Locked Conversations from Messenger or Instagram Channels

Conversations that come into Help Scout from Messenger on Facebook or Instagram will show that they are locked in some instances. You will not be able to reply to those conversations from Help Scout or start a new conversation with those channels.

This article will explain why this is the case.

Why a Conversation is Locked

Messenger and Instagram consider a conversation expired if 7 days have passed with no customer reply, and Help Scout automatically locks any conversation that has 100 threads (each reply from you and each reply from the customer counts as a thread).

You cannot reply to a conversation from Help Scout after that conversation has been locked.

A message shows at the end of a locked conversation that "This conversation has ended and new replies are locked."

The 7 day limitation is imposed by Meta on integrations with Messenger and Instagram, and the 100 thread limit is to make sure that Help Scout can display the conversation without an issue.

How to Reach Out to the Customer Again

You can reply directly from Messenger or Instagram to re-start the conversation with your customer, just keep in mind that anything you send the customer directly from those platforms will not sync back to Help Scout, and their next reply will start a new conversation in Help Scout.