Glossary
What is a page-scoped ID (PSID)?
A page-scoped ID, or PSID, is the number Meta’s Messenger Platform uses for a person in their conversation with one Facebook Page. Each message they send reaches the Page’s app tagged with it, and the app replies by addressing that ID. The same person has a different PSID for every Page they talk to, so the number means nothing outside that Page’s chats.
Updated 6 October 2026
A PSID (page-scoped ID) identifies a person in their Messenger chats with one Facebook Page. Apps reply to it, and every Page sees a different PSID.
Where a PSID shows up
- Incoming messages. The webhook an app receives for each Messenger message names the sender by PSID and the Page as the recipient.
- Replies. A Send API request puts the PSID in its recipient field, and the message lands in that person’s chat with the Page.
- Profile lookups. A GET request to graph.facebook.com/<PSID> with the Page’s access token returns the fields the app asks for, such as first_name and profile_pic.
- Private replies. When a Page answers a comment through Messenger, Meta’s response includes a recipient_id: the commenter’s PSID, which links the public comment to the chat that follows.
On Facebook, the ID attached to a comment isn’t the commenter’s PSID, so a tool can’t simply reuse it to send a Messenger message. The private reply’s response, or a message from the person, is what connects the two.
What a PSID can look up
| Field | What it returns | What the app needs |
|---|---|---|
| first_name, last_name, name | The person’s name | Advanced Access to the Business Asset User Profile Access feature |
| profile_pic | A link to their profile photo, which expires | The same feature |
| locale | Their language setting, such as en_GB | The pages_user_locale permission |
| timezone | Their time zone | The pages_user_timezone permission |
| gender | The gender on their profile | The pages_user_gender permission |
None of this is available until the person opens the door: by sending the Page a message, tapping Get Started, using a Send to Messenger button or accepting a message request. Even then, the lookup returns no email address, phone number or link to their Facebook profile.
One customer, several PSIDs
Because the ID belongs to the pairing of a person and a Page, a business with several Pages sees one customer as several unrelated PSIDs. A café chain with a Page for each branch could hold three IDs and three separate chat histories for the same regular, and nothing in the numbers shows they match.
Instagram is separate again. DMs to an Instagram professional account identify people by an Instagram-scoped ID (IGSID), so an Instagram account and the Facebook Page linked to it don’t share an ID for the same customer. When you need one record per person across Pages and apps, match on something the customer gives you, such as an email address.
Handling PSIDs in your own systems
- Store PSIDs as text. They’re long numbers, and spreadsheet apps such as Excel keep only 15 significant digits, so an export opened there can come back with its last digits turned to zeros.
- Key each contact on the Page and the PSID together. Names repeat and change, while the PSID stays fixed for that person on that Page.
- Don’t carry IDs between Pages. A PSID collected by one Page is useless to another, so moving a contact list across doesn’t move the conversations.
- Watch the clock as well as the ID. Holding someone’s PSID doesn’t let a Page message them whenever it likes: standard messages go out only within 24 hours of the person’s last message.
An example
A customer asks a bakery’s Facebook Page whether the sourdough is vegan. The webhook names them by PSID; the bakery’s inbox tool looks up their first name with it, files the chat under that ID and sends the answer to the same PSID.
Questions people ask
Is a PSID the same as a Facebook user ID?
No. A PSID exists only between one person and one Page, and Meta gives the same person a different PSID on every Page they message. It can’t be turned into a profile link, and another Page can’t use it to reach them.
When does someone get a PSID?
An app first sees one when the person messages the Page, taps Get Started or uses another Messenger entry point, or when the Page sends a private reply to their comment, since Meta’s response to that reply includes the PSID. Liking or following the Page doesn’t give an app one.
Can I find someone’s PSID from their name or profile link?
Not through Messenger’s standard tools. The ID reaches an app through Messenger itself, when the person interacts with the Page, so there’s no searching for it by name, username or profile link.
Does a PSID ever change?
Not for the same person and Page. It stays the same from one conversation to the next, which is how inbox tools keep a chat history and remember where someone is in a flow. A different Page gets a different PSID for that person.
Do Instagram DMs use PSIDs?
No. Instagram messaging names people by Instagram-scoped ID (IGSID). The two work in a similar way but are separate numbers, even when the Instagram account is linked to the Facebook Page.
Sources
Related terms
- Instagram-scoped ID (IGSID)An IGSID is the ID Meta’s Instagram API gives someone who messages a professional account. Apps receive their DMs, reply and look up their profile with it.
- Messenger PlatformThe Messenger Platform is Meta’s free API that passes messages sent to a Facebook Page, or a linked Instagram account, to an app and lets the app reply.
- Facebook PageA public Facebook presence for a business, brand or creator, managed by people with roles. It is separate from a personal profile and is what messaging tools connect to.
- WebhookA webhook is an automatic HTTP request one app sends to a URL you choose whenever an event happens, such as a new comment, so nobody has to keep checking.
- Private replyA private reply is a single DM that an Instagram professional account or Facebook Page sends someone because of their comment, within 7 days of it.
- Message requestA message request is a DM from someone outside your chats. It waits in a separate requests folder until you accept it, delete it or block the sender.
More terms
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