How Can You Direct Message A Private Account On Instagram? (2022)

How Can You Direct Message A Private Account On Instagram? (2022)

Sliding into the DM’s of public profiles or your friends on Instagram isn’t exactly hard to do, but what if you want to send a direct message to a private account on Instagram?

Think it’s impossible? Think again! While it may not be completely straightforward, there is a way to do it and we’ll explain exactly how in the article below.

You see, it takes a little bit of extra effort as the possibility and the button to send someone private a DM is actually hidden – but there are ways to make it appear.

How To DM Someone With a Private Instagram Account

Before you’re planning to send a message to someone’s private account on Instagram, let’s do a very quick recap of how the process works for accounts you’re already following or that are completely public.

You simply head to an account’s profile page, and there should be a big ‘Message’ button right next to the ‘Follow’ button. Click on there and you’ll be headed right towards the message screen.

Alternatively, you can also open up your DM’s by pressing the ‘Arrow’ icon on your app home screen and pressing the ‘Compose’ icon in the top right corner to start sending direct messages.

How Can You Direct Message A Private Account On Instagram? (2022)

For private accounts, the process is actually extremely similar.

Here’s how you can send a direct message to someone private on Instagram: Search for the private account you want to message. You’ll see that there is no option to send a message here, but wait!

Press the three dots in the top-right corner of your app, then you’ll see a menu pop-up show up. Simply select ‘Send message’ right at the bottom.

Sending a message to a private account on Instagram is very easy and only takes one small extra step.

Et voila! You’ve successfully sent a message to someone private on the app. They won’t necessarily get a notification of it, similar to the way you can send direct messages to strangers on Facebook.

But hey, it’s better than nothing!

Need a little bit more visual guidance? Here’s a more detailed overview of our how-to guide in simple steps with a couple of screenshots.

1. Find the private Instagram account that you want to send a direct message to.

How Can You Direct Message A Private Account On Instagram? (2022)

Pretty straightforward of course, but it’s a necessary step nonetheless. Who do you want to message on Instagram that’s private? Simply open up their profile page and head over to the next step.

2. In the top-right corner, you’ll see three dots.

Simply press the three-dot icon right in the right and upper corner of the app display. After the tap, you’ll see the menu below.

3. Go to the bottom and press ‘send message’.

How Can You Direct Message A Private Account On Instagram? (2022)

The pop-up menu you’ve just pulled up in the previous step will have an option to send someone a DM. Press this button and you’ll be headed to the normal Instagram DM screen.

4. Type your message and hit send!

How Can You Direct Message A Private Account On Instagram? (2022)

This one’s pretty self-explanatory, right? Type up your message and slide in those DMs!

Will the person with a private account receive a notification of my message?

No – they won’t get a notification popping up on their phone just like with a regular DM from someone they know.

Instead of the regular DMs tab, your message will be located underneath ‘message requests‘. It’s a little bit hidden, but someone who checks their Instagram regularly would definitely notice it sooner rather than later.

How Can You Direct Message A Private Account On Instagram? (2022)

This is quite understandable of course. If this was the case, it would make spamming a lot easier and we don’t exactly want that either. Sometimes, the Instagram app will bug out a little bit and people may receive a message notification anyway.

They won’t see a notification, but your message will be delivered in the ‘requests’ folder.

Can I send as many direct messages as I want to private Instagram accounts?

Definitely not! Doing so would be a bad idea and Instagram will likely flag your account.

In fact, if you do this, you will probably get an action blocked error message on Instagram. You can get the same error message if you try to follow too many people on Instagram. Simply put, try not to behave like a spammer or a robot.

How Can You Direct Message A Private Account On Instagram? (2022)

Just don’t overdo it – don’t spam people and use this feature sparingly. If you really need to send a lot of direct messages to private accounts you don’t follow, try to send these DMs with a bit of time in between them. In other words, wait around fifteen minutes before you send another message.

Don’t worry – Instagram won’t delete your account if you do get these error messages, but you should consider them a warning.

Conclusion

Sending a DM to a private Instagram account definitely isn’t hard. Just go to their profile, press the three-dot icon, hit ‘send message’ and you’re good to go! They won’t receive a notification of your message, but they will be able to find it in their message requests.

Paul Alexander

About the author

Paul Alexander has a Master of Science degree in Communication Studies and is a licensed teacher in Flanders, Belgium. He's been passionate about writing and technology ever since he was little and has more than ten years of experience in the vastly interesting world of consumer electronics and social media. He is also the founder of ByteHaps.com.

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