🚨 Auto DMs are not being sent?
Work through the checks below in order.
1️⃣ Check the keyword Auto DM switch
🛠️ Open the Auto DM keywords & messages page, and 🔘 check that the keyword Auto DM button at the top is set to ‘On’.
2️⃣ Check for a clash with another DM service
🔗 If Manychat or another Auto DM service is still connected, ❌ the clash stops your Auto DMs from going out.
👉 See this page to disconnect it.
3️⃣ Check the Instagram app settings
📱 Check the following in the Instagram app:
- Profile page → tap ☰ (the menu at the top right)
- Choose Messages and story replies
- Choose Message requests
- Check that Allow access to messages is switched on ✅
If this setting is off, DM sending is restricted.
4️⃣ Check how keywords are matched
🔍 If your setting only recognises the exact keyword, anything typed slightly differently will not trigger the DM.
For example, if the keyword is set to event and someone comments event😊 or event pls, the DM may not be sent.
⚙️ On the Auto DM keywords & messages page → Settings, check whether ‘keyword contained’ matching is enabled.
5️⃣ Check whether Instagram has restricted you
🚫 If Auto DMs that were working suddenly stopped, the post itself may have been restricted by Instagram.
- ✅ First check whether Auto DMs on your other posts still work.
- 🧩 If only one post is affected → that post has most likely been restricted.
💡 What you can do
- In the Auto DM setup, set a specific keyword rather than an unspecified one, and tick the DM-to-DM checkbox that asks whether to send it from a DM as well.
- Tell your followers to leave the keyword in a comment, and if they do not receive the Auto DM, to type the same keyword in a DM.
- Pin a comment at the top of the post telling people to send the keyword by DM.
That way your followers can still enter the keyword in the DM and receive the Auto DM.
You can also post the content again. Posting the same content a second time does not reduce your reach or incur a penalty. When you do repost, applying the following makes it safer:
- Turn on AI wording variation
- Use a button template
- Insert [username] in the button template to personalise the message
- Set a sensible cap on how many Auto DMs can go out per hour, so they are spaced apart
🚨 Careful: if Auto DMs will not send and you respond by sending a lot of manual DMs to followers, your DM function itself can be suspended.
6️⃣ The person does not follow you
If the recipient does not follow you, the Auto DM lands in their ‘Message requests’ folder and they may never get a notification.
📣 Ask them to check the General tab in their DM inbox, not just Primary.
✉️ What to do for each error message
When an error occurs, you receive an email telling you which one it was. The action to take depends on the message.
If no error email arrived, Auto DMs are not going out, and a lot of Auto DMs had been sending beforehand, a restriction from Instagram is the likely cause. In that case, try the methods in section 5 above.
Case 1
The account owner has disabled access to instagram direct messaging. Error code 200.
If your email carries the message above, change the setting as described below.
- Open the Instagram app.
- Go to your profile page.
- Tap the menu at the top right.
- Scroll down and tap Messages and story replies.The wording may differ slightly.
- Tap Message requests.
- Switch on the Allow access to messages toggle at the bottom.
Case 2
The thread owner has archived or deleted this conversation, or the thread does not exist. Error code 100 (2534001)
This message says the conversation was archived or deleted, but in practice it is usually a temporary error.
Send the message manually to the followers the Auto DM was meant for, and watch whether the error happens again.
Messaging up to 5 people directly is fine, but beyond 10 there is a real risk of being treated as spam. In that case, wait until the person messages you first to say they did not receive the Auto DM, and reply to that. Sending a lot of DMs first is risky.
Case 3
An unexpected error has occured. Please retry your request later. Error code 2
This one says an unexpected error occurred and to retry later. It is usually temporary, and affects only some users.
As with case 2, message the intended followers manually and monitor whether the error repeats. Keeping the number of manual DMs to 5 or fewer is the safe approach here too.
Case 4
Please check that the access token has sufficient Instagram permission granularity for Instagram private replies; or verify that the comment ID is valid. Error code: 200 (2534066)
You can receive this when a lot of auto comment replies were posted in a short space of time.
If this error arrives twice within 24 hours, Kittychat switches auto comment replies off automatically. We recommend leaving them off for 5 to 7 days.
If you ignore that and switch auto comment replies back on, the Auto DMs on that post are likely to be restricted as well. For more, see Instagram restriction warnings.
Case 5
Error validating access token: The session has been invalidated because the user changed their password or Facebook has changed the session for security reasons. Error code: 190
This means the connection between our site and Instagram has been invalidated — because the password changed, or because of a security measure on Facebook’s side.
Log in to Kittychat, go to the connection page and connect again. If that does not work, see this page, disconnect, and then reconnect.