How to set up auto reply on Instagram: 3 ways

The account you need

Every way in this guide needs an Instagram Business or Creator account. Personal accounts cannot use Instagram’s messaging API, and Instagram’s own automatic answers are only for Business and Creator accounts. You can switch to a professional account for free in the Instagram app.

Auto replies answer people who write to you. Under Instagram’s rules, a business cannot start a conversation with someone who has not messaged or commented first. And once someone writes, Instagram lets a business reply for 24 hours after that person’s last message. Our guide to the Instagram 24-hour messaging window explains the rule.

Way 1: the Instagram app (free)

The Instagram app has two features that save typing. Only one of them answers for you.

Frequently asked questions

A Business or Creator account can add up to four frequently asked questions. Instagram shows them when people start a message to your account. Each question can have an automatic answer, so people get a reply to simple questions at once.

• Good for: opening hours, prices, shipping and “how do I book?”.
• Know this: Instagram says that when a person picks one of these questions, their message goes to your Requests in Chats. Check your requests, so these chats do not go unanswered.
• If you have not set up your own questions, Instagram shows four suggested questions at the start of the chat. Write your own, so the answers fit your business.

Saved replies

Saved replies are not automatic. You save a message you send often and create a keyboard shortcut for it, so you can add it quickly when you reply by hand. They are for Business and Creator accounts in the Instagram mobile app. They save typing, but they do not answer while you sleep.

Way 2: Meta Business Suite (free)

Meta Business Suite has free inbox automations for Instagram business accounts connected to it. Set them up in Meta Business Suite: go to Inbox, click Automations, then click Create automation. The templates that answer Instagram DMs include:

• Auto reply (instant reply). A greeting when someone messages you for the first time. Meta’s help pages call it an instant reply.
• Away message. A reply when you are not available.
• Frequently asked questions. Questions people can ask you, with helpful answers.
• Custom keywords. A reply to a message that contains specific keywords.

Meta also has Location, Contact information and Hours templates, and Comment to message for comments.

The limits to know

• Custom keywords and Comment to message work only in Meta Business Suite on desktop.
• A custom keyword automation takes up to five keywords or phrases. Meta says keywords are case-sensitive and must match exactly, and each keyword can be used in only one automation.
• Meta sends a keyword reply to a message after 15 minutes, unless you answer yourself before then.
• If a template such as the away message also matches, Meta sends only the template reply, not the keyword reply.
• Turning on Meta Business Agent, Meta’s AI agent, pauses your existing automations.
• Meta notes that some messaging features are not available to businesses in Europe and Japan.

On the plus side, Meta’s keyword replies can include photos, videos, buttons and links. For a greeting, an away message and a few exact keywords, this free option works well.

Way 3: keyword replies with DM Flow

DM Flow answers DMs by keyword. When a message matches one of your keywords, DM Flow sends your reply. Here is how to set it up.

1. Sign in to DM Flow with Google. Connect your Instagram Business or Creator account through Instagram’s official login.
2. Go to Automations and click New automation. For the trigger, choose Direct message.
3. Add keywords, such as “price”, “shipping” or “size”. There is no limit on the number of keywords.
4. Choose the match: Contains the keyword, Is exactly the keyword, or Starts with the keyword. Capitals do not count unless you tick Match capitalisation exactly, so “Price” and “price” both match.
5. Write the reply. The editor counts bytes against Instagram’s limit of 1,000 and shows a live phone preview.
6. Check that the switch says Live, then click Publish. Test it from a second account you own.

What happens after you publish

• No waiting period. DM Flow adds no delay of its own. It sends as soon as its safety checks pass.
• The 24-hour window, checked first. A DM from the person opens the window, so a keyword reply to it is allowed. DM Flow checks the window before every message, so it does not send outside it.
• Automation steps aside. When you reply yourself, DM Flow pauses automation in that chat for 1 hour. You can also pause or resume it for each chat.
• One inbox. Every conversation is in your Instagram DM inbox, with a ring that shows the time left to reply.

DM Flow replies with text, and links inside the text. It has no buttons, and no greeting or away message. See Instagram auto reply by keyword in DM Flow for the details.

The 3 ways compared

You can use two of these together. For example, Meta’s away message for nights and weekends, and DM Flow’s keyword replies for prices. Give each tool its own job, so two tools never answer the same message. For comments, see how to auto reply to Instagram comments.

Message templates you can copy

Keep each reply short, give the answer in the first line and end with a question. A question invites an answer, and every answer keeps the 24-hour window open.

Each template fits easily in 1,000 bytes. Remember that most emoji take 4 bytes each, so a message full of emoji fits fewer letters.

When a dedicated tool is worth it

Start with the free tools if you get a few DMs a day and a greeting, an away message or a few exact keywords cover them. They come from Meta and cost nothing.

A dedicated tool such as DM Flow is worth it when:

• You want keyword replies to go out without a 15-minute wait.
• People write the same question in many ways, so you need a match anywhere in the message, and capitals should not matter.
• You need more than five keywords for one answer.
• You also want to answer comments on chosen posts with a DM. See Instagram comment to DM.
• You want to see replies sent and delivered for each automation, for 7, 30 or 90 days.

Mistakes to avoid

Keywords that are too short

When a keyword can match anywhere in a message, “hi” also matches “this”. Use clear words such as “price” or “shipping”, or choose Is exactly the keyword.

Two tools answering the same message

If Meta’s keyword reply and another tool both answer “price”, people get two replies. Give each tool its own job.

Forgetting your message requests

Messages from Instagram’s FAQ questions go to your Requests in Chats. Check them, and answer before the 24-hour window closes.

Replies that never end

An auto reply should answer one question and invite the next. Long replies full of links and emoji are hard to read on a phone, and they can run past the 1,000-byte limit.

Never reading the chats

Auto replies handle the first answer. The sale often happens in the next message, so read your chats every day.