> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dmly.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# The unified inbox
> Every conversation from every channel in one list — how the Inbox is scoped, how you work a thread, and what you can send.
The Inbox is where the day happens. Every message from every connected Channel — WhatsApp first, plus Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Live Chat, SMS and the rest — arrives in one list, and you reply from the same place. Behind each conversation is a [Contact](/contacts/overview) record — workspace-owned, and able to hold identities on more than one channel. It won't stitch channels together on its own, though: the person who WhatsApps you today and comments on your Facebook post tomorrow arrives as two contacts, and stays that way until you merge them by hand. That's what **View full profile & merge** is for.
It is called **Unified Inbox** in the sidebar and just **Inbox** once you open it. Same thing.
## The active channel does not scope the Inbox
This is the one that catches people, so read it before anything else.
Most of DMLY works on the channel you have selected — Bot Setup, [Broadcasts](/broadcasts/overview) and Growth Tools all act on that one channel, and switching profiles changes what they show you.
**The Inbox does not work that way.** It has no channel picker of its own and it ignores the one you set elsewhere. The Inbox always spans every channel you have connected. If your sidebar shows WhatsApp selected, the Inbox still lists your Instagram DMs and your Live Chat threads alongside your WhatsApp chats.
So the sidebar and the Inbox can disagree — the sidebar reflects a selected channel while the Inbox list shows everything. Nothing is broken. If you want the Inbox narrowed to one channel, use the Inbox's own filters (below), not the profile switcher.
## How you work in it
Three panes, left to right: the conversation list, the open thread, and a details panel for the contact. On a phone you see one at a time — open a conversation to read it, and use the back arrow to return to the list. The details panel is hidden on narrower screens.
The rhythm is: pick a conversation from the list, read and reply in the middle, and use the details panel on the right for everything *about* the person — **Assigned to**, **Pipeline stage**, **Labels**, **Internal notes**, upcoming appointments, and **View full profile & merge** if you need the whole [client record](/contacts/client-profile).
Opening a conversation marks it read and drops its unread count straight away.
## Folders
The list has four folders:
| Folder | What's in it |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------- |
| **All** | Everything except archived |
| **Open** | Conversations still needing attention |
| **Done** | Conversations you've finished with |
| **Archive** | Conversations you've filed away |
An archived conversation only shows under **Archive** — **All** won't surface it.
Two things worth knowing on day one:
* **Nothing closes itself.** A conversation only becomes **Done** when someone selects **Mark as done** in the details panel. There is no auto-close after a quiet period.
* **A reply from the contact reopens it.** If a done conversation gets a new inbound message, it flips back to **Open** and un-archives itself, so you can't miss a follow-up.
Marking done takes you out of the thread and back to the list, keeping your folder and filters — which is what you want when you're clearing a queue. See [conversation status](/inbox/conversation-status).
**Archived conversations auto-delete after 30 days.** Archive is not long-term storage — it's a holding pen that empties itself. If you need a record of what was said, keep the conversation in **Done** instead.
## Narrowing the list
**Search conversations** at the top of the list is the fastest tool you have, and you'll need it more than you expect: the list shows the 100 most recent conversations and there is no paging or infinite scroll. Anything older is reachable by search, not by scrolling.
Alongside search:
* **Channel pills** across the top of the list: **WhatsApp**, **Facebook**, **Instagram** and **SMS**, plus **All**. Telegram, Live Chat, TikTok and Google Business Profile reviews are all *in* the list — they just don't have a pill.
* **All channels** — a picker in the extra filters that narrows to one specific connected profile, including the channels with no pill. Use this if you run two WhatsApp numbers and only want one of them.
* **Anyone** / **Unassigned** — filter by who owns the conversation.
* **Unread only** — what it says.
## One contact, two threads
A contact is one CRM record but can have up to two separate conversation threads: **DMs** and **Comments**. Someone who both messages your Facebook page and comments on a post appears as two rows in the list — same person, two conversations, because a public comment and a private DM are answered differently.
They stay separate throughout. Archiving or deleting one thread leaves the other untouched.
