Instagram collab messages are requests from brands or creators to work with you. They can land in Chats, Requests, a spam folder or, for brands on Instagram's Creator Marketplace, a Partnership messages folder. A real one names the brand, the content, the dates and the pay. Check the sender with About this account before you reply.

What Instagram says below comes from its own pages, read on 12 October 2026 and listed at the foot of the page.

Where do collaboration messages on Instagram land?

Where a message lands depends on whether you follow the sender and how you have set up your inbox. Messages from people you follow arrive in Chats. Messages from people you do not follow wait in your Message requests folder until you accept them, and Message controls let you route them there or receive none at all. The DM request entry explains the folder, and Instagram message requests not showing lists the usual reasons one goes missing.

Two more places are easy to miss:

  • The spam folder. If you switched on Hide unwanted message requests, requests that may contain scams or offensive words go to a spam folder. Instagram says that setting is off by default. Words on your Hidden words list are also hidden from message requests, which can catch a real message by accident.
  • Partnership messages. Once you have joined Instagram's Creator Marketplace, eligible brands can message you from it, and your first message adds a Partnership messages folder at the top of your inbox. To be eligible you need a public professional account, an age of 18 or over, and at least 1,000 followers. How Instagram's Creator Marketplace works has the detail.

A Collab invitation is not a message. It is Instagram's way of co-authoring a post: if you accept, your username is added to the post and it is shared with your followers, and you can remove yourself at any time. Check who sent it first, as you would a message. Writing to a brand yourself is covered in how to DM for collaboration.

What should an Instagram collaboration message include?

A real offer answers four questions, and Instagram's own project invitation shows which: what the project is, what content to create, the date to post and the payment offered. A message that names the brand and a person and covers those four things is easy to judge. A message that says only that the brand loves your page and wants to send you something is not an offer yet.

Two Instagram rules help you read the request:

  • Gifted counts as branded content. Instagram defines branded content as content a brand has compensated with money or something of value, which may include gifted products and services. All of it must carry the paid partnership label, and Instagram's Creators site says anything received from business partners counts.
  • Posting what you had no part in. Instagram's Branded Content Policies say creators cannot accept anything of value to post content that does not feature them or that they were not involved in creating. A request to repost a finished brand clip for a fee deserves a second look.

On a Creator Marketplace project, Instagram says the brand pays you directly, not through Instagram or Facebook, so agree how and when before you accept.

How do I check that a brand is real?

Open the sender's profile, tap the three dots and choose About this account. Instagram says it shows the date the account joined and how many times its username has changed, and, for certain accounts, the country it is based in, its active ads and whether it is verified. A brand with years of history and one username is a stronger sign than an account created last month under its third name. The extra fields appear only for some accounts, so an empty one proves nothing.

Read a verified badge as "this is the real account", not "this is a good offer". Instagram says the badge confirms an account is the authentic presence of that person or brand, is not an endorsement, and can come with the paid Meta Verified subscription.

Then step outside Instagram. Take the partnerships address from the brand's own website and ask whether the sender works there. That keeps you away from a lookalike.

What are the signs of an Instagram collab request scam?

Instagram's own list of scam signs fits collab requests closely. We found no Instagram page written for collab requests in particular, so these come from its page on avoiding scams:

  • A push to leave Instagram. The page names people asking you to move the conversation off Instagram.
  • Urgency. Scammers often create a sense of urgency, and no reputable organization will demand payment on the spot.
  • A fee first. The page names advance fees. A brand that wants to pay you has no reason to ask you to pay first.
  • A login to read something. A message asking you to log in with your social media, email address or bank account to read an important message is on the list.
  • Someone offering verification. People claiming to be from Instagram security, or offering account verification services, are on the list. Instagram says it never sends direct messages about your account in the app.
  • A download from a stranger. The page says not to download files or software from people you do not know, which covers a "contract" sent as a file by a first-time sender.
  • Sloppy writing and a thin profile. Poor spelling and grammar, unverified accounts that claim to be large companies, and accounts with no followers, photo or real looking activity.

If one of these appears, stop replying, do not tap the link, and report it: open the conversation, choose the options for the message, then Report and pick a reason. Instagram reviews up to 30 of the most recent messages in a reported conversation, and your report is anonymous. If you already typed your username or password into a strange link, reset your password, log out of any device you do not own and report the message to phish@instagram.com.

How do I reply to a collaboration request?

Keep replies short and ask for the four answers. Three you can adapt:

Interested, need details

Hi [name], thanks for thinking of me. I'm interested. To check the fit, could you tell me what you would like me to make, the date it should go live, what you can offer in payment or product, and whether you plan to run it as an ad? I will label anything we agree as a paid partnership.

Not for me

Thanks for the offer. This one isn't the right fit for my page, but I'm glad you reached out. Best of luck with the launch.

Not sure who you are

Thanks for reaching out. Could you email the details from your company address to [your email]? I handle partnerships there.

To back up your rate, Instagram's Creators site suggests sharing your followers, average likes, views, comments and shares, plus past branded deals. Put them in a media kit: how to send a PDF on Instagram shows the routes.

How do I keep real collab messages from getting lost?

  • Check Requests on a schedule. Pick a day each week, and open the spam folder too if you use the filter.
  • Show a way to email you. Professional accounts can display contact details under Public business information in Edit profile, so serious brands have somewhere better than a DM to go.
  • Join the marketplace if you qualify. You can add up to ten preferred brand partners, and brands that search see you on an Interested creators list.
  • Answer the common question first. Instagram lets a business or creator account show up to four frequently asked questions to people who try to message it, with automated responses. "Brand inquiry? Email name@yourdomain.com" can be one. A person who picks a question lands in your Requests, and you accept it to reply.

The same job can sit one step later. In inDM, a keyword DM reply answers anyone who sends your word, so a brand that messages COLLAB gets your rates page or intake link straight away and the conversation lands in your inbox. How to choose a DM keyword covers the word to pick. A reply like that gathers details and does not judge the brand, so the checks above still apply.

Where this stops working

  • We found no Instagram figure for how common collab scams are, so this page cites none.
  • About this account is partial. Some fields appear only for certain accounts, and none proves a brand's intent. A real company's account can also be taken over: Instagram notes that someone you know may send an unsafe link if their account has been hacked.
  • Filters are blunt. Hide unwanted message requests and a custom Hidden words list can hide a real message.
  • The marketplace is not open to everyone. Instagram's pages carry the note that the feature may not be available to you yet.
  • We could not verify where Collab invitations appear in the app, or whether accounts with a blue badge are less likely to send scams, so we say nothing on either.

Read each message for the four answers, check the sender before you reply, and your time goes to offers that are real.

Sources

Instagram Help Center and Instagram for Creators, all read on 12 October 2026:

What's ours and what isn't. Nothing on this page is our own measurement. Instagram changes its pages without a changelog, so treat the date as an expiry stamp and open the source before you rely on a rule.