Connect Facebook Messenger and Instagram

Omni puts Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct messages in the same inbox as WhatsApp, so your team can answer every channel in one place.

Before you start

• Messenger: you must be an admin of the Facebook Page.
• Instagram: the account must be an Instagram professional account (Business or Creator) linked to a Facebook Page you manage. Personal Instagram accounts can't be connected. You can switch an account to professional in the Instagram app under Settings → Account type and tools.

Connecting

Where: Inbox → Channel setup (/app/inbox/setup)

1. Click Connect Messenger or Connect Instagram.
2. Log in to Facebook and choose the Page (for Instagram, the Page the Instagram account is linked to).
3. Approve the permissions Omni asks for. They let it read and send messages for that Page or account.
4. The account appears in your channel list, and new messages start arriving in the inbox.

When someone messages you for the first time, Omni adds them as a contact using the name and profile picture Meta shares.

"No Facebook Pages were returned"? Either the Facebook account you logged in with doesn't manage the Page, or your account doesn't have access to the app yet. Check that you're a Page admin, then contact support if it still happens.

The 24-hour reply window

Meta only lets businesses reply to Messenger and Instagram messages within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, Meta rejects the reply. The window only reopens when the customer writes again, and your own messages don't extend it.

Two consequences:

• You can't message someone first. A person must message your Page or Instagram account before you can reply through Omni. Imported contacts, or people who only commented on a post, can't be sent a DM until they write to you.
• Old conversations lock. When the window has closed, Omni shows a banner with the date of the customer's last message and locks the reply box, instead of letting you type a reply that Meta would reject.

Meta's Human Agent tag can extend replies written by a person to 7 days. Omni uses it automatically when it's enabled on the platform. Read Instagram's 24-hour window, explained for the full rules, error codes and exceptions.

WhatsApp works differently: there you can use approved templates outside the window. See WhatsApp.

Troubleshooting

• Messages aren't arriving. Open Channel setup and use the connection's health check. If the check reports a subscription problem, choose Resubscribe.
• A reply failed with "outside of allowed window." The customer's last message is more than 24 hours old. Wait until they write again.
• Instagram won't connect. Confirm the account is a Business or Creator account and that it's linked to the Page you chose.

Next: learn the team inbox.