How to set up auto reply on Instagram (DMs and comments)

The short answer: switch to a professional (business or creator) account, then pick a tool. Instagram's own saved replies and Meta Business Suite's instant reply and away message cover simple DM greetings. For keyword answers in DMs and automatic replies to comments, you connect an automation tool that uses the official Instagram API and set up a default reply, keyword triggers and a comment flow.

People who message a business on Instagram expect an answer fast, and "fast" on a messaging app means minutes, not a day. Nobody can sit in the inbox around the clock. An auto reply closes that gap: the person gets something useful right away, and you pick up the conversation when you are back.

This guide covers both routes: what Instagram gives you for free, and how to set up a fuller auto reply step by step.

Before you start: you need a professional account

Auto reply of any kind, native or through a tool, only works on a professional account. A personal account has no saved replies, no Business Suite inbox and no API access. Switching is free and takes a minute in the app's settings, under the account type options. If you are not sure whether to pick business or creator, we compare the two here. Both work for everything in this guide.

What Instagram offers natively

Instagram and Meta have a few built-in reply tools. Menu names and locations change between app versions and regions, so treat the paths below as a guide to where to look, accurate at the time of writing, rather than exact labels.

Saved replies (in the Instagram app)

Saved replies are text shortcuts. You save a message once, give it a short word, and then insert it in any DM instead of typing it again. On a professional account they usually live in the app's settings in the section for business or creator tools. In a chat, typing the shortcut (or tapping the saved replies icon, depending on version) inserts the text.

The catch: saved replies are not automatic. You still open each conversation and send the message yourself. They save typing, not time away from the phone.

Instant reply and away message (in Meta Business Suite)

If your Instagram account is linked to a Facebook Page, Meta Business Suite has an inbox with an automations section. At the time of writing it offers:

• Instant reply: a message sent automatically to people who message you for the first time.
• Away message: a message sent when someone writes outside the hours you set.
• Frequently asked questions: a few suggested questions shown when someone starts a chat, each with a fixed answer.

Meta has also been adding simple keyword and comment automations to Business Suite for some accounts. Availability varies, so check the automations section of your own inbox.

Where native tools stop

The native tools are fine for a greeting and a "we're closed" note. They fall short when you want more:

• Keyword options are limited, and the replies are a single fixed message rather than a sequence with buttons, images or follow-ups.
• There is no default reply for every message nothing else answers.
• Comment automation, where it exists, is basic: no rotating public replies, no tailored flows per post.
• There is no shared view of which automation answered whom.

That is the gap automation tools fill. The rest of this guide uses Chat33, which runs on the official Instagram API, but the structure applies to most tools.

How to set up Instagram auto reply with Chat33, step by step

There are three places an auto reply can live. They solve different problems, and most accounts end up using all three.

Step 1: Connect your account

Sign up, open Channels and connect your Instagram professional account. You log in through Instagram and grant messaging permissions. Nothing is posted or sent until you set it up.

Step 2: Write a default reply for every message nothing else answers

A default reply goes out when someone sends a DM that none of your keyword triggers recognise. Think of it as the receptionist: it does not solve the problem, it makes sure nobody is ignored.

In Chat33 it is set per channel under Channels, in the Default Reply section.

One thing to know before you write it: the default reply goes to the same person at most once every 24 hours. If someone sends three messages in a row that match nothing, they get it once, and the rest wait for you in the inbox. It may still reach the same person again tomorrow, so write it so it makes sense the second time, and keep it short.

Template:

Thanks for the message! We usually reply within a few hours. If you're asking about pricing, reply PRICE. For shipping, reply SHIPPING.

That last part is doing real work. It teaches the person the keywords your other automations understand, so their next message gets a precise answer instead of the default one again.

If you want something richer for first-time contacts, the same channel page has Welcome New Contacts: pick a flow and it runs once, on a new contact's first DM. Instagram welcome message examples show how the welcome flow and the default reply work together.

Step 3: Add keyword replies for the questions you answer every day

Look at your last fifty DMs. A handful of questions will account for most of them. Each of those deserves its own keyword trigger.

Create a flow with a dm keyword trigger. It fires when the keyword appears in the message as a whole word, in any capitalisation (how matching works, with examples). "What's the price?" and "PRICE pls" both match price.

Because the person wrote to you first, these replies can use buttons, quick replies, images and carousels. Quick replies are especially good here: a message like "What are you looking for?" with three tappable options turns a vague question into a precise one. A tap sends the option's text as a message, so give each option a label that contains one of your keywords and it starts that keyword's flow.

A flow runs straight through when it starts. It does not stop and wait for the person to answer a question, so do not build flows that ask "What size are you?" and expect the next step to use the answer. Offer quick replies instead, and let each tap start its own keyword flow. The only step that pauses a flow is a delay.

Step 4: Turn on comment auto reply, public and private

Comments need two different answers.

