---
title: "One Inbox for Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok | Karobar"
url: https://karobar.io/guides/one-inbox-instagram-whatsapp-tiktok
language: en
description: "How to answer Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and TikTok messages from one inbox: what connects, each app's reply rules, and how to split chats across a team."
---

Guide

# How to run Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok messages from one inbox

Bring every chat into one place, learn each app's reply window, and share the work with your team without sharing passwords.

Updated 3 October 2026 · 7 min read

A small online shop rarely sells on one app. Buyers find you on Instagram, ask questions on WhatsApp, reply to a TikTok video and message your Facebook Page. Each app has its own inbox, its own notifications and its own rules about when you can reply. Switching between four apps all day is slow, and it is the main reason messages get missed.

This guide explains how to answer all of those messages from one place. It covers what can be connected, what each app needs from your account first, how long each app lets you reply, and how to share the work with a team without sharing passwords. The examples use [Karobar's unified inbox](https://karobar.io/features/unified-inbox), but the ideas apply to any shared inbox tool.

## Why one inbox is worth the setup

Running each app separately causes the same three problems in almost every shop:

- **You check some apps less often.** WhatsApp gets answered quickly because it is on your phone all day. TikTok messages wait until someone remembers to open the app, and by then the buyer has moved on.
- **The reply window runs out unnoticed.** Every app limits how long a business can reply after the customer's last message. When chats are spread across four apps, nobody sees which ones are about to close.
- **Work cannot be shared fairly.** If one person holds the phone, that person answers everything. If several people log in to the same app, two of them answer the same customer and nobody answers the next one.

One inbox fixes all three. Every new message lands in a single list, each chat shows how much reply time is left, and each chat can belong to one named person.

## What you can bring into one inbox

In Karobar, private messages come in from four channels and appear in the same chat list:

- **WhatsApp** chats on your business number.
- **Instagram** direct messages.
- **Facebook Messenger** chats sent to your Page.
- **TikTok** direct messages to your business account.

Public comments are kept apart from private chats, because they need different handling. Comments from **Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube** arrive in a separate comments view. There you can reply in public, hide, pin, like or delete a comment, and turn a commenter into a lead. On Facebook and Instagram you can also answer a comment with a private reply. See [comments and engagement](https://karobar.io/features/comments-engagement).

Google reviews have their own place too, under [reputation management](https://karobar.io/features/reputation-management), so a review is never mixed up with a sales chat. The inbox also has a team tab for messages between teammates, which keeps internal talk out of customer chats.

What does not come in

Email, SMS and website chat do not arrive in the Karobar inbox. Pinterest, LinkedIn, X and Threads are not connected either. If a lot of your sales start on one of those, keep handling it where it is today.

## What each app needs before you connect it

Outside tools can only read and send messages for business accounts. A personal profile cannot be connected to any shared inbox. Before you start, check each account:

1. **Instagram:** switch the account to a professional account (business or creator) in the Instagram app. You keep your followers and posts.
2. **Facebook Messenger:** you need a Facebook Page for the shop, and you need to be able to manage that Page.
3. **WhatsApp:** the number has to be on WhatsApp's business platform. If you move a number over from the WhatsApp Business app, older chats come across, but messages sent before you linked the number do not open a reply window.
4. **TikTok:** use a TikTok business account, not a personal one.
5. **Connect each one** from the channels settings in Karobar. New messages from that account then start arriving in the shared list.

Connect one channel at a time and send yourself a test message from a personal account before moving to the next. That way, if something does not arrive, you know exactly which connection to check.

## Each app's reply window, side by side

Every app limits when a business can send a message. The clock is based on the customer's messages, not yours. This is the single most useful thing to learn when you run several apps at once:

| App | Normal replies | After that | When it fully closes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WhatsApp | Any message within 24 hours of the customer's last message | Only an approved message template | Never fully closed, but only templates can be sent until the customer writes again |
| Instagram | Any message within 24 hours of the customer's last message | A person can reply by hand for up to 7 days (the human agent window) | After 7 days, until the customer writes again |
| Facebook Messenger | Same as Instagram: 24 hours | A person can reply by hand for up to 7 days | After 7 days, until the customer writes again |
| TikTok | A business cannot start a chat. After the customer's first message you can send up to 10 messages in 48 hours, and once they reply you can send without a limit for 48 hours | Up to 3 more messages | After those 3, until the customer replies |

Karobar applies these rules for you. Each chat shows a countdown, or for TikTok the number of messages left. On Instagram and Messenger, replies sent between 24 hours and 7 days are marked as human agent messages automatically, and sending is blocked after 7 days. On WhatsApp, once 24 hours have passed, the message box stays locked until you pick an approved template. For the full WhatsApp picture, read [WhatsApp auto replies and the 24-hour window](https://karobar.io/guides/whatsapp-auto-reply-24-hour-window).

The practical rule across all four apps is simple: answer on the same day. Nothing in any app's rules punishes a fast reply.

## Keep context with labels, tags and a shared note

When several people work one inbox, the chat itself has to carry the context. Otherwise the next person has to scroll back through a long thread to learn what is going on. Karobar gives you three tools for this:

- **Labels** belong to the whole workspace, so everyone uses the same set, such as "New order", "Waiting for payment" or "Complaint". You attach them to chats and filter the list by them. On Messenger chats, labels also sync to the Page's own labels on Facebook.
- **Tags** are free text you type on a chat for anything that does not need a shared label. Tags are available on plans that include them; check [pricing](https://karobar.io/pricing) for your plan.
- **One shared note per chat.** Each chat has a single note that everyone on the team can read, such as "Wants the blue one, will pay advance on Friday". Saving the note replaces what was there, so edit it rather than adding to the bottom.

