If you use Instagram for direct message (DM) chatting, then parent company Meta has just introduced five significant upgrades.
"People use Instagram DMs all over the world to stay connected with friends and family daily," the company wrote in a blog post. "Today, we’re introducing message translations, new ways to share music, scheduled messages, pinned content and group chat QR codes to make it even easier to connect with people over DMs."
We’ve outlined each of these five features below. Let's dive into these new messaging features and how you can use them.
How to schedule DMs on Instagram
The most useful new feature is the ability to schedule direct messages. Why would you want to? Perhaps it’s the middle of the night where you are, and you want the message to arrive in the morning. Or maybe you’ve come up with the perfect birthday message a week too early.
Either way, it’s easily done. Just type out the message as you would normally, but hold down the send button instead of tapping it. You’ll see a set of dates and times for up to 29 days in advance — pick the ones you want and tap on the send button to schedule it.
How to pin messages in Instagram
Another useful addition is the ability to pin messages at the top of conversations. It can be done in 1:1 messages or in group chats, and is handy if there’s something important that might be missed or forgotten. Less usefully, the Instagram blog suggests you can also use it to "revisit that one meme that makes you LOL every time".
Whatever you want to pin, the process is the same. Find the message, image or Reel you want to pin in your chat, hold down on it and tap "pin".
To take it down again, hold down on a pinned message and select "unpin". You’ll be wanting to spring clean like this occasionally, as a maximum of three messages can be pinned at a time.
How to translate direct messages on Instagram
The top-listed feature in Instagram’s blog is all about breaking down language barriers, with translation support for 99 languages now built into DMs.
"Whether you’re catching up with your cousins in Korea or your BFF abroad in Spain – you can translate their messages directly within your DMs, helping you stay close to your loved ones even when you’re apart," the blog post explains.
If you receive a message in a language you don’t speak, simply hold down on it and tap "Translate". The converted words will appear directly below the original message.
How to share songs in Instagram DMs
A more frivolous but fun update is the ability to easily share tracks within the message thread without leaving the space.
The functionality is hidden within the sticker tray. Tap on it, and select the "Music" option to search for any song contained within the Instagram audio library. It’ll send a 30-second preview of the song, along with a spinning vinyl icon of the album it’s taken from.
How to invite friends to a group chat with a QR code
It can be a bit tricky to recruit people to a group chat if you don’t know them well enough to already be Instagram buddies. But it’s sometimes necessary — maybe a group chat for a study group, or one for apartment neighbors.
Instagram now lets you generate a QR code for each group chat, saving you the trouble of searching for and adding each person individually. If, for whatever reason, the QR code is misused, the admin can change it at any time.
Creating a join code is easy enough. Open the chat you need a QR code for, and tap on the group name at the top. Tap the invite link, and then select "QR code" to view it. Then you can either show someone in person, or save it to your camera roll to send on to remote friends.
More from Tom's Guide
- Instagram now lets you schedule DMs — here's how to do it
- Here's how to join Flashes — Bluesky's answer to Instagram
- Millions of users are joining Bluesky — here's how to sign up
