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Who can use this?
  • Gallabox users with the Instagram channel connected.
  • Roles: Owners and Admins can configure Instagram settings. Agents can view and reply to Instagram conversations.

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Plan Availability

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What are Instagram DM Conversations?

When someone sends you a Direct Message on Instagram, it appears in your Gallabox Inbox alongside your WhatsApp conversations. You can reply without switching to Instagram. Instagram conversations in Gallabox include:
  • Direct Messages (DMs) — private messages sent to your Instagram Business account
  • Story replies — replies to your Instagram stories
  • Reels engagement — messages from Reels interactions

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Message Types Supported

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How to Use Instagram DM Conversations

  1. Go to Channels → Instagram in the left navigation of Gallabox.
  2. Verify your Instagram account is connected and the status shows Connected.
  3. Open any conversation with an Instagram icon in the inbox.
  4. Type your reply in the compose box and click Send.
  5. The customer receives your reply in their Instagram DMs.
The 24-hour messaging window is the most important thing to understand about Instagram messaging. Meta only allows businesses to send free-form messages within 24 hours of a customer’s last message. After that window closes, you cannot send outbound messages on Instagram — the customer must message you again.

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The 24-Hour Messaging Window

What it means: Meta’s business policy allows businesses to send free-form messages to users only within 24 hours of the user’s last message. After that window closes, you cannot send outbound messages on Instagram — the customer must message you again.

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How it works in practice

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What happens if you try to send outside the window

If you try to send a free-form message after the 24-hour window has closed, Gallabox will show an error:
“Message rejected. The 24-hour messaging window has expired.”
After the window closes, the conversation can only continue when the customer messages you again.

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Extending the window

The 24-hour window resets when the customer sends you another message.

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Comment Automation

Comment automation is separate from Instagram DMs. See Instagram Comment Automation for availability, setup, modes, and management.

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Session Management

Instagram Chat AI Agent sessions use a configurable inactivity timeout that defaults to 3 minutes. This Gallabox session setting is separate from Meta’s 24-hour messaging window. For full session behaviour per channel, see Chat AI Agent Channel Behaviour.

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FAQs

The 24-hour messaging window has likely expired. Meta only allows free-form messages within 24 hours of a customer’s last message. After the window closes, you cannot send any outbound message on Instagram — Instagram has no template message mechanism. The customer must message you again to reopen the window.
Check these things in order:
  1. Is your Instagram account connected? Go to Channels → Instagram and verify the connection status shows Connected.
  2. Is it an Instagram Professional account (Business or Creator)? Personal accounts cannot be connected.
  3. Has the customer sent you a DM first? Gallabox only receives messages from your connected Instagram account — if the customer hasn’t messaged you yet, you can’t initiate contact outside the 24-hour window.
  4. Did you grant all requested permissions during the direct Instagram connection? Disconnect and reconnect the account if permissions were skipped.
Check these in order:
  1. Is your Instagram account a Professional account? Go to Instagram Settings → Account → Switch to Professional Account (Business or Creator).
  2. Has the customer sent you a DM first? Gallabox only receives messages from contacts who have messaged your account. If a customer hasn’t messaged you yet, you cannot initiate contact outside the 24-hour window.
  3. Did you grant the requested permissions? If messaging permissions were skipped during the direct Instagram connection, disconnect and reconnect the account.