How do I turn on my inbox on Facebook?

Users have discovered hundreds of messages locked in a hidden inbox within Facebook’s messaging system.

The inbox, accessible on the web or Facebook Messenger apps for smartphones and tablets, is part of Facebook’s filtering system, designed to catch spam and other unwanted messages.

However, users, including myself and others within the Guardian, have discovered their “filtered” inbox full of legitimate messages that never made it to the main inbox or Messenger app.

The simplest way to access the inbox is to navigate to facebook.com/messages/other on the desktop.

Within the Messenger app the hidden inbox is buried under four menus. To get to it tap Settings, then People, then Message Requests and tap on the “See filtered requests” link.

The filtered messages include anything attempting to send you messages that you have manually filtered out as unwanted, as well as messages from people who are not connected with you on Facebook. I discovered some tens of messages dating back as far as 2008.

Most of the time you can safely ignore it - Facebook built the system to stop messages you want to see being sent to spam – but it can also trap messages such as those informing you of a friend’s death or a story tip that ends up in filtered and hidden from your Facebook-obsessed eyes. Even for MPs.

Eek! Just looked at the 'filtered' message thing on Facebook and seen there are literally thousands of messages... https://t.co/LSKyFcWN7f

— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) April 7, 2016

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Overview

Front's Facebook inbox feature supports Facebook Pages, which are different from personal timelines. Once you create an inbox for your Facebook page, you will be able to manage direct messages, as well as posts and comments directly from Front.

Note: Due to a limitation on the Facebook API, replies are limited to 2000 characters.

If you don't have a Facebook Page yet, but want to create one, follow these instructions.

Instructions

Step 1

Click the gear icon on the top right of Front and into the Company or Personal settings tab, depending on which space you are working with. Admins can also access user settings by following these steps.

Step 2

Click on Inboxes on the left menu and Add an individual inbox or Add a team inbox, depending on which space you're in.

Step 3

Fill out the name and description of your inbox. Click Create.

Step 4

Choose Facebook from the channel menu.

Step 5

Click Connect to Facebook, and sign into Facebook if prompted.

Step 6

When you first link Front to Facebook, you'll be asked to choose which Facebook page(s) you'd like to give Front permission to access. If you are using Front to manage multiple Facebook pages across multiple Facebook channels, make sure you do not remove access to other pages you have previously authorized. Click Next and make sure all permissions are toggled on, then click Done.

Step 7

After completing the Facebook authorization flow, choose which Facebook page will be associated with the Front inbox you're creating, and whether to import just direct messages or direct messages and page comments.

Step 8

Select who on your team has access to this inbox, and click Create inbox.

How it works

Direct messages

• Once the channel is connected, any direct messages sent to your Page will be automatically imported to Front, but no historical messages will be imported
• Direct messages with the same person will thread into one conversation in Front
• Imported messages can include emojis, attachments, stickers, and gifs
• Replies can be sent from Front up to 7 days after receiving the message. Due to a limitation of Facebook's API, after 7 days the messages can no longer be replied to.
• Messages can be sent with emojis and attachments.

Posts and comments

• If you selected the option when setting up the channel, a message will automatically be imported into Front when a user creates a Post on your businesses' page, or a user creates a top-level comment on a post on your businesses' page
• If multiple top-level comments are made on a single Facebook post, a separate conversation will be created in Front for each top-level comment
• Replies from Front to these kind of messages will appear as comments in Facebook that @ mention the recipient
• Replies can include emojis, as well as image and video attachments
• "Liking" posts and comments isn't currently supported

Message Expiration after 7 days

Facebook channels connected to a page through Front may send a reply to a recipient if that person has sent a message within the last 7 days.

If you don't respond to the message within 7 days, the messages will still show in Front, but if you do attempt to send a reply to it in Front, you'll get a draft error. You can, however, still reply to them in Facebook directly. 

To learn more, you can read an in-depth guide published by Facebook here. 

FAQ

Can I start a Messenger conversation from Front?

No, you cannot initiate a Facebook Messenger conversation from Front, as Facebook Messenger itself does not allow you to. The customer must message you first and you will be able to reply from Front.

Can I use an auto-reply rule with the Facebook channel?

Yes, but only in reply to direct messages. Auto-replies will not succeed when in reply to posts and comments. For this reason, we recommend that when configuring an auto-reply rule, you filter for DMs by checking for a subject that contains the text "Facebook conversation with".

Pricing

This feature is available on all plans.

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