In this article, we will discuss what are general messages on Instagram. Instagram offers the choice between two accounts – Personal and Professional.
Professional Instagram accounts are relatively different and have more features, tools, and insights than personal accounts.
One prime feature that makes professional accounts more engaging is the primary and general message tab feature. The Instagram Direct Messages (DMs) are categorized into these and give you more control over your chats by controlling the chat notifications.
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What are General Messages on Instagram
General Messages on Instagram are the least-important messages to read them later. You don’t get notifications for new or unread general messages because the notifications settings by default are OFF. But you can enable your general message notification by making a few changes in your settings.
Track Post engagement, boost account, view insights, and manage your online activities are some exciting features you get with a professional Instagram account. However, you can either choose Creator or a Business account to access these features and tools to increase engagement on your account.
Furthermore, when you choose a professional account, you get access to the primary and general messages inbox. This message categorization helps you organize your chats, parting most important to less important. Also, you can manage your chat notifications using the feature.
All your messages first come into the primary tab. You can move the least-important messages to the general tab and keeps the most-prioritized conversation here.
As you get notifications for new and unread messages in the primary tab and don’t get notified about new or unread messages in the general tab, you can change this notification setting in the Instagram settings option.
How To Get the General Messages On Instagram?
As the primary and general message feature is available on professional Instagram accounts only, you need to switch to a creator or business account in order to use the feature.
- Launch Instagram and go to profile by tapping the profile icon.
- Tap the three-horizontal menu at the upper right corner of the profile page.
- Choose the “Settings” option from the menu.
- Tap the “Account” option.
- Scroll down and select the “Switch to a professional account” option.
- Once you finish the process, go back to your Instagram home page.
- Swipe to the left, or simply tap the messages icon at the top to open chats.
You will now find your inbox categorized into three – Primary, General, and Requests.
How To Move Messages From Primary to General Tab On Instagram?
Below is the method to move your low-priority messages from primary to general.
- On Instagram, open your chats and select the primary tab.
- Press and hold the conversation you wish to move to the General tab.
- Now, select the “Move to General” option from the menu that appears.
The Primary and General Message features are used by the creator or business Instagram account to separate conversations as per the need. When someone of these categories sends you a direct message, the messages go to the primary tab. If someone who is not your follower sends you a direct message, it goes to the request tab.
Keeping the important conversation in the primary tab is a good practice to receive immediate notifications when someone sends you a direct message. On the other hand, the general tab is preferred to keep the low-priority conversations in a single tab to avoid message clustering.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to get general messages on Instagram?
You need to switch to a professional Instagram account to get the general message feature on Instagram. Once you go to professional, you get three message tabs: Primary, General, and Request.
How to turn on the notifications for general messages on Instagram?
Below are the steps to turn on notifications for general messages on Instagram:
On Instagram, open your profile.
Tap the three-line menu in the top-right.
Select Settings >> tap Notifications >> then Direct Messages and Calls option.
Now scroll down to “Messages” and tap on the round check box of the “From Primary and General” option.
