What is an Instagram professional account?

The thing to check is privacy. Instagram’s Help Center says that if your personal account is private, switching to a professional account makes it public, and that all pending follow requests are accepted automatically when you go public. Professional accounts can’t be set to private.

In the app, open your profile and then the menu, go to Settings and activity, and below For professionals tap Account type and tools, then Switch to professional account. On the way through, Instagram asks you to:

• Pick a category that describes what you do, such as a bakery, a photographer or a personal trainer. Instagram says the category does not decide whether you get a Business or a Creator account, and you can choose later whether it shows on your profile.
• Choose Business or Creator. Instagram suggests Business for retailers, local businesses, brands, organisations and service providers, and Creator for public figures, content producers, artists and influencers.
• Add contact details for your business, or skip that step, and connect a Facebook Page if you want to. Instagram calls the Facebook step optional.

You can switch back to a personal account, or change the professional account type, at any time: Account type and tools, then Account type, then Switch account type. Meta’s Business Help Centre says the same about switching back.

Tip: Before going back to personal, count what depends on the switch. Meta says you lose access to some business tools, such as Meta Business Suite and Meta Ads Manager. Instagram adds that you’ll no longer have access to ads and that a connected Facebook Page is disconnected, while a public account keeps its dashboard and insights. Apps connected through Meta’s API stop working too, because the API only serves professional accounts.

Meta’s APIs, the official way outside apps work with Instagram, only serve professional accounts. Schedulers, shared inboxes, analytics apps and comment-to-DM tools are all built on them, so none of them can connect a personal account, however the app is set up.

Switching unlocks those tools but not new messaging powers. A connected app can still only reply to people who contacted the account first, within 24 hours of their last message, and it can answer a comment with one private DM within 7 days. No tool can message your followers in bulk.

If you sell something, take bookings or want to grow an audience, usually yes. Insights show which posts bring in reach and followers, the Contact button saves customers a DM, and automation can answer the questions you get every day.

The reason to stay personal is privacy. Professional accounts can’t be set to private, so a professional account may not suit one kept for friends and family. If you want both, keep two accounts, a private personal one and a public professional one, and move between them in the app. Instagram says you can have up to 10 accounts logged in at once.