How to DM on Instagram: send, reply and find your messages

To send a DM on Instagram, tap the messages icon at the top right of your feed, tap the new-message button, choose a person and type your message. To reply, open the chat and type in the box at the bottom. To reply to one specific message in a chat, swipe right on it, or press and hold it and tap Reply.

The steps below cover the app and instagram.com on a computer. They also explain where messages land (Primary, General or Requests) and why a DM to someone who doesn't follow you can sit unseen.

How to DM someone on Instagram

To start a DM, tap the paper-plane or messages icon at the top of your feed, then tap the pencil or new-message button, search for the person and type. You can also start from their profile by tapping Message. If they don't follow you, your DM goes to their requests, and you can send one message until they accept.

In the app:

1. Tap the messages icon at the top right of your home feed.
2. Tap the new message button (a pencil or a plus).
3. Search for the person's username and select them. Pick several to start a group.
4. Type your message and tap Send.

From someone's profile:

1. Open their profile.
2. Tap Message. If it isn't there, tap the three dots at the top right and choose Send message.

On a computer:

1. Go to instagram.com and log in.
2. Click Messages in the left menu.
3. Click the new message icon, pick a person and type.

Instagram moves buttons around between app versions. The messages icon and the new-message button have stayed in roughly the same place for a long time, though.

How to reply to a DM on Instagram

To reply, open the conversation and type in the message box at the bottom. In a busy chat you can answer one particular message: swipe right on it in the app, or press and hold it and tap Reply. Your answer then shows the original message above it, so the other person knows what you're replying to.

To reply to the whole chat:

1. Open your messages and tap the conversation.
2. Type in the box at the bottom and tap Send.

To reply to a specific message:

1. In the chat, swipe right on the message you want to answer, or press and hold it and tap Reply.
2. Type your answer. The original appears above it as a quote.
3. Tap Send.

On a computer, hover over the message, click the arrow or the three dots next to it, and choose Reply.

You can also react to a message instead of replying. Double-tap it for a heart, or press and hold to pick a different emoji.

How to respond to message requests

Message requests are DMs from people you don't follow. They wait in a separate Requests folder until you accept, delete or block them. To reply, open the request, read it and tap Accept. The chat moves into your main inbox and you reply as normal.

1. Open your messages and tap Requests at the top.
2. Tap a request to read it.
3. Tap Accept to move it to your inbox, or Delete or Block.
4. Once it's accepted, reply as you would in any chat.

Instagram message requests: how they work and how to see them goes into more detail on how requests work, including the Hidden requests folder.

Primary, General and requests: where DMs land

Instagram sorts messages into folders. Chats with people you follow go to your main inbox, which a professional account splits into Primary and General so important threads stay apart from the rest. Messages from people you don't follow land in Requests first. In our experience, most "I never got your DM" moments come down to which folder the message went to. Folder names and options vary by account type and app version, so treat the table as a guide, not a spec.

Folder	What goes there	Notifications
Primary	Chats you've marked important (professional accounts), or your main chats	Usually yes
General	Other chats on professional accounts	Usually set in your notification settings
Requests	Messages from people you don't follow	Often none
Hidden requests	Requests Instagram's filter thinks are spam or offensive	Usually none

To move a chat between Primary and General, the current app usually lets you press and hold it (or swipe on it) and pick a Move option. The label may be different on your version.

Why your DM may not be seen

If the person doesn't follow you, your message arrives as a request, often with no notification, so they may never see it. You can send one message until they accept. That's why a reply can take days or never come, even when the message itself is fine.

As one reply in r/Instagram put it, a message to a non-follower "gets hidden in their requests inbox and don't get a notification" (u/youngktam in r/Instagram, re-read 3 November 2026).

So when you write to someone new:

• Write a first message that works by itself. You won't get a second one until they accept.
• Open with something about them, so the preview line gives them a reason to tap.
• Leave links out. A first message works best as plain text.
• Keep it short. The Instagram character counter shows how your message will fit.

If you're messaging lots of new people, there's a sensible ceiling on requests per day. Instagram DM limits: how many you can send covers those limits.

Other things you can do in a DM

Instagram DMs can carry more than text: photos, videos, voice messages, posts and reels you share, stickers and GIFs. You can unsend a message by pressing and holding it. Recent versions of the app also let you edit a message shortly after you send it. In many regions, swiping up in a chat turns on vanish mode, though Instagram has moved and limited that feature over time. Group chats work the same way, just with more people in the thread.

Quick how-tos:

• To send a photo or video, tap the gallery or camera icon in the message box.
• To send a voice message, press and hold the microphone icon, speak, then release.
• To unsend, press and hold your message and tap Unsend.
• To edit, press and hold a message you sent recently and tap Edit, if your app version shows it.
• To share a post, tap the paper-plane icon under it and pick the person.

When DMs won't send

If your messages won't send or load, check whether Instagram is down before you change anything. If everyone has the problem, wait. If it's only you, the cause may be the app or a limit on your account. Our guide to Instagram DMs not working: outage or your account? explains how to tell which.

Managing DMs across several accounts

Each Instagram account has its own inbox, so if you run more than one, you have to switch accounts to read each. That's fine with two accounts and hard with ten. Tools that pull replies from several accounts into one list help a team answer quickly without missing anyone.

Instagram inbox management covers how that works and what to look for.

Hoping to automate this for new followers? Read auto DM new followers on Instagram.