creating contacts as usual — without one the conversation would have no owner.
- Turning **Create contacts for group/community senders** off does not delete contacts already
  created: it only prevents new ones. Remove manually anything you don't want to keep.
- With no participant contact, the click-through to a profile from a group bubble goes away and
  rules that depend on the sending contact in a group conversation find nobody. To block a specific
  person, use the **Ignored** tab.

## Troubleshooting

- **An entry was rejected on import**: check the format — numbers need country code + area code
  (8 to 15 digits); groups end with `@g.us`; channels with `@newsletter`.
- **Messages from an ignored number still appear**: confirm the rule was created on this inbox (the
  list is **per inbox**) and the value matches the real number with country code.
- **Group contacts keep being created**: **Sync contacts** only covers the member list. Whoever
  **sends** a message in the group arrives through a different path — also uncheck **Create contacts
  for group/community senders** on the Features tab.

## See also

- [Connect WhatsApp Web via QR pairing](/hc/ajuda/articles/inboxes-channels-whatsapp-web-wazmeow-en)
- [WhatsApp Hub: groups, communities, channels and status](/hc/ajuda/articles/inboxes-channels-whatsapp-hub-grupos-comunidades-canais-status-en)