Why Instagram auto DMs arrive empty.
Why Instagram blocks buttons in some first DMs, and how to get your link past it.
Someone comments your keyword. A chat with you shows up in their DMs, and it's empty. No message, no button, no link. They comment again, or tell you nothing came.
If this is happening on your posts, your automation is very likely fine. On some accounts, Instagram blocks a button or a card in the first DM to someone who has never messaged you. Here's what's going on, and how to get your link past it.
One private reply per comment
When someone comments on your post or reel, Instagram lets your account send them one private reply, within 7 days of the comment. That's the DM a comment automation sends. Instagram's messaging rules cover the other limits.
Most automated DMs carry a button, like "Get the guide", or a card with an image. On most accounts, Instagram delivers them.
What Instagram blocks
On some accounts, Instagram refuses that first DM when it has a button or a card in it and the person has never messaged you. The error Instagram sends back says it can't send media to that person unless they follow you. Buttons and cards count as media here. Plain text doesn't.
That matches a rule Instagram has had for personal messages since 2023: a message request to someone who doesn't follow you can only contain text.
Instagram hasn't published this rule for automated DMs. It doesn't say why some accounts get it and others don't, or how long it lasts. This comes from Instagram's side. Nothing in Waveloop or your settings switches it on, and nothing is set up wrong.
Inside an account that has the rule, people who follow you or have messaged you before aren't blocked. It's the first DM to someone new that gets blocked.
Why sending it again doesn't help
Each comment gets one private reply, and the refused DM usually uses it up. Waveloop sends plain text straight after a refused button, but that second try often can't get through. What gets past it is sending plain text in the first place.
How to tell it's happening
Often you hear it from your audience first: someone says the DM was empty, or comments your keyword again. Waveloop also tells you:
- The Results card. Under Didn't go through, the row Buttons blocked in a first DM counts the people Instagram refused. Here's how to read the Results card.
- Alerts. When Instagram blocks an automation's button 3 or more times in 7 days and the switch is off, the automation shows Instagram is blocking your button. Home shows Instagram is blocking buttons in your DMs for Live automations of the Instagram account you're in, while someone still has an empty chat.
Send the first DM as plain text
Instagram's button rule doesn't block plain text in a first DM to someone new. So send that DM as text, with your link in the message.
In Waveloop, every comment automation has a Send as plain text switch, on every plan, including Free:
- Open the comment automation.
- On the Setup tab, open step 3, Set up message.
- Switch on Send as plain text, right under Message type.
- Click Save message.
Or tap Send as plain text on the automation's alert or on its Results card, and it's saved straight away. On Home, Send them as plain text switches every automation the alert lists, in one tap.
Here's what people get:
- A direct DM: your message, with your link at the end. A card goes out as its title, subtitle and link, without the image. On Free, this is what plain text sends.
- On Pro, with follow to unlock on: your opening message as text, with "Reply LINK and I'll send it right over". Any reply works. Then they get the follow check and your link.
Some things stay the same. People who've commented on your posts before still get your button. With Track link clicks on, the default, taps on the link in your text still count. And buttons stay the default: switch to plain text on the automations where Instagram is blocking them, and Waveloop tells you which ones those are.
Help the people who already got an empty chat
People who commented before you switched may already have an empty chat. Two things help.
- Ask them to message you. Any message works, even a "?". If they send it within 7 days of their comment and the automation is still Live, Waveloop picks up where it stopped. They get your DM with the link, or on Pro with follow to unlock on, the follow check first.
- Add a line to your public reply. Something like "Sent. Nothing in your DMs? Message me LINK." Anyone with an empty chat then knows what to do. See how public replies work.
The short version
On some accounts, Instagram blocks buttons and cards in a first DM to someone new, and doesn't say why. That rule doesn't block plain text. If people tell you your DM was empty, switch that automation to plain text, and add a "Nothing in your DMs?" line to your public reply.
The full steps are in the Help Center: why did my DM arrive empty? New to Waveloop? Start free. The Free plan needs no card, and comment to DM works on every plan.