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How to message on instagram browser


How to Send and Receive DMs on Instagram From a Computer

  • You can DM on Instagram from your computer using any internet browser.
  • To send direct messages from your computer, head to the Instagram website and click the paper plane icon in the top-right.
  • This story is part of Business Insider's Guide to Instagram.

In April 2020, Instagram added the ability to send direct messages to its desktop website. 

This means that Instagram users can now send direct messages, photos, gifs, and other kinds of media, as well as start group chats, unsend messages, and reply to chats using reactions, right from their desktop. 

However, some direct message features — like video chats — only remain available In the mobile app version. 

Here's how to use the direct message feature on Instagram using your desktop computer.  

How to send a direct message on Instagram from a computer 

1. Using your preferred internet browser, go to the Instagram desktop website and log in.

2. Once you've logged in, select the paper plane icon in the top-right corner to access Direct Messages. 

You can access your direct messages from any page. Meira Gebel/Business Insider

3. You'll be shown all of your active conversations. Click one to open it, or start a new one by clicking "Send Message" or the pencil-and-paper icon.

There are two ways to start a new conversation. Meira Gebel/Business Insider

4. When starting a new conversation, begin typing in the name or username of the person you want to message, or select an account from the list of "Suggested" users. 

5. Type your message into the text box at the bottom, and then select "Send."

You can also press Enter or Return to send it. Meira Gebel/Business Insider

Once you've sent a message, you can click the three dots next to it and then click "Unsend" to take the message back.  

Once you unsend a message, the message will be removed from the chat, no matter if the recipient has seen it or not. There's no time limit for unsending messages on Instagram. 

You can "Unsend" a message at any time. Meira Gebel/Business Insider

You can also delete an entire chat conversation by clicking the "i" icon in the top-right, and then selecting "Delete chat." Note, however, that this only deletes the chat on your end — the recipient will still be able to see it.

This will delete every message in the conversation — on your end. Meira Gebel/Business Insider

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William Antonelli and Kerry Wan contributed to a previous version of this article.

Meira Gebel

Meira Gebel is a freelance reporter based in Portland, Oregon. She writes about business, culture, and technology for Insider. Her work has been featured in Digital Trends, Willamette Week, USA Today, and more. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and San Francisco State University.  Feel free to reach out to her on Twitter, where she can be found most of the time, @MeiraGebel.

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Instagram Brings Direct Messages to Desktop — Where to Find Them

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Paige Leskin/Business Insider
  • Instagram has now made it possible for all users to direct message on desktop computers and web browsers after first testing out the feature in January.
  • Direct Messages have long been a feature only available via Instagram's mobile app, but many users now have the ability to start, read, and send DMs on their laptops and computers.
  • Here's how to see if you're one of the users who has Instagram DMs on their desktop as the company completes the feature's global rollout.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Instagram has brought a crucial feature to desktop computers and web browsers that has up until now been limited to the platform's mobile app: Direct Messages.

A "small percentage" of users have had access to DMs on their desktop since January, when Instagram first told The Verge it was testing the feature. Instagram appeared to ramp up the rollout earlier this week, and announced Friday the feature was now available to its millions of users, "no matter where you are in the world."

Accessing Instagram DMs via desktop will be a welcomed addition for influencers, brands, and others who heavily rely on direct messaging on a regular basis. Users will be able to start one-on-one and group chats, read and send to messages, share photos, and double-tap to react to responses. However, you're still unable to video chat via Instagram, which you're able to do through DMs on the mobile app.

Facebook, Instagram's parent company, has made a series of changes in the last year to prioritize private messaging across its family of platforms. A standalone app launched in late 2019, called Threads, for Instagram users to exchange messages and photos with those on their Close Friends list. Facebook debuted a desktop app for Messenger just last week. All of this comes after the New York Times reported in early 2019 that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had directed employees to integrate private messaging services across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Zuckerberg later said that the integration wouldn't come until 2020 at the earliest.

Here's how to check if you're one of the users given the ability to send and receive Instagram DMs on their desktop:

Click on the icon to bring up your Direct Messages. From there, you can read and respond to DMs, share photos, and start new chats. Now it's even easier to get distracted by Instagram on your computer without going on your phone.

Paige Leskin/Business Insider

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Features Culture Instagram

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How to send a message to a person on Instagram?

Help Center

Instagram features

Direct messaging

In Instagram Direct, you can send messages, photos, and videos to one person or a group of people. These messages do not appear in the feed, search results, or your profile.

Send chat messages

Instagram app for Android and iPhone

Tap the or icon in the top right corner of the feed.

Click on the top right corner of the screen.

Select the people you want to send a message to and click Send in chat.

Enter a message. You can also tap to capture and share a disappearing photo or video, or to select a photo or video from your library.

Click Submit.

instagram.com in a browser on a mobile device

instagram.com in a browser on a computer

Instagram Lite app for Android

You can also send a message to the person you follow by going to their profile and clicking Send.

Links you send in a message are shown in the conversation along with an image preview. When sending an address or phone number, you can click on them in a conversation to open a map or make a call.

Note. The Instagram accounts you message to may use third-party apps or automated services to send messages to chats.

