Instagram message requests: where they are and how to manage them

Every new DM goes to one of three places. Which one depends on whether you follow the sender and on Instagram's spam filter:

• Chats (Primary on professional accounts): messages from people you follow, or from anyone you already accepted or replied to.
• Requests: messages from people you don't follow. You read them without the sender seeing a "seen" receipt, then accept, delete or block.
• Spam: requests Instagram flags as offensive or spam, or that match your Hidden Words. You get no notification for these.

Sources: Instagram's message requests help, professional inbox help and spam help, checked 25 October 2026.

If you run a Business or Creator account, the folder matters twice: once for DMs people send you, and again for the DMs you send people who comment. A commenter who doesn't follow you gets your reply as a request. ReplyMagnet sends that comment DM through Meta's official API and writes a public reply under the comment, so the person knows to look. Start free: the free plan includes 1,000 engagements a month.

The diagram shows the three destinations. A DM goes to Chats if you follow the sender or have accepted them before. It goes to Requests if you don't follow them. It goes to Spam if the filter or your Hidden Words flag it.

On iPhone and Android:

1. Tap Messages at the bottom of the app.
2. Tap Requests in the top right.
3. Read the list. Tap Spam to see flagged requests.
4. On a professional account, tap All requests to switch to Top requests, which sorts requests by important accounts.

Professional accounts see three folders: Primary, General and Requests. A chat you moved to General keeps its notifications off unless you change it in settings.

Older guides still say "Hidden requests". Instagram's spam help page now names the folder Spam. To clear it on the phone app:

1. Tap Messages, then Requests, then Spam.
2. Tap Edit, then Delete all, or open a single thread.
3. In a thread, choose Accept, Delete, or Block / Leave.

Accepting a thread from Spam moves it to your main messages. Instagram notes that Hidden Words filtering for spam is not supported in web browsers, so check this folder in the app.

Work down the list. Each check takes a few seconds:

1. Wrong account. If you switch between profiles, the request went to the account they messaged.
2. It's in Spam. Flagged requests arrive silently. Open Requests, then Spam.
3. You follow them. Then the message skipped Requests and sits in Chats, or in Primary or General on a professional account.
4. Top requests is on. Tap Top requests and switch back to All requests.
5. Your settings refuse it. Under Message requests you can choose not to receive requests from some people at all. Blocked accounts can't send you requests either.
6. You're in a browser. Update the phone app and check there, since the Spam view is app-first.

If you sent the message and the other person can't find it, the same list applies on their side. Ask them to check Requests and Spam on the account you messaged.

A person may run several accounts. Instagram notes you may need to block each one.

The exact path, from Instagram's message requests help:

1. Tap your profile picture in the bottom right.
2. Tap Menu in the top right.
3. Under How others can interact with you, tap Messages and story replies.
4. Tap Message requests and pick a setting for each group.
5. Tap Who can send you group message requests to choose Everyone or People you follow.

To filter words, phrases or emoji into Spam, add them under Hidden Words. Instagram says changing your request settings does not affect messages from your messaging ads. A business can lock requests down without losing ad leads.

This catches out every creator who sends a link to people who comment. Meta allows one private reply per comment, sent within 7 days of the comment. If the commenter doesn't follow you, that reply arrives as a request. Source: Instagram's who you can message help.

A worked example: a Reel draws 300 comments with your keyword, and 200 come from people who don't follow you. All 300 get the DM, but 200 of them see it in Requests. In ReplyMagnet that month uses 300 of the free plan's 1,000 engagements. The 200 requests only get opened if people know to look.

No tool can move a DM out of someone's Requests folder. Only the recipient's accept or reply does. What you control is the signal:

• Say it in the public reply. "Sent! Check your message requests" under the comment. ReplyMagnet posts a public reply for each matched comment, and you write the text.
• Say it in the caption. "Comment GUIDE, then check your DM requests."
• Make the preview obvious. Open the DM with what they asked for: "Here's the GUIDE checklist you asked for."

Our comment-to-DM troubleshooting guide covers the other reasons a DM seems missing.

Fix them in this order:

1. No pointer. Add "check your requests" to the public reply and the caption.
2. Self-testing. Comment from a second account that doesn't follow you. That is the only way to see the Requests view a real commenter gets.
3. Two tools, two DMs. Turn off Business Suite's comment to message on any post another tool covers, or the person gets two requests.
4. An ad-shaped preview. Requests show a short preview. A first line that names what they asked for gets opened. A sales pitch gets deleted.

Once someone accepts or replies, your next messages go straight to their inbox. Inside Meta's 24-hour messaging window, you can answer follow-up questions normally.