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Instagram’s mobile platforms are quite extensive and offer the user a lot of control through the settings. Unfortunately, settings menus aren’t always the easiest to understand, and Instagram’s settings menus aren’t always the easiest things to find.
Thankfully, there are some simple steps and settings that can be followed and adjusted, enabling you to customize the platform pretty much however you want. Today, we are going to be exploring in totality the Privacy Settings on Instagram, while also teaching you how to change them. By the end, you should know how to access your Privacy Settings, plus understand how to change the ones you want.
Let’s get started!
3 Steps to Change your Privacy Settings on Instagram
Step 1: Open the app and tap on the profile icon
Open the Instagram app on your device and tap on the profile icon located in the bottom right corner of the screen. This will take you to your profile page. The profile will have your recent photos displayed and what your profile looks like to other people.
Step 2: Select the menu in the top right and select “Settings”
Once you are on your profile page, locate the menu icon located in the top right corner of the screen (it is three horizontal lines stacked on top of each other in a pattern known as a “hamburger menu”). Tap on this icon to open the menu. From there, tap on Settings to access the settings page for your account.
Step 3: Select the Privacy option
In the settings page, scroll down to find the option labeled Privacy. Select this option to open the privacy settings page.
This page has a LOT of options and will allow you to adjust settings related to your account’s privacy, such as who can see your posts, who can send you direct messages, and who can see your stories and activity. You can also control your data sharing and block or unblock users, among other options.
For more information on what each of these individualized settings can do, check out the breakdown below.
Breaking Down the Privacy Settings on Instagram: Instagram’s Privacy Settings Explained
Account Privacy
Making an account private through the Private Profile slider in the Privacy Settings allows you to limit who can see your posts and stories to only approved followers. This feature can be used to keep your content more private and control who can see your activity on Instagram. The small slider seen on the mobile platform can be seen across a few of Instagram’s settings pages. Privacy Settings and Account Settings, for example, both have the slider available.
Interactions
| Privacy Setting | Features |
|---|---|
| Limits | Allows you to set limits on who can interact with your account, such as who can send you direct messages, and who can comment on or view your posts. This feature can be used to prevent unwanted interactions with strangers or specific individuals. You can also set limits on who can see your activity status. |
| Hidden Words | Enables you to set a list of words that will automatically filter comments on your posts so that comments containing those words will be hidden from your view. This feature can be used to prevent unwanted comments or spam on your posts. |
| Comments | Allows you to control who can comment on your posts. You can choose to allow everyone to comment, only people you follow, or turn off commenting altogether. This feature can be used to prevent unwanted comments or to keep the conversation more focused. |
| Posts | Allows you to control who can see your posts. You can make your posts private so that only approved followers can see them. This feature can be used to keep your content more private or to only share with specific individuals. |
| Mentions | Allows you to control who can tag you in photos, posts, and stories. You can choose to allow everyone to tag you, only people you follow, or turn off tagging altogether. This feature can be used to prevent unwanted mentions or to control who can associate you with a post. |
| Story | Allows you to control who can see your stories, and allows you to hide your story from specific people. This feature can be used to keep your stories more private or to only share them with specific individuals through the Close Friends feature. |
| Reels and Remix | Allows you to control who can “Remix” your reels, a new feature that allows users to take your video and add their own to it. This can be customized and also enabled for recommendation on Facebook. |
| Live | Allows you to control who can see your live videos, and allows you to hide your live videos from specific people. This feature can be used to keep your live videos more private or to only share them with specific individuals, as well as save the Live recordings to your archives. |
| Guides | Allows other people to use your posts as part of their guides |
| Activity Status | Allows you to control who can see when you are active on Instagram and when you were last active. You can choose to show your activity status to everyone, only people you follow, or turn it off altogether. |
| Messages | Allows you to control who can send you direct messages. You can choose to allow everyone to send you direct messages, only people you follow, or turn off direct messaging altogether. |
Connections
| Privacy Setting | Features |
|---|---|
| Restricted Accounts | Allows you to restrict certain accounts from interacting with your account without unfollowing or blocking them. When you restrict an account, they can still see your public posts, but they can’t see or interact with your stories, comments, or direct messages. |
| Blocked Accounts | Allows you to block certain accounts from interacting with your account. When you block an account, they can’t see your profile, posts, or stories, and they can’t send you direct messages. They will also be removed from your followers, and you will be removed from their followers. |
| Muted Accounts | Allows you to mute certain accounts from appearing in your feed or stories. When you mute an account, you can still see their posts if you visit their profile, but their posts will not appear in your feed, and you will not receive any notifications about their activity. |
| Accounts You Follow | Allows you to manage the accounts that you are following. You can unfollow accounts, view the accounts you are following, and view the accounts that follow you back. |
