How to check direct messages on Instagram and reply to them (2026)

To check your Instagram DMs in 2026, tap Messages at the bottom of the app on iPhone or Android, or click Messages on the left at instagram.com. Chats from people you follow are in your inbox, and messages from everyone else wait under Requests.

That’s how Instagram’s help centre described it when we checked on 29 October 2026. Many guides and Google’s AI answers still point to a paper-plane icon at the top right, which is where Messages used to be.

Below is how to check direct messages on Instagram on each device, find hidden requests, reply and choose who can message you, with Instagram’s own steps.

If you run a business account with messages on several channels, the section near the end covers that, including meetalto.ai’s unified inbox, which we build.

Where your Instagram DMs are, at a glance

Messages sits in the bottom bar on phones and in the left menu on a computer. Most message settings are under Messages and story replies.

On a phone, Menu is the icon at the top right of your profile. On a computer, More is at the bottom left.

How to check direct messages on Instagram on iPhone and Android

Open the app and tap Messages at the bottom of the screen. Instagram’s help centre gives the same steps for iPhone and Android.

1. Open Instagram and tap Messages at the bottom.
2. Tap a conversation to read it.
3. For messages from people you don’t follow, tap Requests.
4. To start a chat, tap Compose in the top right and pick people. You can also open someone’s profile and tap Message.

Professional accounts (business and creator) get an inbox with three folders: Primary, General and Requests. Every chat starts in Primary, where unread messages notify you. Swipe a chat into General to answer it later; General’s notifications are off unless you turn them on (Instagram).

Where did Instagram DMs go?

They moved to the bottom bar. On 28 September 2025, Meta announced that DMs would “move to the center of the navigation bar” worldwide, with Reels as the second tab and swiping between all tabs.

Instagram’s iPhone and Android help pages now start their messaging steps with “Tap Messages at the bottom”. One page, about regular messages from businesses, still says “Tap Messages in the top right of your Feed”.

Answers online still mix the two. Google’s AI Overview for “where are dms on instagram” says the icon is “in the top-right corner or at the bottom navigation bar depending on your app version”.

If Messages isn’t at the bottom, update the app. Instagram’s troubleshooting steps start with updating both the app and your phone’s operating system.

How to check Instagram DMs on a computer

Go to instagram.com, log in and click Messages on the left.

1. Go to instagram.com and log in.
2. Click Messages on the left.
3. Click a conversation to read it, or Requests for messages from people you don’t follow.
4. To start a chat, click Compose in the top left.

Two settings work only in the app. Read receipts can’t be changed on a computer, and Hidden Words filtering for message requests “is not currently supported on web browsers” (Instagram).

Message requests: where messages from strangers go

A message from someone you don’t follow lands in Requests until you accept or delete it. Accept, and their future messages go straight to your inbox.

To answer a request on your phone:

1. Tap Messages at the bottom, then Requests.
2. Open the message.
3. Choose Accept or Delete. On iPhone, tap Edit in the top right, then Delete All, to clear every request at once.

Until you accept, the sender can send text only. Photos, videos and voice notes can’t be sent until the request is accepted, and the same rule applies when you message someone who doesn’t follow you (Instagram).

How to see hidden message requests

Hidden requests are in the Spam folder: tap Messages, then Requests in the top right, then Spam. On a computer, click Messages, then Requests in the top left, then Spam (Instagram).

Instagram moves requests there that “may be offensive, unwanted, contain spam” or match your Hidden Words, and it doesn’t notify you about them. From the folder you can accept a request, which moves the chat to your main messages, or delete it or block the sender.

The filter for scams and offensive words, Hide unwanted message requests, is off by default for adults and on for Teen Accounts. Turn it on under Profile → Menu → Messages and story replies → Message requests. You can add your own words and emoji under Profile → Menu → Hidden Words, the same list that hides comments (our guide to hiding Instagram comments covers it).

Messages from accounts you’re already connected with are never hidden, whatever they say.

Why a message request disappeared

Four things in Instagram’s help pages explain a request that vanished or never arrived:

• It went to Spam. Check Requests → Spam, which sends no notifications.
• The sender unsent it. An unsent message disappears for everyone in the chat (Instagram).
• You blocked the sender. Blocked accounts can’t send you message requests.
• Your settings turned requests off. Under Message requests, you can choose not to receive them at all (Instagram).

