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Maggie Tillman, US contributing editor
· Updated ·
Explainer Provides context or background, definition and detail on a specific topic.
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(Pocket-lint) - Instagram offers a number of similarities to other social media and chat platforms, including Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
Features are constantly added, including options like "Show Activity Status". If you use Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp - both owned by Facebook like Instagram - you'll know that they show when you're online and last active, or last seen in WhatsApp's case. Instagram does the same. However, although the "Show Activity Status" option is enabled by default inside of Instagram's settings menu, you can toggle it off like you can on WhatsApp - something you can't do in Messenger.
Here's how to hide your activity status on Instagram, as well as how to tell if someone is online.
Those of you who don't want people to see when you're online in real-time do have the option to turn off Instagram's Show Activity Status feature, though, if you do, you won't be able to see anyone else's activity.
Note: Just like in Facebook Messenger, there's no option to disable read receipts on Instagram. Direct messages (DMs) always show as "seen" once recipients have opened them.
Your followers can't see when you were most recently on Instagram.
Only people you follow or have previously had direct conversations (DMs) with will see how many minutes or hours ago you were online. This feature makes sense for Instagram users who rely on the service to chat with businesses or creative professionals and want to see whether they're online or even quickly respond.
There are a few ways to see when someone's online or active:
Note: Recent activity status will show as: Active 25m ago, Active yesterday, Seen, Typing, etc.
See our Instagram guides for more tips:
Writing by Maggie Tillman.
Sections Instagram Apps
If you follow or have messaged someone on Instagram, they can see your online status by default. But sometimes, you want a little more privacy. If you want to hide your status, you can do that using your phone or the Instagram webpage, though the option is hidden in Settings and not as easy to find as it could be.
How to turn off active status on the Instagram mobile appThe steps to turn off your active status are the same whether you have an iPhone or Android device, and once you set it, no one will be able to tell if you are active on Instagram.
1. Start the Instagram app and tap your profile icon at the bottom right of the screen.
2. Tap the three-line menu at the top right.
3. In the popup menu, tap Settings.
To turn off your active status, go to Instagram's settings. Dave Johnson4. Tap Privacy.
In Settings, go to the Privacy page. Dave Johnson5.
In the Interactions section, tap Activity Status.
6. Turn off Show Activity Status by swiping the button to the left.
When you turn off your active status, followers on Instagram can't tell if you are online. Dave Johnson How to turn off active status on the Instagram websiteIf you use Instagram in a web browser, you can turn off your active status with a few clicks, so people you follow or have messaged won't know if you are online.
1. Open the Instagram webpage in a browser and log into your account if necessary.
2. Click your profile icon at the top right.
3. In the dropdown menu, click Settings.
Go to your profile icon to open the Settings page. Dave Johnson4. In the navigation menu on the left, click Privacy and Security.
5. In the Activity Status section, clear the check mark next to Show Activity Status.
Your activity status is found on the Privacy and Security page.
Dave Johnson Dave Johnson
Freelance Writer
Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts.
Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.
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More than a year ago, a new option appeared in the Instagram application - Last Active. It allows you to track the status of the user: online or not, how many minutes ago the user was last in the feed. Such a “trick” migrated here from the Viber and WhatsApp messengers. It has been practiced quite successfully there for a long time.
“But what about developer-respected privacy?” - you ask. Everything is fine. On Instagram, you can hide the time of your visit from prying eyes. It is very easy to do, read our article and find out everything. nine0003
" This is the status we are interested in. It only appears in the Direct tab. You must have noticed that some of them have no inscription. This means that the person decided to hide it from his followers. And how exactly he did it, we will understand below. nine0003
Interesting. If the user is online, then a small green circle appears next to his profile picture.
Go to the appropriate section of the article and repeat the steps from the instructions. nine0003
So, to hide the time of your visit on an Android smartphone, you need to perform the following algorithm of actions:
Done. After all these manipulations, the inscription "Online" should disappear from your direct.
Good to know. The remote network status is not activated until you enable it yourself in the settings.
You can delete your online information on Instagram for iOS in the same way:
It's easy to see if you've succeeded. If this option is enabled, then in the settings it lights up in blue, if not, it is gray.
Keep in mind that as soon as you hide the visit time, you will no longer see when your friends last visited the feed. Everything is honest. nine0003
If you "sit" on Instagram through a mobile browser, it doesn't matter. Removing online visibility is just as easy. Do this:
That's it, it's almost impossible to track you now.
If you need to turn off the inscription in direct in the desktop version of the browser, pay attention to the following step-by-step instructions:
Interesting. If you want to know when a person logged into Insta, but you have the “Online” option turned off, go to the likes section and see when the last activity of this user was.
Hiding your own visiting time on Instagram does not require any professional skills or deep knowledge. Everything is simple. Use this step by step guide and be sure to share it with your friends. They may not yet know that you can turn off online status in a social networking app. nine0003
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02/01/2018
Author: Olga Dmitrieva
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How to hide recent Instagram activity
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To prevent other users from knowing when you last visited your Instagram page, turn on invisible mode. We'll show you how.
Do you want to sit secretly on Instagram all day without anyone knowing about it? This is possible, it is enough to hide your online status. nine0003
This Instagram feature is very similar to Last Online in WhatsApp.