## What you can send
From the reply box:
Type and select **Send**. The everyday case.
**Attach image / video** pulls from your media library; **Attach file** for documents.
**Record a voice note** records in the browser and sends it as audio.
**Send an approved template** — WhatsApp only, and only templates Meta has approved.
Your stock answers, inserted into the draft in one click.
**Insert booking link** and **Request a payment** drop a link into the message.
A few rules that shape what you'll actually see:
* **SMS is text only.** The media, file and microphone buttons are hidden on SMS conversations.
* **Templates are WhatsApp only**, and the picker only lists templates Meta has approved. You fill in each placeholder before it sends — a template with an empty `{{1}}` is rejected rather than sent with a gap showing.
* **Booking links and payment links send as ordinary text.** They're a link in a normal message, not a special card. **Request a payment** creates the payment link for you and sends it; the booking picker only appears if you have active meeting types with a public booking page.
* **Suggest a reply with AI** appears only when AI is set up for your workspace and your plan includes it.
## When a message won't send
WhatsApp allows free-form replies only for 24 hours after the contact's last message. Once it closes, DMLY blocks the send — this is Meta's rule, enforced on our side too, so there's no workaround in the reply box. To re-engage, send an approved template. See [WhatsApp limits](/channels/whatsapp-limits).
You can reply for 7 days after the contact's last message. After that, you can only message again once they send something new. Replying to a public **Comment** is not subject to this — the window applies to DMs.
Blocked contacts hide the reply box entirely and the block is enforced on the server, so nothing gets through. Use **Unblock contact** in the details panel to message again.
## Working as a team
The Inbox assumes several people are in it at once, so a few things happen without you asking:
* **Replying assigns the conversation to you.** The conversation follows whoever answered it last — so if a teammate replies to a chat assigned to you, it becomes theirs, quietly. Worth knowing before you wonder where your queue went. See [assigning chats](/inbox/assigning-chats).
* **You can see when a teammate is typing.** Above the reply box you'll see ` is typing…` on every channel, so two people don't answer the same message. If the contact is typing, that takes precedence in the display.
* **Notes and @mentions are for the team.** **Internal notes** in the details panel are never sent to the contact, and mentioning a teammate pings them. See [notes and collaboration](/inbox/notes-and-collaboration).
An @mention in a **reply** is not the same as an @mention in a **note**. Mentioning a teammate in the reply box notifies them *and* sends the literal `@Name` text to your contact. Mention people in notes.
**On call duty** / **Off duty** in the sidebar has nothing to do with the Inbox. It controls whether you receive inbound [WhatsApp calls](/inbox/whatsapp-calling), and only appears when a WhatsApp channel has calling switched on. Going off duty does not stop conversations being assigned to you.
## Taking over from the bot
If an [automation](/automation/overview) is handling a conversation and you want to step in, select **Pause bot (human takeover)** in the details panel. That stops every automated reply on that conversation — flows, sequences, AI, auto-replies — while leaving you free to type normally. **Resume bot** hands it back.
Some things pause the bot for you: an AI agent handing over to a human, a flow with a handover step, and blocking a contact all set it.
Unblocking a contact does not resume the bot. If you block someone and later unblock them, the conversation stays bot-paused until you select **Resume bot** yourself.
## New messages and sound
When real-time updates are available, a chime plays for each inbound message. It's on by default and you can mute it from the Inbox — the setting is per browser, so muting on your laptop doesn't mute your colleague's.
The Inbox updates live. If real-time updates aren't available on your setup it falls back to refreshing every few seconds, so messages still arrive without you reloading the page — but they arrive silently, with no chime.
## Who can see the Inbox
The Inbox is a permission-gated area — a [role](/account/roles-and-permissions) without the Inbox module doesn't see it in the sidebar at all. A teammate may also see a contact's phone number and email masked rather than in full, so what they see may be less than what you see.
## Related
Who owns a conversation, and how it changes hands.
Open, done, archive and delete.
Stop retyping the same answer.
When a channel is connected but silent.