---
title: "Reply to customers from the shared inbox"
description: "Answer Instagram DMs and Messenger chats in one inbox: assign conversations, reply with link buttons, add notes and tags, and keep the 24-hour window in view."
canonical: "https://www.awwtomation.com/how-to/reply-to-customers-from-the-inbox"
---

# Reply to customers from the shared inbox


Automations answer the common questions. Everything else lands in one inbox your whole team shares, with Instagram and Messenger side by side.

## Steps

### Open the inbox

Click **Inbox**. Unread chats are bold with a count, and the small icon on each face shows Instagram or Messenger. Use **All accounts** and the filter to show open, unread, mine, unassigned or closed chats.

![The inbox with a list of Instagram and Messenger conversations](https://www.awwtomation.com/how-to/reply-to-customers-from-the-inbox/1-inbox.webp "app.awwtomation.com/inbox")

### Open a conversation

Click a chat. Messages sent by automations carry an **Automated** badge, so you can see what the customer already got. The contact panel on the right shows who they are.

![An open conversation with the contact panel on the right](https://www.awwtomation.com/how-to/reply-to-customers-from-the-inbox/2-conversation.webp "app.awwtomation.com/inbox")

### Assign it

Use the assignee menu at the top of the chat to hand it to a teammate, or to yourself. Your team can then filter to **Mine** or **Unassigned**.

![The assign menu with the team listed](https://www.awwtomation.com/how-to/reply-to-customers-from-the-inbox/3-assign.webp "app.awwtomation.com/inbox")

### Reply, with a link button if you need one

Type in the reply box and press Enter to send (Shift+Enter adds a line). Click the link icon to add up to three buttons with a **Label** and a **Link**. The pill under the box shows until when you can reply.

![The reply box with a Wholesale price sheet link button being added](https://www.awwtomation.com/how-to/reply-to-customers-from-the-inbox/4-reply.webp "app.awwtomation.com/inbox")

### Use the contact panel

Add tags, leave a note for your team, and see recent automations and link clicks. **View contact** opens the full contact page.

![The contact panel with tags, notes and recent automations](https://www.awwtomation.com/how-to/reply-to-customers-from-the-inbox/5-contact-panel.webp "app.awwtomation.com/inbox")

When you're done, click **Close** at the top of the chat. Closed chats sit under the **Closed** filter, and **Reopen** brings one back.

## The 24-hour window

Meta lets businesses reply for 24 hours after a customer's last message. After that, a person on your team can still reply from the inbox for up to 7 days; Awwtomation marks those replies as a human agent's automatically. After 7 days, the reply box waits until the customer writes again.

## Q: Can two people reply to the same chat?

A: Yes, anyone in the workspace can. Assigning it makes clear who's on it.

## Q: Do automations stop when my team replies?

A: Automations only run on new comments, messages and story replies that match them, so check that your keywords won't catch a customer mid-conversation.