How to send a DM on Instagram

Georgina Smith
Instagram logo on a phone

If you want to reach out to another account on Instagram or privately communicate with your friends on the app, you can do so via the DMs feature — here’s how to send one.

Instagram is still one of the biggest social media platforms out there right now, with a huge userbase of people who use the app to share snippets of their lives and keep up to date with what’s going on with their friends, family, and celebrities.

The app has added plenty of features over the years, including reels, stories, and more, but one of the most useful features on Instagram is without a doubt the DM function.

DMs, or Direct Messages, allow you to privately communicate with your friends or other accounts on the app, whether that’s to reply to their story, send them a post, or just have a general conversation.

If you want to send someone a DM on Instagram, doing so is easy.

Instagram logo on a phone
Instagram is a great place to stay in touch with friends online.

How to send or reply to DMs on Instagram

Sending messages to people via Instagram is easy, and can be done quickly from within the messages tab on the app.

To start a new conversation, simply do as follows:

  1. Open Instagram.
  2. Tap the paper airplane button in the top right of your screen.
  3. Again in the top right, click the pencil icon to create a new message.
  4. Select who you want to send the message to, then press ‘Chat.’
  5. Type your message, and when you’re done, press ‘Send.’
Instagram logo on a pink background
Instagram remains one of the most popular social media platforms out there.

How to send a post to someone on Instagram

If you just want to send a post you’ve seen on Instagram to another account privately, this can be done from the post itself.

  1. Find the post you want to send.
  2. Click the arrow underneath the image.
  3. Select who you want to send it to.
  4. Press ‘Send.’

You can access your chats at any time through the messages tab, and can reply to messages by clicking on a notification, or simply entering one of the chats.


If you want to know more about how to use Instagram, you can check out our other guides here:

How to link your Instagram account to TikTokHow to see your first-liked Instagram postHow to switch Instagram feed to chronological orderHow to re-share a post to your Story on InstagramHow to make money on InstagramHow to hide likes on Instagram

Sign up to Dexerto for free and receive:
Fewer Ads|Dark Mode|Deals in Gaming, TV and Movies, and Tech