> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.watx.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect Instagram

> What your Instagram account needs before you start, how the Business Login connection works, and what to do when access expires.

Instagram connects through Meta's Business Login. You approve the connection on
instagram.com and come back to Watx — there is nothing to paste and no Facebook Page
required.

## Before you connect

<Warning>
  Both of these are on the Instagram side, and getting either wrong produces no error
  anywhere — messages simply never arrive.
</Warning>

* The account must be a **Professional** account — Business or Creator. A personal
  account cannot use Instagram's messaging API at all.
* In the Instagram app, turn on **Settings → Messages and story replies → Allow access to
  messages**. With it off, nothing reaches Watx and nothing reports a problem.

Both requirements are repeated on the connect screen, under **Before you connect**.

## Connect the account

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the channel">
    Go to **Channels → Instagram → Channel Settings**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Press Connect Instagram">
    The whole page navigates to Instagram's consent screen. This is deliberate — Instagram
    blocks its consent dialog from being shown in a popup or a frame.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approve on instagram.com">
    Log in as the professional account and approve the permissions. Watx asks for the
    access it needs to read and send direct messages and to read, reply to, hide and
    delete comments.
  </Step>

  <Step title="You land back on Channel Settings">
    A confirmation names the handle that was connected. The account card then shows the
    profile picture, `@handle`, the account id and the date you connected.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pull in what already exists">
    Instagram only notifies Watx about activity **after** you connect. Go to
    **Channels → Instagram → Posts** and press **Sync posts**, then **Sync comments**, to
    bring in your existing posts and the comments made before today. See
    [Posts and automation](/instagram/posts).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Keeping access alive

Instagram access expires after a fixed period and Meta does not renew it silently. Watx
renews it for you well before the deadline, and the account card shows how long is left:
**Access renews automatically · 42 days left**. You do not need to do anything while that
line is showing.

If renewal cannot happen — the account revoked access, or the password changed — the page
shows **Access expired** and a **Reconnect** button. Reconnecting is the same flow as
connecting: nothing in the workspace is lost, and messages start arriving again as soon as
it completes.

<Note>
  Conversations, contacts and comments already in Watx are kept whatever happens to the
  connection. Only new activity stops.
</Note>

## If events are missing

Connecting also subscribes Watx to Instagram's event notifications. If any of them did not
subscribe, **Channel Settings** shows **Some events are not subscribed**, names which ones,
and offers **Re-subscribe**. This is worth acting on immediately: a connection missing a
subscription looks perfectly healthy and simply never receives those events. The full list
is on [Settings and analytics](/instagram/settings-and-analytics).

## Disconnecting

**Channel Settings → Disconnect** stops everything new: no DMs, no comments, and every
comment automation halts. Existing conversations and comments are kept. You are asked to
confirm first, and you can reconnect at any time.