How to make yourself invisible on instagram


How to Hide Your Instagram Online Status

Most social media networks and chat platforms these days include a feature that shows when a user was last online or last active on the service, which can be either helpful or a hindrance, depending on your personal or business situation.


WhatsApp includes an optional "Last Seen" status for the person you're chatting with in a conversation thread, while Instagram tells you how long it was since a user was active when you're viewing messages from them in your Direct inbox. Instagram also shows a green dot next to their profile picture and name if the person is currently interacting with the app.

Sometimes though, for whatever reason, you might not want someone – or indeed anyone – to know when you were last active on social media. Fortunately, WhatsApp and Instagram both allow you to hide your activity status in the app. Here our focus is on how to hide your Instagram status, but you can find how to do the same thing in WhatsApp in our dedicated how-to article.

Hiding Your Instagram Online Status

  1. Launch the Instagram app.
  2. Tap the profile icon in the bottom-right corner.
  3. Tap the three lines in the top-right corner.
  4. Tap Settings.

  5. Tap Privacy.
  6. Tap Activity Status.
  7. Tap the switch to toggle off Show activity status.

Did you know you can also hide Like and View counts on Instagram posts, too? Check out our dedicated tutorial to learn how.

Tag: Instagram

Popular Stories

Seven iOS Features Launching or Expanding in 2023

Sunday January 1, 2023 5:18 pm PST by Joe Rossignol

2023 is upon us and it will be another busy year for iPhone software. While details about iOS 17 remain slim, Apple has previously announced several features that will be available this year as part of upcoming updates like iOS 16.3 and iOS 16.4. Below, we have recapped seven iOS features that are expected to launch or expand to additional countries in 2023, such as an Apple Pay Later...

Apple Releases Limited-Edition AirPods Pro in Celebration of Chinese New Year

Thursday December 29, 2022 6:57 pm PST by Joe Rossignol

In celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 22, Apple has released limited-edition second-generation AirPods Pro with a Year of the Rabbit engraving through its online store and retail stores in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. 2023 will be the Year of the Rabbit on the Chinese calendar. The limited-edition AirPods Pro have a specially-designed rabbit engraving on the...

iOS 16 Exploit Lets You Change Your iPhone's Font System-Wide

Friday December 30, 2022 2:58 am PST by Sami Fathi

While Apple has increased the level of customization iPhone users have access to over the years, the iPhone's system-wide font has been one thing users have not been able to change. Thanks to a new tool created by a developer, however, users will now be able to change their iPhone's font if they're running an older version of iOS 16. The developer, Zhuowei Zhang, made a tool that changes an...

Apple Launching All-New CarPlay Experience in 2023 With These 5 Key Features

Wednesday December 28, 2022 9:58 am PST by Joe Rossignol

At WWDC 2022 in June, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, personalization options, and more. Apple says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in late 2023, with committed automakers including Acura,...

Apple Shuts Down Popular Weather App 'Dark Sky'

Sunday January 1, 2023 2:00 am PST by Joe Rossignol

The calendar has turned to January 1 and Apple has shut down popular weather app Dark Sky. The app had already been removed from the App Store in September and it stopped functioning for existing users starting today. Apple acquired Dark Sky in March 2020 and it has since incorporated many of the app's features into the preinstalled Weather app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Earlier this...

Apple Adds iOS 16.2's Home App Upgrade to Internal List of Major Issues

Friday December 30, 2022 7:16 am PST by Sami Fathi

Apple has marked iOS 16.2's Home architecture update as a major issue by adding it to an internal list of issues typically only reserved for widespread and noteworthy problems, indicating the update caused widespread and systemic issues to users' HomeKit devices and setup. Earlier this month, Apple released iOS 16.2, which included an option for users to update their Home app to a new, more...

Apple Reportedly 'Seriously' Concerned About iPhone 14 Plus Sales, Looking to Reevaluate iPhone 15 Lineup

Wednesday December 28, 2022 7:36 am PST by Sami Fathi

Apple is reportedly "seriously" concerned over the sales performance of the iPhone 14 Plus, the 6. 7-inch non-Pro variant of the iPhone 14 lineup. As a result, it is considering ways to restrategize its iPhone lineup for next year. The iPhone 14 Plus is the newest addition to the iPhone lineup and replaces the 5.4-inch mini iPhone. The iPhone 14 Plus features the same design, cameras, and...

How to appear offline on Instagram

Quick Answer: To appear offline on Instagram, go to your profile, tap the three-dot icon, then tap Settings>Account>Show Activity Status. Then turn off the “Show Activity Status” toggle. This prevents others from seeing when you were last active.

