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 quick way to feel chained to your phone. By setting up auto-replies, you can give your audience the quick responses they want without manually typing out the same answers repeatedly. 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 correctly, 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

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. 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 quick 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 to 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 is 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 switch your account in 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 messaging 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’s 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 fill the chat with your full, pre-written response. It requires a manual trigger (typing the shortcut), making it a semi-automated tool perfect for quickly answering common but nuanced questions.

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

This is your frontline 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. Toggle on Show questions.
6. Tap Add question. You can set up to four different questions, each with its own automated answer. For each, fill out the "Question" and the "Automated response" fields.
7. After adding your FAQs, they will 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 example, 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. Pick 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. Be as detailed as needed.
6. Tap the check mark to save, and you're all set.

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 (e.g., collab). A small blue speech bubble icon will appear next to the message bar. Tap that icon, and your full, pre-written message will instantly appear, ready to send. You can also edit it before sending if you'd like 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 review. Cheers!"
• Customer Feedback: Shortcut: feedback → "Thank you for sharing your feedback with us! We really appreciate your 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 as soon as it arrives, you need to go beyond 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. To set this up, your Instagram Business account must be connected to a Facebook Business Page.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Visit business.facebook.com on a desktop to access Meta Business Suite.
2. From the left menu, click on Inbox.
3. In the top right corner of the Inbox view, click the Automations icon.
4. Select Instant Reply from the list of automations.
5. Make sure the toggle is active and that the Instagram box is checked.
6. Write and edit your Instant Reply message in the text box. Use personalization options like adding a placeholder for the person’s name (e.g., {{user_full_name}}) to make the message 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 like, "Hey {{user_full_name}}, thanks for your message! This is an automated reply to confirm we've received it."
• Set expectations: This is the main purpose of an Instant Reply. Give a clear timeline for a personal response. For example: "Our team answers messages Monday through Friday, and we’ll get back to you within 24 business hours."
• Provide additional help: Direct them to other resources where they might find answers immediately. You could say, "In the meantime, check our FAQ page: [your website link]."

What About Auto-Replying to Instagram Comments?

You might wonder if you can use these same auto-reply features on your public comments. Briefly, Instagram does not have a native feature for auto-replying to comments. The app's built-in tools focus solely on private messages (DMs).

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

If you're not ready for a dedicated tool, an old-school approach is to batch responses. Dedicate 15 minutes twice a day solely to replying to comments. This keeps you engaged and responsive without constant interruptions from notifications.

Final Thoughts

Setting up auto-replies on Instagram, whether via the in-app FAQs or a more advanced Instant Reply through Meta Business Suite, can save you hours each week and improve customer service. Automating your first interactions frees up mental space so you can focus on creating content and building stronger community ties.

Managing DMs and comments across multiple platforms can become overwhelming as your presence grows. We experienced this ourselves, which led us to build Postbase. It consolidates comments and DMs from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and more into a single inbox. From there, you can reply quickly, assign conversations to team members, and ensure no message gets missed - all without switching apps.