If you are somebody who wants to learn how to unread messages on Instagram, then you have come to the right place. There are a lot of other people out there that want to learn how to do this, especially because brands can make the most of Instagram messages for business in a number of different ways.
Back in the day, there wasn't actually a solution in the app for this problem, but with the recent Instagram updates, you are able to unread a message through your business account.
When you unread a DM through Instagram, the ‘seen receipt’ is going to stay. This means that the message sender will see that you have seen the message, but it will be marked as unread. Let's take a look at how to unread messages on Instagram, especially for your business account, if it pertains to your business.
How to Unread Messages on Instagram
Perhaps one of your followers on Instagram has messaged you to discuss an urgent issue. However, you have opened the message, and you realize that you don't have enough time right now to answer them. Of course, you want to be able to mark the messages unread, so that the message sender doesn't feel like you're blowing them off.
In order to unread a message on Instagram, you'll need a business account. Open your inbox, and you'll see three different tabs. They are called primary, general, and requests.
The primary tab includes conversations that are important to you, the general tab contains ones that you don't need to reply to straight away. The request tab includes messages from people that you don't normally message.
The first thing you need to do in order to learn how to unread messages on Instagram is to make sure you have a business account. Once you've done this, follow the steps below.
1. Open your inbox on Instagram and select the icon at the top of your screen to the right.
2. Choose the conversations that you want to mark as unread, then select ‘more’.
3. Another menu will come up. Select ‘mark as unread’.
Now, you'll be able to see a blue dot alongside the conversation and a red speech bubble is also going to appear in your inbox, as if you haven't seen the message before. Even though you know how to unread messages on Instagram, the messages aren't going to be marked as unseen for the sender.
This feature is just a way for you to mark conversations that you haven't had the opportunity to read completely, or answer properly. It's also worth noting that you aren't going to be able to access this feature on desktop yet.
How to Unread Messages without an Instagram Business Account
There are a lot of people out there that want to learn how to unread a message on Instagram on a personal profile. The good news is that there is a solution to this within the app. Whenever you restrict somebody on Instagram, the messages from that individual are going to be marked as message requests.
This means that even if you read their messages, they will not be marked as read. So, if you're trying to unread messages on a private Instagram profile, follow the steps below.
1. Open the Instagram profile of the messages that you would like to mark as unread.
2. Now, go to the top of the screen to the right, and select the three dots icon. From here, select ‘restrict’.
3. You will need to confirm your decision.
Now your messages from that person are going to go into the request folder, and you will need to request them in order to be able to view them.
What Does the Flag Mean?
If you have an Instagram business account, then you have probably come across the flag option in your Instagram direct messages. This is going to come up below the unread message notification on Instagram direct messages.
When you select this, an orange flag is going to come up in the top right-hand corner of your conversation.
Flagging a conversation like this lets you organize conversations based on which ones are important to you, and which ones you would like to access later. If you would like to refer to a message later, then you can flag it.
This way, you can set these apart from your other messages, and you don't have to go through all of your messages again when you want to find it.
1. Open your Instagram direct messages, and locate the conversation that you want to flag for later.
2. Hold down the conversation on your screen, until a list appears.
3. Select the flag option.
There you have it, now you are going to be able to flag that Instagram message for later.
Final Thoughts
If you're using Instagram for business reasons, then there are going to be times when you are completely overwhelmed by how many direct messages you get. You might get thousands of direct messages from business partners or customers.
You also might end up opening an important message, but at that point in time, you haven't got the information or the time to read it completely, and reply to it.
As a result, it can be really helpful to know how to unread Instagram messages, so that you can go back to that message at a time that is more convenient and give it the proper attention. It's also helpful to know how to unread a message on Instagram if you accidentally opened a message on your friend's Instagram.
Now that you know everything there is to know about how to unread messages on Instagram, you're going to be able to use it more to your advantage.