The public reply is visible to everyone on the post. It tells the commenter, and everyone scrolling, that you are listening. In a flow, this is the Reply to Comment step. You can give it up to 15 variants and one is picked at random for each comment, so a post full of the same keyword does not get the same sentence fifty times.

The private reply is a DM sent in response to the comment. It is how "comment GUIDE and I'll send it" works. In a flow with a comment keyword trigger, the first message step is that private reply. Instagram allows one private reply per comment, within 7 days of the comment, and it goes out as text: if you use a buttons message there, link buttons are written out as links in the text. So put the link in that first message. Once the person replies, the normal DM rules apply and you can send buttons and more. Our comment-to-DM guide covers the details.

A comment flow usually does both: DM the link, then reply publicly with something like "Sent! Check your requests folder if you don't see it." That hint matters. If the person does not follow you, the DM may land in their message requests rather than the main inbox. More ideas for the public side are in our guide to public comment replies.

Step 5: Add an opt-out

Turn on Opt-out Automation for the channel. Then a reply of just STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE (or a keyword you set) turns automation off for that contact. START or SUBSCRIBE, under Opt-in Automation, turns it back on.

Instagram auto reply message examples

Copy these and change the details. {{name}} inserts the person's name and falls back to "there" when Instagram does not provide one.

1. Default reply (any unmatched DM)

Hey {{name}}, thanks for writing! We reply within a few hours. Quick answers: reply PRICE, SHIPPING or HOURS.

2. After hours

Thanks for the message! We're offline right now and back at 9am. Leave your question here and we'll pick it up first thing.

3. Pricing

Here's the full price list: yourshop.com/prices. Want help choosing? Tell us what you need it for and we'll recommend one.

4. Shipping

We ship to the US, UK and EU. Delivery takes 3 to 5 working days, and orders over $50 ship free. Full policy: yourshop.com/shipping

5. Booking

You can grab a slot here: yourstudio.com/book. If none of the times work, reply with the day you prefer and we'll check.

6. Order status

To check an order, use the tracking link in your confirmation email. If it hasn't moved in 3 days, send us your order number and a person will look into it.

7. Collab requests

Thanks for thinking of us! We review partnership requests through this short form: yourbrand.com/collab. We read every one.

8. Comment, public reply

Sent! Check your DMs, or your message requests if you don't follow us yet.

9. Comment, private DM

Hey {{name}}, here's the guide you asked for: yourbrand.com/guide. Reply if you have questions, a real person reads these.

10. Something the automation cannot answer

Good question, and one we'd rather answer properly. Someone from the team will reply here today.

Writing auto replies that do not sound automated

• Lead with the answer. "Shipping to the EU takes 3 to 5 days" beats "Thank you for reaching out regarding shipping."
• Use their name when you have it, with {{name}}.
• Say what happens next. If a human will follow up, say roughly when.
• Keep it to what fits on a phone screen without scrolling. Split longer answers into a message and a button.
• Match your normal voice. If your captions are casual, a formal auto reply feels like a different company.

What auto reply should not do

• Pretend to be a person. If someone asks a question the automation cannot answer, the honest move is to say a human will reply, not to loop them through menus.
• Reply to everything with a sales pitch. People who message with a complaint do not want a discount code.
• Keep messaging after someone opts out. That is what Step 5 is for.

A starting setup

If you are starting from zero, this covers most accounts:

1. A default reply that lists your two or three most useful keywords.
2. Keyword flows for price, shipping or availability, whichever you get asked most.
3. One comment-to-DM flow on your next post that offers something.
4. A daily look at the inbox for everything the automation handed over.

If you have not built a flow before, the Instagram DM automation guide walks through the first one. Then read your inbox after a week, find the question you are still answering by hand most often, and give it a keyword.

Instagram auto reply in Chat33

Default replies, keyword flows and comment replies on the official Instagram API, with a shared inbox for everything automation should not answer.

Frequently asked questions

Can you auto reply to Instagram comments?

Yes. With a comment keyword flow you can reply publicly under the comment and send the commenter one private DM. Instagram's own tools offer little or nothing here depending on your account, so most people use an automation tool for comments.

Is Instagram auto reply allowed, and is it safe?

Yes, when it runs on the official Instagram API, which is the route Meta provides for businesses to automate messages. Tools that log in with your password and imitate a person are a different story. Is Instagram DM automation safe? goes through what to look for.

Does auto reply work on a personal Instagram account?

No. You need a professional account, business or creator. Switching is free and you keep your followers and posts.

Can an Instagram auto reply send links?

Yes. Links work in DM replies, and in DM flows you can also put them behind buttons. For the private reply to a comment, put the link in the text of that first message.

What is the 24 hour window?

Meta lets a business message someone within 24 hours of that person's last message to the account. An auto reply answers a message that just arrived, so it falls inside the window. Messaging people later, for example a follow-up two days on, is restricted. Our guide to the 24 hour window explains the rules and exceptions.