Read and reply to Messenger and Instagram messages (add-on)

Messages to your Facebook Page, and to the Instagram account linked to it, arrive in Mesy under Inbox. Your team reads and answers them there. You need the Social channels add-on, an extra part of Mesy. Mesy turns it on for your business when you ask. Your admin connects the Page once.

Check you have the add-on

With the Social channels add-on, Messenger and Instagram appear under Inbox in the sidebar. If you don’t see them, your business doesn’t have the add-on yet.

Before your business has it, Admin › Add-ons shows it under Available add-ons as two cards, Facebook and Instagram. Each is marked “Coming soon”. Once you have it, it shows as one Social channels card under Active add-ons. See Add-ons.

Connect your Facebook Page

Only an admin can connect the Page. Mesy connects one Facebook Page for your business. It also connects the Instagram account linked to that Page. You don’t connect Instagram separately.

To connect the Page:

1. In the sidebar, click Admin.
2. Click Workspace Channels.
3. On the Messenger & Instagram card, click Connect Facebook Page.
4. Sign in with Facebook.
5. Choose your Page.
6. When Facebook sends you back to the Inbox, go to Admin › Workspace Channels again.
7. Check the Messenger & Instagram card. It shows your Page’s name and Active. Below that, it shows your Instagram handle, for example “Instagram: @yourshop”.

If the Page has no Instagram account, the card says “No Instagram account linked” instead.

Admins can also connect from the Connect Facebook Page button on the Messenger tab.

Find a chat

Each tab lists one row per person, with the latest message and its time. The latest message may be your team’s reply. If Meta doesn’t share the person’s name, the row says “Facebook user” or “Instagram user”. New messages appear on their own.

A dot marks a chat that nobody on your team has opened since its last message. It clears for everyone as soon as anyone opens the chat. Opening a chat doesn’t tell the person you’ve read it.

To narrow the list:

• Type in Filter conversations to search by the person’s name. You can also search by the name of the record the chat is linked to. A record is one entry in Mesy, such as one customer or one company.
• Click In CRM next to the search box to show only chats linked to a record. Click it again: it changes to Not in CRM and shows the chats with no link. A third click shows all chats.

Bring in earlier messages

Mesy receives messages from the moment the Page is connected. To bring in earlier ones, click Sync past conversations (the refresh icon in the header). Anyone on the team can use it. Mesy brings in every chat from the last 30 days, with the newest 20 messages in each. One sync covers both tabs.

Mesy then tells you how many messages came in, for example “Synced 12 messages”. A line under the header shows when you last synced.

Reply to a message

Meta lets your business reply only within 24 hours of the person’s last message. You can’t start a chat from Mesy. The person must message your Page, or your Instagram account, first.

To reply:

1. Open the chat.
2. Type your reply in the box at the bottom. Press Shift+Enter for a new line.
3. Press Enter, or click the arrow beside the box. Your message appears in the chat with your name under it.

A line under the box says when the reply window closes. Once it closes, a note replaces the box and explains why.

A reply sent from Meta’s own apps shows “via Messenger” or “via Instagram” instead of a name. On Messenger, your newest reply also shows “Sent” and how long ago. Mesy doesn’t show whether the person has read your reply.

Mesy sends text only. To send a photo or file, click Open Business Suite in the header. It opens the whole Messenger or Instagram inbox in Meta Business Suite, not the chat you’re viewing.

In an open chat, Suggest replies in the header lets Mesy suggest answers for you to check. Assistant shows what Mesy looked at for each one. Automatic replies are for WhatsApp only. See Get reply suggestions in customer chats.

Link a chat to a customer’s record

Mesy doesn’t link a chat to a record for you. You choose the record yourself.

To link a chat to a record that already exists:

1. Open the chat.
2. Click Link in the chat’s header.
3. Type at least two letters of the record’s name.
4. Click the record in the results. The record’s name now shows in the header.

If the person isn’t in Mesy yet, click Add to CRM instead. Mesy prepares a new record as a confirm card. Nothing changes until you confirm it. To find the card, click Mesy Messenger (Mesy Instagram on the Instagram tab) in the header. It’s also on the Approvals page, which lists everything waiting for you. Once you confirm, the chat is linked to the new record.

To pick a different record, click Replace. To remove the link, click Unlink this record (the cross next to the record’s name). You see these buttons only if you can edit the linked record.

The linked record shows the chat too. On the record, the Conversations tab lists each linked chat with its latest message. Click the arrow on a chat to open it in the Inbox.

Use Mesy AI in these tabs

Mesy AI is the AI you chat with. Click Mesy Messenger in the header to open its panel. On the Instagram tab, the button reads Mesy Instagram.

The panel shows how many chats are unread and lists the confirm cards waiting for you. If the open chat isn’t linked to a record yet, the panel also has an Add to CRM button for it. When there are no unread chats and no cards, it says “All clear in Messenger” (or “All clear in Instagram”). See Use the AI panel in your Inbox.

Reconnect or disconnect the Page

Only admins can do this. Go to Admin › Workspace Channels and find the Messenger & Instagram card.

Click Reconnect to sign in with Facebook again. Use it after you add or change the Instagram account linked to your Page in Meta’s settings. Mesy then picks up the new account.

Disconnecting deletes Mesy’s copy of these chats, and no new messages arrive in either tab. Facebook keeps its own copy.

To disconnect the Page:

1. Click the bin icon on the card. Its hover text is “Disconnect Facebook Page”.
2. Click Disconnect to confirm. The card shows Connect Facebook Page again.

If something doesn’t work

• Connect Facebook Page shows “The Social channels module is not included in your plan”. Your business doesn’t have the Social channels add-on yet. See Add-ons.
• You connected, but the card still shows Connect Facebook Page. Mesy saved nothing and shows no message. This happens if you cancel the sign-in, or pick no Page or more than one. It also happens if the Page or its Instagram account is already connected to another business in Mesy. Try again, choosing one Page you’re an admin of.
• The Instagram tab says your Page has no linked Instagram account. Link an Instagram professional account to the Page in Meta’s settings. Then ask your admin to click Reconnect.
• The Instagram tab says no Page is connected. If you’re an admin, click Go to the Messenger tab and connect the Page there. Otherwise, ask your admin.
• The Messenger & Instagram card says “an admin should reconnect”. Click Reconnect on the card.
• The chat’s header says “Linked record unavailable”. The chat is linked to a record you can’t see, or one that was deleted. You can’t change the link.
• Sync past conversations shows “Sync ran recently or already in progress”. Wait 30 seconds and try again.