How to Set Up Auto Reply on Instagram

Answering every Instagram DM and comment is a fantastic way to grow an engaged community, but it's also a fast track to feeling chained to your phone. By setting up auto-replies, you can give your audience the fast response they want without manually typing out the same answers over and over again. This guide will walk you through setting up Instagram's built-in auto-reply features and share strategies for keeping your automated messages sounding human.

Why Bother with Instagram Auto-Replies?

Setting up automated messages might feel impersonal at first, but when done right, it's a strategic move that benefits both you and your audience. It helps you manage expectations, streamline your workflow, and ultimately dedicate more time to the parts of your business that can't be automated.

Save Time and Mental Energy

The biggest and most obvious benefit is time. Responding to the same questions about your business hours, pricing, or shipping policies drains your time and creativity. Automating these first-touch interactions lets you spend less time in your inbox and more time creating great content, developing new products, or engaging in higher-value conversations.

Improve Customer Service & Response Time

In a world of instant gratification, a fast response matters. Even a simple automated message that acknowledges a customer’s query makes them feel heard and valued. It can instantly confirm that their DM has been received and let them know when they can expect a personal reply. This simple step manages expectations and boosts user satisfaction right from the start.

Never Miss a Lead

Every DM is a potential customer or collaborator. If you're slow to reply, they might lose interest or go to a competitor who's more responsive. An auto-reply can immediately engage a potential lead by answering a common question, directing them to a sign-up form, or pointing them to your website to browse products. It keeps the conversation moving forward, even when you're not actively online.

Increase Reach and Engagement

The Instagram algorithm favors accounts with high engagement. While instant replies in DMs don't directly impact your feed content, they foster a more responsive and interactive community. People are more likely to message a business they know will respond quickly, creating more opportunities for you to build relationships that translate into loyal followers and customers.

The Two Types of Built-In Instagram Auto-Replies

Instagram offers a couple of native tools to help you manage your messages - but it’s important to know the difference. These features are available for Instagram Business or Creator accounts. If you still have a Personal account, you'll need to make the switch in your settings to access them.

1. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This feature allows you to display up to four pre-set questions that appear in the chat window when someone messages you for the first time. When a user taps one of your questions, your pre-written answer is sent automatically. It's a proactive way to answer common questions before they even have to type them, guiding new visitors toward the information they're most likely looking for.

2. Saved Replies

This isn't a fully automated reply, but it is an incredible time-saver. Saved Replies let you draft messages for common inquiries and assign them to a short keyword. When you're in a DM, you can type the keyword to instantly populate the chat with your full, pre-written response. It requires a manual trigger (typing the shortcut), making it a semi-automated tool that's perfect for quickly answering common but nuanced questions.

How to Set Up Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Instagram

This is your front line of defense against repetitive questions. Setting it up takes just a few minutes and immediately improves the experience for anyone messaging you for the first time.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to your Instagram profile and tap the menu icon (the three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner.
2. Select Settings and Privacy from the menu.
3. If you have a Business account, tap Business tools and controls. For a Creator account, tap Creator tools and controls.
4. Find and select the Frequently asked questions option.
5. Turn on the toggle for Show questions.
6. Tap Add question. You can set up to four different questions, each with its own automated answer. For each one, fill out the "Question" and the "Automated response" fields.
7. Once you've added your FAQs, they'll appear to new messengers immediately.

Tips for Writing Great FAQs:

• Think like your customer: What are the top three things people ask you about every day? Start there. Examples include: "What are your hours?", "Do you ship internationally?", or "Where can I see your prices?"
• Keep answers clear and direct: Provide the answer and, if helpful, a link to more information. For instance, an answer to "What are your services?" could be: "We offer brand strategy, content creation, and social media management! You can find a full breakdown of our packages and pricing here: [your website link]."
• Use a friendly tone: Don't let your auto-replies sound cold and robotic. Use the same brand voice you use in your captions and Stories. A well-placed emoji can go a long way.

How to Set Up and Use Saved Replies

When you find yourself typing out the same paragraph-long DM every hour, it's time to create a Saved Reply. This is perfect for detailed responses that you need to send frequently but aren't quite broad enough to be an FAQ.