If you're having trouble sending a message to Instagram, try these steps.

Sending messages using commands

Commands allow you to use chat features and content when writing a message. Below is how to use them.

Instagram app for Android and iPhone

Tap Write message… at the bottom of the screen.

Here you can:

Enter the symbol / to open the list of function commands. For example, the /silent command will allow you to send a message without sending a notification.

Enter the @ symbol to open a list of people who will receive the notification. For example, using the @[username] command, you can tag a chat participant in a message.

Select a team and write a message.

Click Submit.

Note. The mentions feature is only available in chats with at least 3 participants.

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Recently, Facebook, which owns the social network Instagram, has been developing not only a mobile application, but also an official web resource. Previously, it was impossible to even just view publications. Today, users can use the site to perform most of the usual tasks: viewing photos, videos, and stories of friends, searching for people, viewing the "Recommended" section, the ability to subscribe to profiles, post content, like and write comments.

However, the site does not have all the features visitors are used to. It is used for emergencies when there is no access to the phone. For example, here you can not access personal correspondence and publish a story. Messages on Instagram from a computer are possible, but for this you need to resort to different tricks.

  • How to write messages on Instagram from a computer
  • Sending emails to Direct
  • How to view messages on Instagram on a computer
  • How to read dialogue on Instagram from a computer

How to write messages on Instagram from a computer

Speaking of messages, users most often mean leaving comments under posts and correspondence in Direct. In mobile versions, Direct was not always available, but appeared in Instagram versions from 5.0 and higher.

When wondering how to write a message on Instagram from a computer, you should remember that there is no direct section in which you can enter and view correspondence in the browser version. However, you can deliver short messages through comments. To do this, you don’t even need to be subscribed to the person who is the addressee of the message (provided that the profile is open). The Instagram website is accessible in any browser.

  1. First, open a browser on a laptop or PC with Internet access.
  2. Then authorize by entering a nickname and password.
  3. Open the post you want to comment on. The photo will be placed directly in the center of the screen, and already published comments and a window for entering text will be placed on the right side.
  4. By clicking on it, you should enter the text and send it by pressing the Enter key on the keyboard.

Comment sent. Of course, other users will see it - this option for sending messages on Instagram from a computer is not suitable for personal intimate correspondence.

Sending letters to Direct

If a person wants to correspond with a PC in a private chat, as in an application on a smartphone, then he will not be able to do this on the site due to the lack of the function itself. You can write messages on Instagram through a computer only when you install a minimalistic desktop client from the Store on the Windows operating system. The user can select one of the following options:

  1. For desktops and laptops with an operating system belonging to the Windows family under the Windows 8 line and above. In this case, the person is invited to install the program from the official store.
  2. For earlier versions of the operating system, you can use third-party programs that emulate Android. They make it possible to open various clients created for smartphones.

To install the official application, you need to open the "Store" section located on the PC. This requires an internet connection. In the window that opens, you need to drive the name of the client into the search and click on the "Install" button.

After downloading, Instagram will be available for use: you need to open it and log in. This app has all the features of a smartphone.

How to view messages on Instagram through a computer

After installation and authorization in the application installed on the PC, a tab will automatically appear on the screen. It will show the news feed. With it, you can see the publications of friends, recommended profiles, write comments and put likes. To go to Direct to send messages to Instagram via a computer, you should click on the button in the form of an icon with an airplane.

All conversations are saved here, even those from the phone. If there has already been a correspondence, you need to touch the corresponding chat or create a new dialogue by selecting a person from the list and clicking the "New dialogue" button.

When selecting an interlocutor, you can mark several at once. This is done in the "To" column. At the same time, a feature of the computer version is the fact that in this way you can send messages on Instagram not only to people from the list of subscriptions, but also to those whose profile is closed. In this case, you need to find the page of interest by starting to enter a nickname in the search field. The system will return all matches. After selecting the desired option from the proposed list, start typing.

If the official program on the PC does not work for some reason (the operating system is Windows 7 and below), but you need to view the Instagram dialogs through the computer, a shareware program for launching Android applications can help. It's called BlueStacks App Player. Download BlueStacks from the official website.

  1. The downloaded client opens.
  2. Entering information from your Google account: login and password.
  3. The application store opens inside the program (same as on Android devices).
  4. Use the search to find Instagram, install and log in.

It can then be used normally. The BlueStacks emulator is free. Its main advantage is the ability to use programs from the Android operating system for smartphones on a PC. Naturally, some functions and interface differ from the mobile version, however, all the main advantages of the social network are preserved - the ability to view and publish content, write comments, etc.

Another plus is the ability to use the keyboard and computer mouse, as well as setting up notifications: if an email arrives, the user will be notified (BlueStacks runs in the background).

Watching messages on Instagram through a computer is a pretty handy feature. It allows you to conduct private conversations in Direct: send text messages, photos and videos, or organize a group chat.

How to read an Instagram conversation from a computer

Regardless of which method of accessing Direct was chosen (the official application for PC with OC version Windows 8 and higher or the third-party simulator BlueStacks App Player), read and send messages to Instagram only one scenario is possible through a computer: