Instagram Login
No Facebook Page is needed. If a connection doesn’t work, Askenly tells you why and what to do next.
What changed
Connecting Instagram used to go through Facebook. You signed in with Facebook, picked a Facebook Page, and Askenly reached your Instagram account through the Page linked to it. If you didn't have a Page, or your Instagram account wasn't linked to one, you were stuck before you started.
Now you connect with Instagram's own sign-in. You sign in on instagram.com with the account you want to automate, approve the permissions Askenly asks for, and you are back in Askenly, connected. No Facebook account, no Facebook Page and no Business Manager are needed.
This is the official way Meta offers for apps that work with Instagram professional accounts, and it is how every new connection works from this release on.
What you need
There is only one requirement: your Instagram account must be a professional account, either Business or Creator. Both are free. If you use a personal account today, you can switch in the Instagram app under Settings, then Account type and tools. Switching takes about a minute and keeps your followers, posts and username.
You also need to be an owner or admin of your Askenly workspace to connect an account, because the connection lets Askenly send messages on the business's behalf.
How to connect
During setup
New workspaces are guided through connecting as the last step of setup. After three short questions about your business, Askenly asks you to connect Instagram and walks you through it.
From Settings
You can connect at any time from Settings, then Channels:
- Choose Connect Instagram.
- Sign in on Instagram with the account you want to use. If you're already signed in to a different account in that browser, switch accounts first.
- Review the permissions and approve them.
- You land back in Askenly, and the account shows as connected.
That's all. Your automations can start replying as soon as you switch them on.
What Askenly can and can't do
When you approve the connection, Instagram shows the permissions Askenly is asking for. In plain words, they let Askenly:
- Read your profile basics, such as your username and profile picture.
- Receive comments, Story replies and DMs sent to your account, so automations can answer them.
- Reply to comments and send messages to people who contacted you first.
- Publish the posts you schedule in Askenly.
- Read insights for your posts, so Analytics can show how they did.
Askenly never sees or stores your Instagram password. You sign in on Instagram itself, and Instagram gives Askenly a key for your account. That key is stored encrypted on our servers and is never sent to your browser.
You stay in control. You can disconnect from Settings, then Channels, at any time, and you can also remove Askenly from the apps and websites list in Instagram's own settings.
When a connection doesn't work
Most connections work first time. When one doesn't, the old experience was a generic "something went wrong". Now Askenly tells you what happened and what to do about it. These are the cases you might see:
Instagram didn't complete the sign-in
This usually means the sign-in was cancelled, or a permission wasn't approved. Try again, and approve every permission on the Instagram screen. Askenly needs all of them to answer and send messages.
The account can't be used
Instagram didn't let Askenly use this account. The most common reason is that it is still a personal account. Switch it to Business or Creator in the Instagram app, then connect again.
The account is already connected elsewhere
An Instagram account can be live in one Askenly workspace at a time, so two workspaces never answer the same followers. If you want to move it, disconnect it from the other workspace first.
Your plan's channel limit is reached
Each plan includes a number of active Instagram accounts. If you are at the limit, the new account is saved and waits until you free a slot, by disconnecting another account or upgrading your plan. Nothing is lost while it waits.
Missing permissions
If some permissions were turned off during sign-in, Askenly asks you to connect again and approve them, and tells you why they are needed.
Behind the scenes, every failed attempt records which step Instagram refused and why, so if you contact support, we can see exactly what happened without asking you to repeat it.
More than one account
A workspace can connect more than one Instagram account, up to your plan's channel limit. Each account keeps its own automations, conversations, contacts and scheduled posts, and the switcher in the app's header picks which one you are working on. Home, Analytics and the Automations page all follow the account you pick, so numbers never mix between accounts.
Agencies and teams with several accounts
If you manage Instagram for several businesses, you have two ways to set up Askenly:
- One workspace per business. Each client has its own workspace, team, plan and billing. This keeps everything fully separate and is the simplest choice when each business pays for its own plan.
- Several accounts in one workspace. Connect each client's Instagram account to your own workspace, up to your plan's channel limit. Each account keeps its own automations, conversations, contacts and posts, and the header switcher moves between them. Scale includes unlimited channels and up to 10 teammates.
In both cases, you sign in on Instagram as each account when you connect it. If a client keeps their own Instagram password, they can sign in on your screen during a call, or connect it themselves if they are an admin of the workspace.
Teammates can work in every account in a workspace, but only owners and admins can connect or disconnect one.
Disconnecting and reconnecting
Disconnecting an account stops everything for that account straight away: automations pause, scheduled posts pause and Askenly stops receiving its messages. It does not delete anything. The account's automations, contacts, conversations and posts are kept.
When you reconnect the same Instagram account later, Askenly recognises it and restores everything, still paused, so you can review your automations before switching them back on.
If you want an account's records gone for good, you can remove it permanently once it is disconnected. You type the username to confirm, and the records are deleted after 7 days, so a mistake can still be undone in that time.
What happens after you connect
As soon as the connection completes, Askenly asks Instagram to send it your account's new comments, Story replies and messages. From then on, everything your automations do happens on our servers, so they keep working when you close the app or switch off your phone. They only stop if you disconnect, or if Instagram ends the connection.
Checking that it works
In the app, Help, then System health checks the things you control:
- Instagram account: whether the account is connected and its permissions are in place.
- Comment and DM listener: whether Askenly is receiving events from your account.
- Automations: whether you have at least one switched on.
- Test a comment: a guided check that a real comment on your post reaches Askenly and gets its reply.
If anything on our side needs attention, System health says so in one line, and our team is already on it.
Why we moved to Instagram's own sign-in
Connecting through Facebook made sense when Instagram business features lived inside Facebook. Today Meta offers a direct route for Instagram professional accounts, and it is simpler in every way that matters to a small business:
- Fewer steps. One sign-in on Instagram instead of Facebook, a Page and a link between them.
- Fewer things to break. A Page being unpublished, an admin leaving or a broken link between Page and account no longer disconnects your automations.
- Clearer permissions. The screen you approve talks about your Instagram account, not your Facebook Pages.
- The right account every time. You sign in as the Instagram account you want to automate, so there is no list of Pages to pick from by mistake.
Security in plain words
Connecting a tool to your Instagram account is a matter of trust, so here is exactly how it is handled:
- Official API only. Askenly uses Meta's official Instagram API. It never logs in as you, never uses your password and never automates the Instagram app.
- Encrypted keys. The access key Instagram gives Askenly is encrypted before it is stored, kept in a part of our database no browser can reach, and deleted when you disconnect.
- Your workspace only. Each workspace's data is separated in the database itself, so no other customer can see your messages or contacts.
- Only replies. Askenly only messages people who contacted you first, and only inside the window Instagram allows.
Switching to a professional account
If Askenly says your account can't be used, it is almost always because it is a personal account. Switching is free and quick:
- Open the Instagram app and go to your profile.
- Open the menu, then Settings and privacy.
- Choose Account type and tools, then Switch to professional account.
- Pick Creator if you are a person building an audience, or Business if you are a shop, salon, studio or service.
- Choose a category and finish the steps. You can skip the optional ones.
Your username, followers, posts and messages all stay the same. Then go back to Askenly and connect again.
A quick troubleshooting checklist
If a connection doesn't go through, check these in order before contacting us:
- Is it a professional account? Business or Creator, not personal.
- Are you signed in to the right account? Instagram uses whichever account is signed in on that browser. Sign out of others first, or use a private window.
- Did you approve every permission? If you turned any off, connect again and leave them all on.
- Is the account already connected to another workspace? Disconnect it there first.
- Is your plan's channel limit reached? Disconnect another account or upgrade, then activate the waiting one.
- Did you finish on Instagram? If you closed the Instagram window early, start again from Settings, then Channels.
Most problems are solved by one of these. If not, the message Askenly showed you tells our team exactly where to look.
What you can do once connected
Connecting is the first step. With your account connected, you can:
- Automate comments, Story replies and DM keywords with goal-based automations for delivering a link, booking, growing your audience, getting more sales or answering questions.
- Work in the shared Inbox, where chats that need a person arrive with everything said so far.
- Schedule and publish posts from the Schedule page.
- See your results on Home, Analytics and each automation's own page.
Common questions
Do I need a Facebook account?
No. You only need your Instagram professional account.
Will my followers notice anything?
No. Connecting changes nothing on your profile. Your followers only see the replies your automations send.
Does connecting change what I can do in the Instagram app?
No. You keep using Instagram exactly as before: posting, replying by hand and reading your DMs. When you reply to someone from the Askenly Inbox, automations pause for that person for 24 hours, so you and your automations never talk over each other.
Can a teammate connect the account?
Yes, if they are an owner or admin of your workspace and can sign in to the Instagram account.
What if Instagram ends the connection?
System health shows the account as disconnected, and you can connect again in a minute. Your automations and records are kept and wait, paused, for you to switch them back on.
Accounts connected before this release
If you connected through Facebook before this release, your connection keeps working and you don't need to do anything. If you ever disconnect and connect again, you'll use Instagram's own sign-in from then on.
Getting help
If you can't connect, open a ticket from Help in the app or use the Contact page. Include the message Askenly showed you and the Instagram username you tried. A person on our team will look at it with you, and we aim to reply within 8 hours.
