Wait, then send the next message
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A reply that lands the same second reads like a robot. A Wait step pauses before the next step: a few random minutes to feel human, or an hour to follow up, always inside Meta’s 24-hour window.
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Short, long, and before the reply
The same step does three jobs, and the editor knows which window each one sits in.
- 01
Feel human
A few random minutes before the answer reads like someone typing, not a robot answering in the same second.
Random wait: a different time for each person
- 02
Follow up later
Didn’t open the link? A reminder an hour later, with a condition that skips the ones who did.
Inside the chat, up to 23 hours
- 03
Wait on a comment
In a comment flow, wait before the private reply, like announcing a giveaway when entries close.
Meta allows a private reply up to 7 days after the comment
Every setting, in the editor’s words
The labels you will see in the app, what each one does, and the rule behind it.
What you set
The Wait step’s inspector, top to bottom.
- Wait forMinutes or hours
A number and a unit, or one of the Quick picks in minutes, hours or days. A new Wait starts at 5 minutes.
Inside a chat, 1 minute to 23 hours.
- Random waitA different time for each person
Waits somewhere between the two values you set, picked for each person, so replies feel less like a machine and don’t all land on the dot.
The longest must be more than the shortest.
- When the wait ends
The next step goes only if the chat is still open: Meta lets a page message someone for 24 hours after their last message. If the window has closed, nothing is sent and the run says why.
- Before the private reply
In a flow that starts on a comment, a wait before the private reply can last up to 7 days, Meta’s limit for answering a comment privately.
Once the chat is open, the 23-hour cap applies again.
Guard rails
Checked when you save, so a flow never waits past what Meta allows.
- Waits in a row are added up
Two waits back to back that would together outlive the window are refused at save, and so is a question’s No answer wait added on top.
- A tap or an answer resets the clock
A step that waits for the person, a button or a question, opens a fresh 24 hours. A loop must pass one, or it is refused.
- Still goingSee who is waiting
Runs waiting on a delay are listed first in the history, with when each one continues: “Waiting 1 hour, until 11:04”.
The wait, as you set it
On the Shared posts flow: a random wait of 2 to 6 minutes before the thank-you message, so the answer never lands the same second.
- Wait for
- From 1 minute to 23 hours in a chat.
- Random wait
- A different time for each person, between two values.
The numbers behind it
What Meta allows, and the caps the editor adds.
| What | The limit | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| One wait inside a chat | 1 minute to 23 hours | CommentWatchDog |
| Why 23 hours | A page can message someone for 24 hours after their last message | |
| A wait before the private reply | Up to 7 days | |
| Random wait | Between two values, picked per person | CommentWatchDog |
| Waits in a row | Counted together against the window | CommentWatchDog |
| A new Wait step | 5 minutes | CommentWatchDog |
Meta’s numbers: the Messenger Platform and Instagram Platform 24-hour messaging window and the private-replies reference (7 days after a comment).
Questions about waits
What people ask before they add a delay.
Drag a Wait step between two steps on the canvas and set how long: minutes or hours, or a random wait between two values. The next step goes when the wait ends, if the chat is still open.
Once the chat is open, 23 hours per wait, and waits in a row are added up, because Meta lets a page message someone only for 24 hours after their last message. Before the private reply in a comment flow, a wait can last up to 7 days, Meta’s limit for answering a comment privately.
Only if they write or tap again. Meta closes the window 24 hours after the person’s last message, so a flow cannot message them a day later on its own. A wait of up to 23 hours, or a reminder an hour later, stays inside it.
A wait that picks its length for each person between two values you set, like 1 to 3 minutes. Replies stop landing on the exact same second, so the chat feels typed by a person.
The next step is not sent. Nothing goes out late, and the run’s history says the 24-hour window had closed.
Yes. The flow’s history lists runs still going first, with when each continues, like Waiting 1 hour, until 11:04. See run history.