How to Set Up Facebook and Instagram Auto Reply After Hours

Facebook and Instagram auto reply after hours works in one of two ways. Meta’s free automations send one fixed message: an away message during the hours you set as closed, or an instant reply to new chats. An AI auto responder such as Auto-Respond replies to each Messenger message and Instagram DM instantly, answers the customer’s questions and offers a time when scheduling is on.

This guide covers both: how to set up Meta’s tools properly, where they stop, and what changes when an AI handles the night shift.

Losing night messages to whoever answers first? Start a 7-day free trial and connect Messenger and Instagram in under 2 minutes.

Facebook automated responses for business: what Meta gives you free

Meta Business Suite has three automations that matter after hours. All three are free, and each sends a message you wrote in advance.

When your Instagram professional account is connected to your Facebook Page, its DMs show up in the Page inbox, and each automation asks which channel it applies to.

Sources: Meta Help Center, Create an away message, Turn instant replies on or off, Set your Page’s messaging status to away, Manage Instagram messages from your Page’s inbox, and Instagram Help, Frequently asked questions on Instagram chats, checked October 2026.

How to set up an away message for nights and weekends

Meta’s steps, in short:

1. On Facebook, click your profile photo, choose See all profiles and switch into your Page.
2. Open Messenger at the top right, then Automations.
3. Open Away message. The first time it sits under Suggested for you; after that, under Your automations.
4. Pick the channel, then under When this happens choose the hours you are away.
5. Write the message and click Save changes.

To go away on the spot, click Available at the top right of the inbox and switch it to Away.

What a useful away message says

An away message that only says you are closed wastes the night. A better one gets the customer to send what you need, so the morning reply can be a quote instead of a question:

• When you will reply, as a real time.
• What to send now: the job, the address or ZIP code, a photo, and the best number to reach them.
• What to do if it is urgent, if you take emergency calls.

A template written for illustration:

Thanks for messaging [business name]. We’re closed for the night and reply from 7am. To get your quote faster, send the job, your ZIP code, a photo and the best number to reach you. For an emergency, call [your number].

Where Meta’s free automations stop

An away message is better than silence, but it is still one fixed message. After hours that leaves four gaps:

• No second answer. When the customer replies “do you cover my area?” or “how soon can you come?”, nothing answers until you do.
• One or the other. Instant replies are not sent while your Page is away, so a night chat gets the away message only.
• No contact details. Facebook and Instagram do not share a customer’s phone number or email; someone has to ask for them in the chat.
• The window closes. For tools that message through Meta’s platform, the standard messaging window lasts 24 hours after most customer actions (up to 7 days after someone messages you from a Click-to-Messenger or Click-to-Direct ad). Outside it, a business can only message in specific cases Meta defines, such as the Human Agent tag, which allows manual replies within a separate 7-day period. A Friday-night message that waits for Monday has missed the standard window.

Source for the window and tags: Meta for Developers, Messenger Platform policy overview, checked October 2026.

How an AI auto responder handles a message at night

Here is how one late message plays out once Messenger or Instagram is connected to Auto-Respond. The example is illustrative:

1. A homeowner sends a DM at 10pm asking if you install ceiling fans and how soon you could come out.
2. The AI replies in under 2 seconds with your service and service-area details, and asks the questions you set, for example how many fans, the ceiling height and the ZIP code.
3. The customer answers, and the AI keeps going. It asks for the best phone number, because Instagram does not pass it on, and offers open times from your calendar when scheduling is on.
4. If the customer stops replying, follow-ups go out on your cadence, for example Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7, and stop the moment they reply or book. Follow-ups respect your business-hours schedule; the first reply never waits for it.
5. In the morning the whole thread is on your Leads page, and it can be pushed to your CRM or a team alert.

More on why the first reply after hours decides so many jobs is in our guide to after-hours lead capture.

Instagram DM automation: what to check before you connect

Meta sets the rules for which accounts a tool can answer for. Check these first:

• Instagram must be a Business or Creator account linked to a Facebook Page. Personal accounts cannot be connected; switch the account type in the Instagram app.
• You need message permission on the Page. Sign in with a Facebook account that is an admin, or has messaging rights, on that Page.
• Each Page and each Instagram account is its own source, with its own messaging settings and its own billing line.
• Meta expires access tokens from time to time. If messages stop arriving, reconnect the source.
• Say it is automated where the law requires it. Meta’s policy asks automated chats to disclose this where legally required (at the start, after a long gap, and when a chat moves from a person back to automation) and recommends it as good practice everywhere. One line in your first message covers it.

The full requirements are in the Instagram source docs.

How to set up Facebook and Instagram auto reply with Auto-Respond

1. Add the source. In Auto-Respond, open Sources and click Add Facebook Messenger or Add Instagram.
2. Approve access on Facebook. Sign in with the account that manages your Page and grant permission to read and send messages. Your password is never shared.
3. Pick the Pages and Instagram accounts you want answered. Each one becomes a source.
4. Write your business facts once. Services, the area you cover, the price ranges you are willing to quote and the questions you need answered. Choose the AI assistant or predefined messages.
5. Set the timing. Pick your time zone and the hours follow-ups may go out.
6. Switch off Meta’s own away message and instant reply for each channel Auto-Respond answers, so customers do not get two first messages.

Setup takes under 2 minutes.

What it costs

• Meta’s away message, instant reply and FAQ answers: free.
• Auto-Respond for Facebook Messenger: $49/month per connected Page.
• Auto-Respond for Instagram: $49/month per connected Instagram account. Messenger is billed separately even when both come through the same Meta connection.
• Facebook Lead Ads is its own channel at $19/month. For form leads, see Facebook Lead Ads auto reply for contractors.
• Other channels: Yelp $99/month, Thumbtack $99/month and Google Local Services Ads $49/month. The optional voice agent is $10/month per number plus $1/minute of talk time.

Every plan includes a 7-day free trial, with no contracts, no per-lead fees, no lead caps and no setup fees. Channel details are on the Facebook auto responder and Instagram auto responder pages.

Frequently asked questions

Do away messages count toward my Facebook response time?

No. Meta says away messages, and messages received while your Page is set to away, are not included in your Page’s response rate or response time. Instant replies are left out of those numbers too, so neither automation improves them.

Can I use Meta’s away message and an AI auto responder together?

You can, but a customer who writes at night may then get two first messages. Turn off the away message and the instant reply for each channel the AI answers, and keep them only on channels you have not connected.

Is there an Instagram away message?

Meta’s automations ask which channel each one applies to, and Instagram DMs appear in your Page inbox once your Instagram professional account is connected to the Page. Check which channels that menu lists for your account. Inside the Instagram app, business and creator accounts can also set up to four frequently asked questions with automated answers.

Do I have to tell customers the reply is automated?

Meta’s messaging policy says automated chats must disclose that the person is talking to an automated service where the law requires it, and it recommends doing so as good practice even where it does not. One short line in the first message covers it.

Does the after-hours auto reply also cover Facebook Lead Ads?

Facebook Lead Ads is a separate channel at $19/month. A lead form is not a chat, so it is its own source: each submission is captured, can be pushed to your CRM, and can trigger an automated confirmation by text, email or phone.

Answer tonight’s messages tonight

Set a useful away message today if you do nothing else. When you want every Messenger and Instagram chat answered and qualified while you sleep, start a 7-day free trial or email support@auto-respond.com with questions about connecting your Page.