A customer says they wrote to you, you may even have seen the notification, but you cannot find that conversation in the inbox — or opening it from a link returns a warning. This is a different problem from messages not arriving: the message is stored, and something is stopping you from seeing it. This guide helps you find what.
💡 Tip: If there are no new conversations on any account, this is not your guide; work through messages are not arriving first.
You may be seeing one of these situations:
The conversation is not in the list at all.
The conversation is there but warns you when opened.
A colleague can see it and you cannot.
The person commented but no conversation opened.
A concrete example: a hotel receptionist cannot find a conversation a guest says they started. Searching the inbox returns nothing. The problem is that the guest wrote to the hotel's second Instagram account, while the receptionist is looking at the first. Using Switch account in the picker at the top puts the conversation right at the top of the list.
In businesses with several accounts this is by far the most common cause. Establishing which account was written to, before searching, saves minutes every time.
Check your filters and the account
This is the most common cause and takes two taps to rule out.
Use Switch account in the account picker at the top to move to the account the message arrived on. Each account has its own inbox.
Set the filter to All. The Open, Mine, Unassigned, Unread and Closed filters all narrow the list.
Set the channel filter to All channels.
Clear the search box. Search works on the contact's name and the message text; a username may not match the name field.
If the conversation is Closed, it appears under the Closed filter; open it and press Reopen.
Check your visibility scope
If a colleague can see it and you cannot, the cause is the role policy.
If opening it says you are not allowed to view this conversation because you only see the ones assigned to you, your scope is narrow.
By default the Agent role only sees conversations assigned to them.
The portfolio owner can change this under Portfolio settings › Chat assignment rules › Access and visibility. The options are Only the ones assigned to them, Their own and unassigned ones and All conversations in the account.
Having the conversation assigned to you also solves it: a colleague with the right permission can open it and use Assign.
If your account access is limited, you cannot see that account at all; ask someone to check the Accounts column on the Team screen.
When you arrive from a link or a notification, the panel states the reason plainly.
"This conversation could not be opened: it may have been deleted, or the channel type is off in this portfolio." The contact may have been deleted, or that channel may be disabled on your plan. While a channel is off, the conversation does not open from its address either.
"You are not allowed to view this conversation: you only see the conversations assigned to you." A scope problem; see the section above.
"This conversation could not be opened right now." A temporary problem; refresh the page.
Comments and mentions do not open a conversation
This is the behaviour people misread most often, and it is Meta's rule.
A comment on a post does not create a thread in the inbox. Only an automation with a comment trigger runs.
If that automation sends a private reply to the comment, a conversation starts at that moment. A private reply can be sent once per comment, within 7 days of the comment.
Story mentions and ad clicks do not open a conversation either; the person has to message you directly.
If the person has never written, you cannot type even with the thread open; the panel says they have never sent you a message.
Rule out channel and connection blockers
Confirm the status on Settings › Connection shows as Active.
If the inbox shows a banner saying the account has no active connection and needs reconnecting, repair the connection first.
If you are told the channel is disabled on this portfolio's plan, accounts and conversations on that channel are not listed at all.
If the portfolio is scheduled for deletion, every conversation is closed; see the portfolio is locked.
Other known issues and limits
Deleting a contact deletes the conversation with it. When a contact card is removed, their conversations leave the list and running automation runs end because the contact is gone.
The same person writing to two of your accounts creates two conversations. Their contact cards and messaging windows are separate too.
Marking as read does not move the conversation. Reading a thread does not take it out of the list; it only clears the unread badge.
A closed conversation is not lost. It stays under the Closed filter and comes back by itself when the person writes again.
Search reaches the past too. When you search an old message and tap the result, the thread opens around that message.
A link from a notification passes the same gates. If your visibility scope does not cover the conversation, tapping it in a notification still does not open it; receiving a notification does not grant access.
You can reach a thread from the contact card. When search is not finding it, opening the person under Contacts and using the conversation link there is the quickest route.
If you have followed every step and the problem continues, contact our Support team.