Keep the label list short. Five to eight labels that everyone understands work far more reliably than thirty that nobody remembers.

## Assign every chat to one person

The rule that stops double replies is simple: every customer chat has exactly one owner at a time. In Karobar you can assign a chat in two ways:

- **By hand.** Open the chat and assign it to a teammate. Use this to hand a chat to the person who knows the product, or to pass a complaint to whoever handles them.
- **Automatically.** Switch on auto-assign under the team assignment settings. Each new customer chat then goes to the active teammate who has the fewest chats. The owner's own profile is left out, so the owner is not buried in new chats.

A team member can only send in chats assigned to them, so two people never answer the same customer with different prices. See [team inbox](https://karobar.io/features/scale-with-team).

## Give each teammate their own login and the right access

Never share your Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp password with staff. A shared password means you cannot tell who sent what, and you have to change it for everyone when one person leaves.

Karobar has two kinds of people in a workspace. The **owner** is the account holder. **Team members** are invited by the owner, and the owner chooses which parts of the app each one can open, module by module. A team member can also be given the right to manage other team members. So a helper who only answers chats can see the inbox and nothing else, while someone who packs orders can see orders but not your settings.

## How to split the work across a team

There is no single right way to divide chats. Pick the pattern that matches how your shop actually sells:

- **By shift.** Turn on auto-assign and let new chats go to whoever is on duty. This suits shops where everyone can answer every question.
- **By topic.** One person handles new sales questions, another handles delivery problems and complaints. New chats come in to the sales person, and they reassign by hand when a chat turns into a complaint.
- **By channel.** One person owns TikTok and Instagram, where questions are often about a video or a post, and another owns WhatsApp, where buyers usually confirm orders.

You can also take the repeat questions off everyone's plate. Keyword [inbox auto replies](https://karobar.io/features/inbox-auto-reply) answer common questions like price or delivery with text you wrote, and Karobar AI writes [reply drafts](https://karobar.io/features/ai-reply-drafts) from your products, prices, variants, business info and knowledge, which a person reads and sends.

## A daily routine for a shared inbox

| When | What to do | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Start of day | Sort the list by reply time left and answer chats that close today | Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp count 24 hours, TikTok counts 48 |
| Start of day | Check that every unassigned chat has an owner | An unassigned chat is a chat nobody answers |
| Every hour or two | Clear your own assigned chats, sending or editing any AI drafts | Fast answers win sales |
| Through the day | Update the label and the shared note when a chat changes stage | The next person knows where it stands |
| Once a day | Go through the comments view and move buyers to private chats | Public price questions turn into private sales |
| End of day | Reassign chats from anyone who is off tomorrow | Nothing waits for someone who is not there |

When a chat turns into a sale, record the order while the conversation is open. [Taking orders from Instagram DMs](https://karobar.io/guides/take-orders-from-instagram-dms) walks through that part step by step.

## Sources

Facts about other companies and platforms come from their own pages, checked on the dates shown. Plans and prices change; check the source before you decide.

1. [Meta: Instagram Messaging API (professional accounts, Human Agent window)](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/instagram-platform/instagram-api-with-instagram-login/messaging-api) (checked 2026-10-03)
2. [Meta: Messenger Platform policy (24-hour window, 7-day Human Agent tag, private replies)](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/messenger-platform/policy) (checked 2026-10-03)
3. [Meta: WhatsApp Business Platform pricing (24-hour window, free tier from 1 October 2026)](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing) (checked 2026-10-03)
4. [TikTok: Business Messaging API sending limits](https://business-api.tiktok.com/portal/docs?id=1854823717597185) (checked 2026-10-03)
5. [TikTok: Business Messaging API rules (no business-started conversations)](https://business-api.tiktok.com/portal/docs?id=1832184236919810) (checked 2026-10-03)

FAQ

## Questions? Answers.

Any other questions? [Ask support](https://karobar.io/support).

### Which apps can I answer from one Karobar inbox?

Private messages from WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and TikTok. Comments from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube come into a separate comments view, and Google reviews have their own section.

### Can I connect a personal Instagram or TikTok account?

No. Instagram only lets outside tools handle messages for professional accounts, and TikTok needs a business account. Switching an Instagram profile to a professional account keeps your followers and posts.

### How long do I have to reply on each app?

WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger allow normal replies for 24 hours after the customer's last message. After that, WhatsApp needs an approved template, while Instagram and Messenger allow a person to reply by hand for up to 7 days. TikTok works in 48-hour windows with message limits.

### Can two teammates answer the same chat?

Each chat is assigned to one person, and a team member can only send in chats assigned to them. The owner can reassign a chat at any time, by hand or through auto-assign.

### Can teammates leave several notes on a chat?

Each chat has one shared note that the whole team can read and edit. Saving replaces the earlier text, so keep it short and current rather than adding a new line each time.

Keep going

## What to look at next

[Every customer message, one inbox Instagram, TikTok, Messenger and WhatsApp in one list. Every thread becomes a lead, save a phone number and ad… Learn more](https://karobar.io/features/unified-inbox)[A shared team inbox: grow without the scramble One shop, a whole team, from a phone. As messages grow, invite staff, give every chat a clear owner, and let e… Learn more](https://karobar.io/features/scale-with-team)[Instagram, TikTok & YouTube comments, in one place Every comment in one view: browse Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube video threads, moderate them, and do… Learn more](https://karobar.io/features/comments-engagement)[AI inbox drafts with automation Set the rules for when a draft is written. Product-aware replies cut customer waiting time during busy hours.… Learn more](https://karobar.io/features/inbox-auto-reply)

## Try it on your own shop

7 days free, no card needed. Connect Instagram, TikTok or WhatsApp and see your own messages in one inbox.

[Start free trial](https://karobar.io/login?trial=1&login=1)