Step-by-Step Setup:

1. Follow the same path as above: Profile Menu >, Settings and Privacy >, Business tools and controls (or Creator tools).
2. Tap on Saved replies.
3. Tap the plus (+) icon in the top-right corner to create a new one.
4. Shortcut: This is the most important part. Choose a short, easy-to-remember word you’ll type to activate the reply. For example, use "collab" for collaboration inquiries or "pricing" for pricing details.
5. Message: Write out the full response you want to send when you use the shortcut. You can be as detailed as needed here.
6. Tap the check mark to save, and you're good to go.

How to Use a Saved Reply in a DM:

Once you've created your Saved Reply, using it is simple. In any DM conversation, just type your shortcut word (e.g., collab). A small blue speech bubble icon will appear next to the message bar. Tap that icon, and your entire pre-written message will instantly appear, ready to send. You can also edit it before sending if you want to personalize it for the conversation.

Creative Ideas for Saved Replies:

• Collaboration Inquiries: Shortcut: collab → "Thanks so much for reaching out about a potential collaboration! We'd love to learn more. Please send us an email at contact@mybrand.com with your media kit and ideas so our partnership team can take a look. Cheers!"
• Customer Feedback: Shortcut: feedback → "Thank you for sharing your feedback with us! We really appreciate you taking the time, and we've passed your comments along to the team. Your input helps us get better every day."
• Price List: Shortcut: pricing → "Great question! Our photography packages start at $500. You can view all of our services and a detailed price list on our website at [your website link]. Let me know if you have any questions about a specific package!"

Setting Up True "Instant Replies" via Meta Business Suite

For a true auto-reply that sends a message to every new DM the moment it arrives, you have to venture outside the Instagram app and into the Meta Business Suite. This automation is extremely powerful for managing a high volume of messages and setting service expectations.

To set this up, your Instagram Business account must be connected to a Facebook Business Page.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Go to Meta Business Suite by visiting business.facebook.com on a desktop.
2. From the left-hand menu, click on Inbox.
3. In the top right corner of the Inbox view, click the Automations icon.
4. From the list of available automations, select Instant Reply.
5. Make sure the toggle is turned on and that the box for Instagram is checked.
6. Now, you can write and edit your Instant Reply message in the text box. Pay attention to the personalization options, like adding a placeholder for the person’s name (e.g., {{user_full_name}}), to make the message feel more personal.
7. Save your changes, and the automation will be active immediately.

Best Practices for Instant Replies:

• Be upfront: Let people know it’s an automated message. Start with something simple like, "Hey {{user_full_name}}, thanks for your message! This is an automated reply to let you know we've received it safely."
• Set expectations: This is the key purpose of an Instant Reply. Give a clear timeline for a personal response. For example: "Our team answers messages Monday-Friday and we’ll get back to you within 24 business hours."
• Provide extra help: Point them to other resources where they might be able to solve their problem immediately. You could say, "In the meantime, you might find an answer on our helpful FAQ page: [your website link]."

What About Auto-Replying to Instagram Comments?

You might be wondering if you can use these same auto-reply features on your public comments. In short, Instagram does not have a native feature for auto-replying to comments. The app's built-in tools are focused entirely on private messages (DMs).

The only way to create automated responses to comments is by using a third-party social media management tool that has been approved for access to Instagram’s API. These tools can set up triggers, such as instantly DMing anyone who comments with a specific keyword.

If you aren't ready for a dedicated tool, the best strategy is an old-school one: batching. Set aside 15 minutes twice a day dedicated solely to responding to comments. This approach keeps you engaged and responsive without letting comment notifications interrupt your entire day.

Final Thoughts

Setting up auto-replies on Instagram, whether it's through the in-app FAQs or a more robust Instant Reply in Meta Business Suite, can save you hours of work each week and help provide better customer service. By automating those first interactions, you free up valuable mental space to create content and build deeper connections with your community.

As your social presence grows, managing DMs and comments everywhere can turn into a full-time job. We ran into this problem ourselves, which is why we built Postbase. We gather all your comments and DMs from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and more into a single unified inbox. From there, you can reply quickly, assign conversations to teammates, and ensure no message ever gets missed - all without bouncing between ten different apps.