It is 11 PM. You closed the studio two hours ago. Someone writes "hi, do you have a class tomorrow morning?" to your Instagram account. You see it at 7 AM, answer at 7:15, and by then they booked somewhere else.
An auto reply on Instagram fixes the first part of that: the person gets an answer while you sleep. There are three ways to set one up, and they behave differently at 11 PM. This post goes through each one, step by step, with the exact wording you can copy.
Comment-to-DM is left out on purpose. That is a message sent because someone commented on a post, and it has its own guide. Here we deal with people who write to you directly.
How fast people expect an answer
Sprout Social asks consumers this every year. In its Q3 2026 pulse survey of 2,250 consumers, most expect a reply within a day, and a good share expect one within two hours.
The larger 2025 Sprout Social Index lands in the same place: 73% of consumers expect a response within 24 hours or sooner. The same pulse survey found that 55% would rather send a DM than complain in public, so the inbox is where the questions arrive.
A small business cannot promise a reply in under an hour at midnight. An auto reply can promise something smaller and still useful: "we got your message, here are our hours, here is the booking link".
Option 1: Instagram's own tools
The Instagram app has two tools for a professional account (Business or Creator). Neither of them sends anything by itself when a message arrives.
Saved replies
Saved replies used to be called quick replies. They are text shortcuts: you write an answer once, give it a short code, and insert it in any chat.
- On your profile, open Settings and privacy, then Business tools and controls, then Saved replies. Menu names move a little between app versions, so look for "Saved replies" if the path differs.
- Tap +, write the message and give it a shortcut, for example
hours. - In a chat, type
/to see the list, or type your shortcut, and tap the reply to insert it.
A saved reply for a yoga studio might be:
Hi! Classes run Monday to Friday at 7 AM, 12 PM and 6 PM, and weekends at 9 AM. Book a spot here: yourstudio.com/book
Saved replies make your answer faster. They do nothing at 11 PM, because you have to open the chat and send them yourself.
Frequently asked questions
The FAQ puts up to four questions in front of a person who opens a chat with you. They tap one and get the answer you wrote. Instagram's help page has the steps:
- Tap Messages at the bottom of the app.
- Tap the three dots, then Tools.
- Under Tools, tap Frequently asked questions and turn on Show Questions.
- Tap Add Question, write the question and an optional automated response, then Save.
Good questions are the ones you already answer every week: "What are your hours?", "How do I book?", "Where do I park?", "Do you have a trial class?".
The FAQ answers at any hour, but only when the person taps a question. Someone who types their own message gets nothing back.
Option 2: Meta Business Suite automations
Meta Business Suite has an inbox for your Facebook Page and Instagram account, and that inbox has automations. Per Meta's help page about inbox automations, the templates include:
- Auto reply (also called instant reply): a greeting to someone who messages you for the first time.
- Away message: a reply when you are not available.
- Frequently asked questions, Location, Contact information and Hours.
- Custom keywords: a reply to a message that contains specific words. Only on the desktop version.
To set one up, from Meta's desktop steps:
- Open Inbox in Meta Business Suite and check that the right business is selected at the top left.
- Click Automations, then Create automation at the top right.
- Pick a template, for example Away message, and follow the steps on screen.
- Turn it on with the toggle. It can take a few minutes to show up.
Three details from Meta's help page are worth knowing before you rely on it:
- Keywords are case-sensitive and must match exactly. "Price" and "price?" can be different words to it. Each keyword or phrase can be used in only one automation, and one automation takes up to 5 keywords.
- Keyword replies wait 15 minutes. Meta sends a keyword automation after 15 minutes unless you answer first.
- Templates win over keywords. If your away message is on and someone writes a keyword, Meta sends the away message and not the keyword reply.
That last one matters at 11 PM. With an away message on, a person who writes "price" gets "we're closed right now" instead of your prices.
Business Suite is free and handles the basics well. It works best when you want one greeting and one away message, and you are happy to answer the details yourself the next morning.
