An issue with automation for private accounts (not public ones).

Question

Hello everyone,I'm experiencing an issue with my Instagram comment-to-DM automation. It works correctly for users with public accounts, but it does NOT trigger for users with private accounts.Here's my setup:	Trigger: Instagram Post/Reel Comment containing a specific keyword			Action: Send a private DM with a message + image			Plan: Pro	The problem: When a user with a PRIVATE Instagram account comments with the keyword on my post or reel, the automation does not send them a DM. No message is delivered at all - not even to their Message Requests folder.However, when a user with a PUBLIC account comments the same keyword, the automation works perfectly every time.Why I believe this is a bug: I personally have a separate PRIVATE Instagram account. When I comment with keywords on posts of OTHER creators (who also use ManyChat or similar tools), I receive automated DMs immediately - without any issues. This tells me that Instagram's API does support sending automated DMs to private accounts.Any ideas why my automation is not triggering for private accounts? Is there a setting I'm missing, or is this a known issue?Thank you for your help.

Anana · Accepted Answer

Hi, thank you very much for your reply and help. The issue has already been resolved. It looks like it was indeed a temporary issue on Instagram's side. I also reached out to ManyChat support, and they provided assistance as well.

Best regards

SumGenius · Answer

This looks like a Meta-side issue specific to your sender account, not a ManyChat config problem. The key evidence is in your post: other creators' ManyChat reaches your own private test account fine. That confirms private accounts CAN receive automated DMs, so it's not a platform-wide limitation. Something specific to your account is the bottleneck.

Per Meta's official private reply docs, there's no documented restriction that should block delivery to private commenters. Delivery behavior in those docs only mentions Inbox vs Message Requests folder based on follow relationship, nothing about private vs public profiles affecting delivery itself.

Three possible causes, in order of likelihood:

1. Silent account/page throttling from Meta. Their spam algorithm tends to be more conservative with sends to private profiles since those users have stricter privacy expectations. New pages, recent rapid growth, or any prior policy flag can trigger this kind of throttle. Sends to public accounts still slip through, but private-account recipients get dropped as collateral damage.

2. Degraded page connection. If your ManyChat-to-Facebook Page connection is partially expired (not fully revoked), some message types deliver and others don't, with private-account recipients being a common failure mode. Check Facebook → Settings & Privacy → Settings → Business Integrations and confirm ManyChat shows full access, not "limited." If it looks degraded, remove it fully and reconnect from ManyChat to force a fresh OAuth.

3. Explicit policy flag from Meta. Check Page Settings → Page Support Inbox. If Meta has flagged your page for any reason, the explanation lives there. ManyChat doesn't surface that to you.

ManyChat support won't be able to see Meta's internal flag state on your page, so escalating to them probably won't resolve it. The fix has to come from Meta's side, either by waiting out a soft throttle, doing a full disconnect and reconnect, or appealing through Page Support Inbox if there's an explicit notice.

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