Quick Links
Who Can You DM on Twitter?
How to Send a Direct Message from the Twitter Website
How to Send a Direct Message from the Twitter Mobile App
On Twitter, you can DM (Direct Message) someone to communicate with them privately. Twitter allows sending and receiving DMs on both its website and mobile apps, and we'll show you how to do that.
Who Can You DM on Twitter?
You can't Direct Message just any user on Twitter. To DM someone, that user must be following you on Twitter or they must have enabled the option to receive DMs from anyone in their account settings.
Related: How to Allow (or Disallow) Direct Messaging from Everyone on Twitter
You can continue to send Direct Messages to users who you've previously sent DMs to. If you've blocked someone, you can't DM them until you unblock them.
How to Send a Direct Message from the Twitter Website
On a Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook computer, use the Twitter site to send and receive DMs.
Start by opening a web browser on your computer and accessing the Twitter site. If you're not logged in to your account, do so.
On the Twitter site, from the sidebar on the left, select "Messages."
At the top of the "Messages" page, right next to the "Messages" header, click the "New Message" (envelope icon) option.
A "New Message" window will open. Here, click the "Search People" field at the top, and type the name or the Twitter username of the person who you want to DM. Select that person in the list, and then, from the top-right corner of the "New Message" window, select "Next."
To send someone a DM from their Twitter profile page, click the envelope icon next to their Twitter name.
If you want to DM multiple people at once, keep finding and selecting people on the "New Message" window. You can add up to 50 people in a single DM on Twitter.
On the right of the Twitter site, a chat section will open. At the bottom of this section, click "Start a New Message" and type the message that you want to send to the selected user. Then, click the paper airplane icon next to the message box to send your message.
To add a new line in your message, press the Shift+Enter keys at the same time. Pressing only the Enter key will send your message.
To attach a photo or video to your message, click the "Media" icon beside the message field. Similarly, click the "GIF" icon to add a GIF to your message, and click the emoji icon to add emoji to your message.
And your Direct Message will be sent to your selected Twitter user!
How to Send a Direct Message from the Twitter Mobile App
On a handheld device like an iPhone, iPad, or Android phone, use the Twitter app to send and receive Direct Messages.
To start, launch the Twitter app on your phone. In the app, from the bar at the bottom, tap the "Messages" (envelope icon) option.
On the messages screen, from the bottom-right corner, select "New Message" (an icon of an envelope with a plus sign in the top-right corner).
A "New Message" page will open. Here, tap the "Search for People and Groups" field and type the name or Twitter username of the user who you want to DM. Then, tap that user in the list.
You can add up to 50 people in a group DM.
Once you've selected people in the list, then, from the top-right corner of the "New Message" page, select "Next."
A message page with the selected user will open. At the bottom of this page, tap "Start a Message" and type your message. Then, next to this message field, tap the paper airplane icon to send your message.
To attach a photo or video to your message, tap the "Media" icon beside the message field. To add a GIF, tap the "GIF" option.
And Twitter will send your finely crafted Direct Message to the selected user. Enjoy messaging!
Twitter comes with several features, many of which you might not have explored yet, like pinning tweets to your profile page.
Related: How to Pin a Tweet on Twitter
