Direct Message FAQs

For an overview of Direct Messages, including how to send and manage your Direct Messages, read our About Direct Messages article.

My account is protected. What happens when I enable the "Receive Direct Messages from anyone" option?

Regardless of your Tweet privacy settings (i.e. whether your Tweets are protected or not protected), your account will be able to receive Direct Messages from anyone if you enable the option to Receive Direct Messages from anyone.

Why am I not seeing group messages?

You can start and participate in group messages when using twitter.com, the Twitter for iOS or Android apps, and TweetDeck.

How can I stop someone from sending me Direct Messages?

To stop receiving Direct Messages from someone:

Locate the conversation from the account, and click or tap to open it.
Click or tap the more icon(twitter.com and iOS) or tap the overflow icon (Android) and select Flag.
Confirm your choice.
Note: The account will not be able to send you a message until you send them a message first.

Alternatively, to stop receiving messages, you can block the account. Blocked accounts cannot send you messages, unless you unblock them.

Why am I not seeing a reply box?

You will not see a reply box if you are not able to send a Direct Message to the other participant. This might happen if the other participant has unfollowed you, blocked you, or has flagged the conversation with you.

Why am I having trouble sending Direct Messages?

There is an account limit of 1,000 Direct Messages sent per day. Once you reach this limit, you can’t send any more Direct Messages for the day.

If you are sending Direct Messages to accounts that do not follow you, you may need to verify your phone number.

If you are sending duplicate Direct Messages to multiple accounts (including sending the same link to multiple accounts), this may be flagged as spam activity and can result in you not being able to send a Direct Message for a short time. You may need to wait at least 30 minutes without any attempt at sending a Direct Message before you’ll be able to do so again.

My account is sending messages without my knowledge. What is going on?

If your account is sending a Direct Message without your knowledge, it may be compromised. Follow the steps outlined in this article to help secure it.

Why am I receiving messages from myself?

Please take the following actions:

While signed in, visit your Apps tab in settings. Revoke access for any third party application that you don't recognize.
If you're still experiencing this problem after you've revoked unwanted applications, or if you weren't expecting this behavior when you approved this connection, please contact us.

Why do some Direct Messages look different?

Businesses and developers have the option to send you a welcome message when you enter a new Direct Message conversation, which may include automated prompts with specific instructions for you to follow to help streamline your communication.

Note: Businesses and developers will not know you saw their welcome message unless you respond, and the fact that you saw the welcome message does not mean the account can message you. Unless you have enabled the option to Receive Direct Messages from Anyone, you must send them a message or follow them before they can message you back.

You might also see messages from businesses or developers that appear different than most Direct Messages. This can include, but is not limited to, messages with a list of predefined options for you to choose from.

How is someone I don’t follow able to send me a Direct Message?

When you enable the Receive Direct Messages from anyone setting, anyone can message you, even if you do not follow them.

If you previously had a conversation with a person through Direct Message, that person is able to message you regardless of if you follow them or not.

Disabling the Receive Direct Messages from anyone setting does not stop accounts from messaging you whom you have previously had conversations with and do not follow.