If none of these fits, Instagram’s troubleshooting steps are to restart your phone, try both Wi-Fi and mobile data, then reinstall the app. Reinstalling keeps your photos and profile info.

How to reply to a DM on Instagram

Open the chat, type in the message box at the bottom and tap Send. To answer one message in particular, tap and hold it, then tap Reply.

Tap and hold any message you receive to:

• reply to that message, quoted in the chat;
• react with an emoji;
• forward it, to up to five chats at a time;
• add a sticker or cutout.

More ways to answer:

• Photos, voice and GIFs: a reply to one message can be a photo, video, voice message, GIF or sticker as well as text (Instagram, March 2024).
• Disappearing photos: tap the camera in a chat to send a photo or video that disappears. You can reply to someone else’s disappearing photo or video only while it’s playing.
• Commands: type / in the message box to see Instagram’s commands. One of them, /silent, sends a message without a notification.
• Scheduling: you can schedule a message to send later. It waits under Scheduled message above the message box, where you can tap and hold it to send it now or delete it (Instagram).

To change a message you sent:

• Edit: press and hold it and tap Edit, within 15 minutes of sending (Instagram, March 2024).
• Unsend: tap and hold it and tap Unsend. It disappears for everyone, though they may already have read it.
• Delete for you: this removes a message from your side of the chat only.

On a computer, hover over a message and click Reply, the emoji icon, or Options → Forward (Instagram).

How to reply to a story or post in DMs

Story replies and shared posts arrive as messages in the other person’s chats. A story comment is public: anyone who can see the story can see it (Instagram).

• Someone’s story: open it, tap Send message at the bottom and type your reply. After 24 hours, the story’s photo or video disappears from the chat unless it was saved as a highlight, but your text stays (Instagram).
• A public story comment: tap Comment at the bottom of the story. You can comment only if the creator follows you back or has opened comments to all followers, and comments are limited to 60 characters, emoji included (Instagram).
• Someone’s post: tap Share below the post, pick the person, tap Write a message... and send. The person who posted isn’t notified (Instagram).
• Your own stories: choose who can reply under Profile → Menu → Messages and story replies → Story replies. By default, anyone who can see your story can reply.

Instagram direct message settings

Most message settings live in one place: Profile → Menu (top right) → Messages and story replies. On a computer, it’s More → Settings → Messages and story replies.

Instagram calls the first setting Message requests on phones and Message controls on computers. Connected tools appears only for accounts linked to a Facebook Page, Meta Business Suite or another app (Instagram).

How to read Instagram messages without showing seen

Turn off read receipts. For every chat, go to Profile → Menu → Messages and story replies → Show read receipts. For one chat, open it, tap the chat name at the top, tap Privacy & safety and turn off Read receipts (Instagram).

A chat’s own setting wins over the account-wide one, so a chat where you turned receipts on keeps them on. Instagram’s page on professional inboxes adds that message requests aren’t marked as seen until you accept them.

We don’t cover workarounds such as airplane mode. Instagram doesn’t document them, and they can stop working when the app updates.

Your Instagram direct message link

A DM link opens a chat with an account: https://ig.me/m/username, with the account’s handle in place of username. Meta’s developer documentation, updated 2 July 2026, says it opens a new or existing chat with that account.

Businesses put these links on websites, in emails and as QR codes on packaging. Add a tag, such as https://ig.me/m/username?ref=newsletter, and a tool connected to Meta’s API can see which link a chat came from.

Managing Instagram DMs for a business

A professional account adds folders, saved replies and FAQs for free. Once messages arrive faster than you can answer them, or across several apps, the phone inbox stops being enough.

Free in Instagram’s professional inbox:

• Folders and filters: Primary and General folders, a filter for unread or flagged chats, and bulk actions from the list icon at the top right of your inbox.
• Saved replies: hold down a message you’ve sent, tap More, then Save, and give it a keyboard shortcut. Type the shortcut and tap the chat icon to fill in the reply.
• Mark as unread: on creator accounts, press and hold a chat and tap Mark as unread to leave yourself a blue dot (Instagram).
• FAQs: up to four questions people can tap when they open a chat with you. Our Instagram auto reply guide covers FAQs, instant replies and keyword replies step by step.

That’s the stage we build meetalto.ai for, so weigh our view accordingly. It connects to Instagram through Meta’s official API and adds three things:

• the unified social inbox puts DMs from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp, and comments from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, in one place, with assignment, notes and each contact’s history;
• DM automation answers keyword DMs and starts the matching flow;
• the AI DM Agent answers questions in DMs, collects emails and books calls through Cal.com or Calendly, and you decide when a person takes over.

