Meta has expanded Threads’ private-messaging features by adding group direct messages (DM), allowing users to create group chats of up to 50 people inside the Threads app, give those chats custom names, and—where the rollout has reached—use invite links to bring others into a conversation.
In other words, the Threads' Group DM works in the sense that you can just start a new message and add anybody who follows you on Threads to the group. This rollout is closing a gap that had kept richer messaging features out of the bloc until now. But, it's worth noting that this feature is available to mobile-only for now.
The change follows Threads’ earlier launch of one-on-one DMs in July and is being positioned as the next step in turning Threads from a reply-driven, public-first feed into a fuller social app where private conversations can live alongside public posts.
In addition to launching group DMs, Meta is also launching DM in the EU over the coming days. If you're in the EU, you'll get access not just to individual DMs, but also to group DMs, privacy settings, messaging controls, support for media files, and the hidden folder—where spam goes to.
How to Use the Threads' Group DM
In practice, creating and using a group on Threads works much like any other messaging app. Just tap the Compose button, select multiple followers or mutual friends, give the chat a name if you’d like, and start the conversation—that’s all it takes to create a group DM on Threads.
Notwithstanding, I'm going to walk you through the step by step guides you can follow to create a group DM in Threads on your phone.
Let's dive into it:
- First of all, you'll need to open the Threads app and tap the inbox icon from the tab menus located at app's screen bottom. That actions will open your DM area where one-to-one chats and any groups appear.
- In the inbox, tap the compose button (a pencil icon) at the top right corner of the screen.
- Now, start selecting people you want in the group. You can either type a username in the search bar and select when the user pop-out to add them, or scroll your follower list and tap each person’s name. Threads currently requires people to follow you (or be mutual) in many cases before you can add them directly.
- As you select people, you’ll see their avatars and names collect into the “recipients” area near the top. Add up to the limit (Threads’ group cap is up to 50 participants as of the rollout).
- Tap on “Name group” to give name to the Group.
- Next, type a short descriptions of the Group and confirm the name to proceed.
- Once you've successfully created the group, tap on the “Pencil” icon to open the new group chat. Your first message can be a simple “Hey — welcome!” or an agenda for the group.
- Inside the group chat, tap the group header (the top bar showing the group name and participants) to open group settings. From there you can see members, leave the group, and—where available—toggle to copy an invite link to let people join without being added manually (Meta is rolling invite links out gradually).
- You can also use the group settings to manage notifications, mute the chat, or remove members. Meanwhile, it's important to note that this setting is only applicable to the group admin.
- If you want to add more people later, open the group, tap the header, choose “Add people,” search and select additional participants. But remember that Threads supports only 50 participants for now.
This update is functionally important for two reasons. First, it reduces friction for people who were previously sending the same message to many followers one-by-one or switching to other apps for group planning and private chat.
Consolidating those conversations inside Threads makes the app more useful for everyday coordination and for creators or small communities that want a single place for both public posting and private discussion.
Second, it nudges Threads closer to parity with other Meta-owned messaging experiences—especially Facebook Messenger—by copying familiar capabilities such as group naming and invite links. Meta’s product framing suggests this is about making Threads “standalone” rather than a mere Instagram extension.
However, it's also worth noting that the Threads' DMs currently are not end-to-end encrypted (E2E). In other words, the messages are subject to Meta’s moderation and data policies. So, it's important to avoid sharing highly sensitive information in the chat if privacy is a concern.
E2E is a point that privacy advocates and some users will watch closely as messaging becomes a bigger part of Threads’ identity. Meanwhile, Meta has indicated it will add more inbox-management tools and invite-link features over time, but for now the absence of encryption is an explicit limitation.
Meta says DM "wasn't a Priority in the Early Days."
Emily Dalton Smith, Meta's Head of Product for Threads, told Engadget that Messaging has been the most requested feature since Threads first launched, but its rollout was delayed because it "wasn't a priority in the early days." He added that Threads, which now see around 400 million monthly active users, is “on track to become Meta’s next major app.”
The rollout arrives after a multi-stage evolution: Threads launched as a text-centric Instagram sibling in 2023 without native DMs, but relied on public replies and Instagram’s DMs for private conversation. But in July 1 2025, the social media platform launched its own built-in one-to-one inbox—DM.
And since then, Meta has been adding more inbox-management tools—including support for photos, videos and GIFs, a messaging requests folder to reduce unwanted messages, the hidden spam folder and a privacy setting that absolutely switches off message requests from people you don't follow—to the social platform.
That earlier move has built Threads to rely on its own messaging infrastructure that's entirely separated from Instagram's, and today’s addition of group DMs continues that separation. For users, Threads will become a more practical place to keep both public posting and private planning together—which should boost daily engagement for people who want a single app for both.
For Meta, it’s another move that literally places Threads as a direct competitor to X and other social platform like TikTok that mix public posts with private messaging. For regulators and privacy-conscious users, the lack of encryption keeps open questions about how Threads’ private conversations will be treated by moderation systems and how secure they’ll be against third-party access.
What do you think about this update? Let's know your opinions in the comments section, and don't hesitate to share this article with your friends and followers on your social media pages. Cheers!
