INSTAGRAM DMs

You can send messages, photos and videos in chats to one or more people on Instagram. Messages won’t appear in feed, search or your profile.

Send a message

To send a message to someone:

1. Click or on the left.

2. Click in the top left.

3. Select the people you'd like to send a message to, then click Next.

4. Enter a message. You can also click to select a photo or video from your library.

5. Click Send.

To message someone you follow, you can also go to their profile and click Message.

Links you send will appear in the conversation with a preview image. When you send an address, you can click it from within the conversation to open your computer’s maps app.

Keep in mind, Instagram accounts you message may use third party apps or automated services to send messages in chats.

If you’re having trouble sending a message to someone on Instagram, try these troubleshooting steps to help solve the issue.

Unsend a message you've sent in a chat on Instagram

1. Click or on the left.

2. Select the conversation and go to the message you'd like to unsend.

3. Click next to the message.

4. Click Unsend, then click Unsend to confirm.

Once you unsend a message, it will no longer be visible to people included in the chat. Keep in mind that the people you sent it to may have already seen your message.

Note that your Data Download file doesn't include messages that you've unsent from your Instagram account.

You can start an audio or video call with up to 8 people on Instagram.

Start a call

To begin an audio or video call on Instagram:

1. Click or on the left.

2. Click an existing conversation on the left or start a new conversation.

3. From your chat, you can:

   • Click in the top right to start an audio call.

   • Click in the top right to start a video call.

4. Click Start call.

The person or group you call will receive a notification that you‘re calling them.

Keep in mind that anyone you‘ve accepted a message from, except for verified accounts, can video call with you. To prevent someone from video calling with you, you can block them.

Manage a call

While on an audio or video call, you can:

• Enter full screen. Click in the top right to expand your call screen.

• Update camera and audio settings. Click in the top right to make changes to your camera and audio settings.

• End a video call. Click at the bottom to end your video call.

Group Settings

You can choose who can add you to groups. Group chats may include Instagram and Facebook accounts.

1. Everyone on Instagram: Group chats from an Instagram and Facebook accounts you’ve already connected with will appear in your Chats list. All other group chats will be sent to your Message Requests folder.

2. Only People You Follow on Instagram: People you don’t follow won’t be able to add you to a group. They’ll see you don’t allow everyone to add you to groups if they try.

Accounts you’ve blocked won’t be able to send you message requests or add you to groups. If the account you’ve blocked is in a group chat you’ve been added to, you’ll be notified before you join the chat. Note if the person you blocked has multiple Instagram or Facebook accounts, you may need to block each account.

Learn how to report a message on Instagram.

Instagram lets you send messages to one or more people in chats. These messages can include text and photos or videos you take or upload from your library. You can also send the following things as a message:

• Posts you see in feed

• Disappearing photos and videos

• Instagram profiles

To see messages you've sent in chats

1. Click or on the left.

2. Click the conversation you want to view.

When you send a post from feed as a message, it'll only be visible to people who can already see it. For example, if you send a post from a private account as a message, only people who follow that account will be able to see it.

Photos or videos sent in a chat can't be shared through Instagram to other sites like Facebook or Twitter, and won't appear on hashtag and location pages.

Learn how to view messages you've received on Instagram.

You can send posts you see on Instagram as a direct message. Messages won't appear in feed, search or your profile.

Send photos, reels or carousels as a direct message

1. Click below the post you'd like to send.

2. Click next to the person or group from the list below or click Search to search for someone.

3. Add an optional message, then click Send.

Keep in mind that when you send a private account's post as a message, only people who follow that account will be able to see the post. The person who uploaded the post won't be notified.

You can send a disappearing photo or video to others in chats on Instagram. After someone opens a disappearing photo or video you've sent them, the message is no longer visible to them in the chat unless you've allowed a replay of your message.

Send a disappearing photo or video

To send a disappearing photo or video:

1. Tap or in the top right of Feed.
   

2. Tap a chat from your Chats list or start a new chat.

3. Tap in the bottom left.

4. You can choose to:

   • Take a photo or video. Tap the circle at the bottom of the screen to take a photo or tap and hold the circle to record a video.

   • Upload a picture or video from your device. Tap the image icon in the bottom left of the screen to choose a photo or video from your device.

5. Customize your photo or video by adding text, a drawing or GIF.

6. Before sending your message, tap the icon in the bottom left of your screen to:

   • Select View Once to let the person or group receiving your photo or video only view it once.

   • Select Allow Replay to loop your photo or video and to let the recipient open and replay your photo or video one more time before it disappears.

   • Select Keep in Chat to keep a preview image of the photo or video visible in the chat thread.

7. Tap Send in the bottom right.

Keep in mind

• You can only send disappearing photos or videos to people who follow you or have already approved messages from you.

• You can't view your disappearing photos or videos after you've sent them in a chat, but you can see if they were seen or if someone took a screenshot.

• When you send other message types using Instagram Direct (example: posts from Feed, text, hashtags), those messages don't disappear and will remain visible in the conversation.

Learn how to also turn on vanish mode in your chat to send disappearing messages, photos, videos and other content.

Notes that your friends share will be at the top of your Chats list on Instagram.

Interact with notes

To reply to someone’s note:

1. Tap or in the top right of Feed.
   

2. Tap a note at the top of your Chats list.

3. Tap Send message… and enter your reply.

4. Tap Send. Your reply will be sent as direct message.

Mute notes from someone

You can choose to hide notes shared by someone at any time from the Instagram app.

To mute notes from someone:

1. Tap or in the top right of Feed.
   

2. Tap and hold a note.

3. Tap Mute notes, then confirm your choice.

People will not be notified when you mute their notes.

To unmute notes from someone:

1. Go to your feed, then tap at the bottom.

2. Tap Search at the top and enter their username to find and go to their profile.

3. Tap Following at the top, then tap Mute.

4. Tap Mute notes, then confirm your choice.

5. Tap next to Notes.

Keep in mind that muting someone’s notes will not apply to stories or posts they share. You will still see stories or posts they share in feed. Learn how to also mute their stories or posts they share to feed.

Learn how to share a note on Instagram.