The Free plan includes the inbox and core automation on Instagram and Facebook, for 100 active contacts a month. Pro, from $49 a month, adds TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube, plus the AI DM Agent with 3,000 AI Credits and unlimited contacts. Start on the Free plan when your DMs outgrow your phone.

Common problems with Instagram DMs

• You can’t find Messages. It’s in the bottom bar now. If it isn’t there, update the app.
• Messages won’t load. Restart your phone, try Wi-Fi and mobile data, then reinstall the app.
• You can’t send messages. Instagram limits messages to stop spam. If you were warned about sending too many and carried on, you may be blocked from sending for a while (Instagram).
• Your photo won’t send. If they don’t follow you and haven’t accepted your request, you can send text only.
• An encrypted chat changed. Instagram stopped supporting end-to-end encrypted messaging on 8 May 2026. Affected chats show how to download the media or messages you want to keep, which may need an app update (Instagram).

FAQ

What does DM mean in texting and on Instagram? DM stands for direct message: a private message between two accounts or a group. Instagram’s help centre calls them messages or chats, and they don’t appear in your feed, in search or on your profile.

Where are DMs on Instagram, and how do I view them? On iPhone and Android, tap Messages at the bottom of the screen, then tap a chat. On a computer, click Messages on the left at instagram.com. Older versions of the app put the icon at the top right of your feed.

How do I turn on DMs on Instagram? There’s no switch: DMs are on for every account. You choose who can send requests under Messages and story replies → Message requests. If a business tool asks you to allow messages, that’s Allow access to messages under Connected tools, on the same screen. Teen Accounts receive messages only from accounts they follow or are connected to, and teens aged 13 to 15 need a parent or guardian to change that.

Can I see my DM history on Instagram? Open a chat and scroll back. For a copy, go to Profile → Menu → Accounts Center (or Meta Account) → Your information and permissions → Export your information. Exports leave out messages you deleted or unsent, and Instagram says the export link can take up to 30 days.

How can I preview Instagram messages without opening them? Instagram’s help centre describes no preview mode. Turn off read receipts so people can’t see when you’ve read their messages. On professional accounts, message requests aren’t marked as seen until you accept them.

How do I send a one-time photo on Instagram? In a chat, tap the camera to take and send a disappearing photo or video. You can send these only to people who follow you or have accepted your messages, and they can reply to it only while it plays.

How do I turn off automatic messages on Instagram? If a business sends you regular updates, open its chat, tap Manage beside the grey note about those messages, then Stop these messages or Mute messages. To stop everything from an account, block it. If you’re the business, our auto reply guide shows how to turn yours off.

How do I reply to someone’s Instagram post in DMs? Tap Share below the post, choose the person, add a message and send. If the post is from a private account, only that account’s followers can see it in the chat. The person who posted isn’t notified.

Why can’t I access my Instagram messages? Update the app first, since Instagram’s steps assume the latest version. Then restart your phone, try both Wi-Fi and mobile data, and reinstall if needed. If you kept sending messages after a warning, Instagram may block sending for a while.

Can people see when I’m online on Instagram? Yes, if your activity status is on: people you follow and anyone you message can see when you’re active. Turn it off under Messages and story replies → Show activity status. That also hides other people’s status from you.

How do I change settings for messages on Instagram? Go to your profile, tap the menu at the top right and choose Messages and story replies. On a computer, click More, then Settings, then Messages and story replies.

How we checked

We read Instagram’s help centre on 29 October 2026 in its iPhone, Android and computer versions, because it gives different steps for each. Every step above comes from those pages, with links to the main ones. The exception is replying to someone’s story. Instagram’s article on it now opens the Stories index, so that step follows Google’s summary of the article: “Tap Send Message at the bottom of the screen”. We also used Meta’s newsroom post of 28 September 2025, Meta’s developer documentation and Instagram’s messaging announcement of March 2024.

There are no screenshots. The steps are Instagram’s own, and the diagram is our drawing of what Instagram’s pages say. Where those pages disagree with each other or with Google’s AI answers, we’ve said so. Instagram rolls some features out gradually, so your app may not match every step yet.

We build meetalto.ai, which connects to Instagram through Meta’s official API.