Option 3: A default reply and keyword replies in Postfjord
Postfjord's DM automation has two templates for people who write to you: Keyword reply and Default reply. They work together: the keyword reply answers when it recognises the question, and the default reply answers everything else.
Keyword replies
- Open Automation, press New automation and pick Keyword reply.
- Pick the Instagram account, or several accounts.
- Type the keywords, comma separated:
price, prices, cost, how much. Emoji work too. - Write the answer. Add up to three buttons if you want to ask a follow-up question, and a link.
- Save and turn it on.
Matching ignores case and punctuation, so "PRICE?" and "what's the price please" both match "price". If you want only the exact word to count, switch on Only when the whole message is the keyword.
A good first set for a studio or a café is three keyword replies: prices, hours and booking. Those three cover most of the questions a small account gets in a week.
Default reply
The default reply answers when nothing else matched: no keyword, no story reply, no link.
- Open Channels and press the gear on your Instagram account to open its chat settings.
- Press Create default reply. Postfjord creates one with a starting text.
- Edit the text in the wizard, and add a button or a link if you want.
- Set Only between certain hours, for example 22:00 to 07:00 (10 PM to 7 AM). The hours follow your workspace time zone, and a "from" later than the "to" means overnight.
Here is a default reply for a coffee shop that opens at 7 AM:
Thanks for your message! We're closed for the night and answer every DM when we open at 7 AM. Menu and hours: harbor-coffee.postfjord.page
A few things the default reply does, from the Automation help page:
- It goes out at most once per 24 hours per person. The second message the same night gets nothing, so nobody receives the same text three times.
- It only answers messages. It never answers a story mention or a button tap.
- It can do what any automation does: buttons, several messages, and a Claude step that answers follow-up questions from your brand profile. Claude never invents prices or dates, and it flags the thread Needs a human when someone asks for a person.
The keyword reply and the default reply do not fight each other. A message with "price" gets your prices at 11 PM, and "can I bring my dog?" gets the default reply. That is the difference from the away message in Business Suite.
Every thread lands in the inbox, so at 7 AM you see who wrote, what they got, and what is still waiting for you.
The default reply counts as one automation toward your plan. On the Free plan, which runs one automation, it takes the only slot. Every paid plan has unlimited automations. See pricing.
Which one to use
| Instagram saved replies and FAQ | Meta Business Suite | Postfjord | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answers at 11 PM by itself | FAQ only, when a question is tapped | Yes | Yes |
| Keyword replies | No | Yes, exact match, 15 minute wait | Yes, ignores case and punctuation |
| Night hours for the reply | No | Away message | Default reply with your own hours |
| Keyword and night reply together | No | Away message wins | Keyword wins |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free plan: 1 automation |
If you get a handful of DMs a week, set up the Instagram FAQ and a few saved replies today. It takes ten minutes. If questions arrive at night and you want the right answer to go out, not only a greeting, use keyword replies with a default reply behind them.
Whatever you pick, test it. Write to your own account from a second account, at night if the reply has hours, and read what comes back.
FAQ
How do I set up an auto reply on Instagram?
Instagram's own app has saved replies and a FAQ, but neither sends a reply to a typed message by itself. For a reply that goes out automatically, use the automations in Meta Business Suite (Inbox, Automations, Create automation) or a tool that connects to your account, such as a default reply in Postfjord under Channels.
What are Instagram quick replies?
Quick replies is the old name for saved replies: text shortcuts on a professional account that you insert in a chat by typing / or your shortcut. You still send each one yourself.
Can I set an away message on Instagram?
Yes, through Meta Business Suite. The away message is one of its inbox automation templates. Note that when it is on, it is sent instead of any keyword reply that matches.
What about Instagram's AI auto replies?
Instagram has AI auto replies for creators. You need a professional account and a creator AI built in Meta AI Studio, and you choose who it answers, for example people you do not follow. Meta says the feature is being introduced gradually and may not be available to you yet.
Does an auto reply send the same message twice?
In Postfjord, the default reply goes out at most once per 24 hours per person, and keyword replies answer each time the keyword is sent. The full rules are on the Automation help page, and the chat settings are described under Channels.