Did you know you can change your Activity Status and appear offline on Instagram? Well, yes, you can.

Using the ‘insta offline’ trick on Instagram lets you fly under the radar and avoid unwanted interactions with other users.

The platform includes an Activity Status feature that tracks how long it’s been since you were online and lets your friends know when you’re active on the platform.

As you can imagine, that has the potential to get a little invasive. Fortunately, Instagram only shows this to users you follow or message privately.

But it’s still nice to be able to hide that Activity Status, so you don’t have to worry about everyone knowing what you’re up to at all times.

Jump Ahead

What does appearing offline on Instagram do?

Image: Unsplash

As we mentioned briefly, appearing offline on Instagram does several different things. And it all revolves around the Activity Status.

First, turning off your Activity Status to appear offline on Instagram will hide your status from other users.

That means nobody can see when you actively browse images and videos on the platform.

Additionally, toggling your Activity Status off will also hide the counter that tells people how long it has been since you were last offline.

So, you can essentially hide every aspect of Instagram’s Activity Status for your profile.

However, doing it also means you can’t see anybody else’s Activity Status.

So if you want to know when others are online, you’ll have to continue to let them know you are online.

Why would you want to appear offline on Instagram?

There are several reasons why you might want to appear offline on Instagram.

Maybe you’ve got that annoying aunt who won’t leave you alone whenever they find out you’re online.

Or maybe there’s someone you’ve connected with in the past that takes advantage of your Activity Status.

Although, it might be a better idea to go ahead and block that person completely.

Whatever your reason for wanting to appear offline on Instagram, the feature can be an incredibly useful tool.

And you can always go back and toggle the feature back on if you want to show your friends you’re online again.

How to go offline on Instagram’s app

Image: KnowTechie

Since Instagram is primarily used on mobile devices, this will likely be the most useful section for most people.

First, we’ll look at how to toggle off your Activity Status on the Instagram mobile app for iOS or Android.

The menus might look a little different, depending on what kind of phone you have. But the processes are the same either way.

  1. Open Instagram and tap your profile picture

  2. Select the hamburger menu (three-line menu) in the top right

  3. Select Settings

  4. Tap Privacy

  5. Scroll down and click on Activity Status

  6. Lastly, toggle Activity status off

After toggling off this setting, you will begin to appear offline on Instagram.

And whenever you want to appear online again, just repeat the same steps and toggle Activity Status back on.

Screenshot: Instagram

Meta originally focused on developing Instagram as a mobile app.

Thankfully, that’s changed as the company has added features to Instagram’s desktop site to make it work more like an app.

And fortunately, you can at least use the website to toggle your Activity Status.

How to appear Invisible on Instagram’s desktop site:

  1. Click your profile picture in the top right corner
Image: KnowTechie
  1. Select Settings
Image: KnowTechie
  1. Click Privacy and security
Image: KnowTechie
  1. Toggle the Show activity status box off
Image: KnowTechie

That’s all there is to that.

Once you toggle the Activity Status box off from that menu, your online status and history are essentially invisible to everyone.

Remember, you also can’t see other users’ Activity Status if you’ve toggled this option off.

And if you ever change your mind, you can follow the same steps to return and turn your Activity Status back on again.

Image: KnowTechie

Tons of people like to browse Instagram to keep up with friends or their favorite creators.

But you don’t have to let everyone know that you’re online when you’re browsing the platform.

Instagram’s Activity Status lets you choose when you want people to see that you’re online.

Of course, it also means that you won’t be able to see other users’ Activity Status with yours turned off. But that’s a small price for extra privacy on the platform.

You can change your Activity Status on Instagram regularly.

So get familiar with this process and start browsing Instagram on or offline. The choice is always yours.

Are you keeping this feature turned on? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

Related TopicsAndroidappsHow ToInstagramiOSmobieNewsSocial

How to make yourself invisible on Instagram? - [TOP] 2022

After an update, Instagram* shows users' online status and the time they last logged into the app. But not everyone liked this feature. Instagram* has long evolved from a photo-sharing service into a powerful social and marketing tool. Direct is a direct proof of that. Many people use Instagram* as their messenger and the developers know it. So they added a new feature that popular apps like WhatsApp or Telegram already have. nine0003

It is worth noting that in this case, the network status of other users will also become inaccessible to you. *Activities of Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram are prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation.

How to do on Instagram was online recently? nine0011

How to hide online status in the Instagram app - This Instagram feature is very similar to Last Online in WhatsApp. With it, you can see when the user last accessed the application. Luckily, this option is easy to turn off.

Hiding online status on Instagram