How to tell if someone is online instagram

How to hide your Instagram activity or online status

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Maggie Tillman, US contributing editor

· Updated 1 December 2022 ·

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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.

How to hide your Instagram activity or online status

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.

To change the visibility of your activity status:

Open Instagram.
Tap on the Profile icon in the right corner.
Tap the three lines in the top right.
Tap on Settings.
Click on Privacy.
Tap Activity Status.
Tap the toggle next to Activity Status to turn off your activity status.

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.

Who can see when you're active on Instagram?

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.

How to tell if someone is online on Instagram

There are a few ways to see when someone's online or active:

You'll see a green dot near their username and photo in your Direct inbox.
You'll see a green dot near their username and photo elsewhere on Instagram.
In your direct inbox, you'll see their most recent activity status.

Note: Recent activity status will show as: Active 25m ago, Active yesterday, Seen, Typing, etc.

Want to know more?

See our Instagram guides for more tips:

Instagram tips and tricks: How to master the app
15 secret Instagram tips
What is Instagram Stories and how does it work?

Writing by Maggie Tillman.

Sections Instagram Apps

Here's how to See Who Is Online on Instagram

The Instagram app for iPhone has finally made it possible to see who all are online in one place itself. Whereas earlier, a green dot used to appear next to the profile picture of a friend in the Direct inbox or in the friend list while sharing a post from your feed.

Allowing users to quickly see who is online on Instagram is certainly a great addition. This will help them easily find when their friends are online and available to chat. That said, there are certain restrictions that the platform imposes to protect users’ privacy.

Table of Contents

Can I see who’s online on Instagram?

You may or may not, depending on the situation. Here are a few things to note:

You can only see the online status of people who follow you or people who have sent you a direct message (DM).
One cannot know if someone is online on Instagram when they have turned off the activity status.
You can’t see when someone was last active or are currently active if your activity status is off.

Now let’s check how to view the list of people who are online on Instagram all in one place. You can do so from within the Instagram app and without using any third-party tools.

How to check who is online on Instagram

Make sure you’re running the latest version of the Instagram app.
Turn on your Activity status if it isn’t already. To do so, go to Settings > Privacy > Activity status and turn on ‘Show activity status’.
Go to the Home tab and tap the ‘Messenger icon’ at the top-right corner.
Tap the “Active” tab in the Direct Messages section.
Here you can see all the people who are active now on Instagram.

NOTE: The above steps are applicable to the iPhone. Unfortunately, Instagram for Android currently doesn’t show the list of active users.

ALSO READ: How to turn off Message Requests on Instagram

How to know if someone is online on Instagram

Are you on Android or haven’t got the ‘Active’ feature yet in Instagram Messenger? Then follow the steps below to find when someone is online on Instagram.

Go to the Search tab and search for the particular person’s name or username.
Tap the name to view their profile.
On the person’s profile page, tap the ‘Message’ button.
Look for the online status at the top-left, right under the person’s profile name.
If the status says ‘Active now‘, it means that person is online right now.

Note that you won’t be able to see the online status if a certain individual has hidden their activity status.

RELATED: How to search words in Instagram chats like WhatsApp

Can I see when someone was last active on Instagram?

Yes, you can easily check when a friend was last active on Instagram without messaging them.

For this, the person must be following you and their activity status should be visible to others. Also, the user whose last active status you want to see shouldn’t have a private account.

To see the last time someone was active on Instagram, go to their profile and tap the ‘Message‘ option. Now check the last active time under the follower’s name at the upper-left. The last active status should read something like “Active 1h ago”.

Last active status on Instagram

ALSO READ: How to check the time a message was sent on Instagram

Tags: InstagramMessengerSocial MediaTips

6 ways to find a person on Instagram

Have you ever searched for a person on Instagram*? For example, a child or his friends, to understand what he is interested in outside the home? Or run a business and want to find out who influences the community in your field?

You know that these people are on Instagram*, but it can be difficult to find them.
In this article, we have collected popular and effective ways to search for a person on Instagram*.

Search by name and surname; nine0011
Search by phone number;
Instagram photo search*;
Search through VKontakte;
Search through Pepper.Ninja;
Instagram search* by mail;
Search for a blocked account on Instagram*.

Search by name and surname

The easiest way is to enter the name and surname of the person you need in the search box on Instagram*. The reception can be safely called popular, because tens of thousands of users do it every day. True, only a part of them find what they are looking for. nine0003

More than a billion profiles are registered in the social network, the first and last name should be really rare. Otherwise, you will have to look through hundreds of namesakes and log into the account of an outsider more than once.

Still, it's worth a try - what if the person we're looking for ends up at the top of the list?

Act:

Turn on the application. Tap on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen.
A search bar will appear at the top, click on it. The category list immediately below it will change. nine0011
Select "Accounts" - this will limit the search to only people.
Write the name in the line. Choose the desired profile from the list below.

By the way, many accounts can be with someone else's photo. Are you sure that the right one is not among them?

If you're unlucky and don't find what you're looking for on the first few screens, try a different search option. Or scroll to the end, but the result is unpredictable.

The person may have been registered under a pseudonym. Then it's useless. nine0003

Search by phone number

Finding a person on Instagram by phone number is much easier. If the contact is saved in the phone book, the site's search algorithm will instantly indicate it among millions of registered users.

If Insta is linked to a Facebook account*, subscribers from this social network can be added in the same way as phone contacts.

The process is simple:

Log in to your Instagram account*, to your personal page.
Select the People of Interest tab.
Allow Instagram* to access your phone book, then find the desired contact in the list that appears on the screen.

It remains to allow Instagram* access to the phone book

But what if there is neither a number nor a person's name? There is an exit.

Instagram photo search*

Instagram* strictly protects user privacy. All images and their digital prints are securely encrypted on Facebook* servers. Insta does not allow you to find the author who uploaded the original image - oh well. nine0003

You can try outside - through Google and its service "Search by Photo".

Reverse image search is a convenient technology for finding the source of a photo. If you upload an image to the service, similar photos will be displayed with a link to the place of publication.

If the URL points to Instagram*, you can find the user's profile. Although, this is a rather hopeless undertaking. Rather, it will be possible to find a person in other social networks, where he could leave a link to his Instagram *. nine0003

Just a few steps:

Enter the image search service.
You will see a camera icon in the search bar. Click on it.
Upload or drag the desired photo from your device to the search bar.
Study search results.

There are also Yandex. Pictures and several services for searching images on the web. The principle is the same - add and check

If this method does not work, go to the next one.

Search via VKontakte

Options are possible here. Let's start with the obvious.

VK profile

Go to the page of the person you are interested in and click on the "Show detailed information" tab. Often people indicate other social networks so that they can be contacted outside the site.

What you need can be found in the column "Contact information".

Invite friends from VKontakte

You can invite friends from another social network, including VKontakte, to the Instagram* app. nine0003

Go to your Instagram profile settings*.
Select "Subscriptions and invitations".
A menu will open in which you must select the bottom tab - "Invite friends using ...".
By selecting VKontakte, you will have two options - publish an invitation on the wall or send a message.

If your message is not answered, do not despair. Try the following method

See also: How to view Instagram follow request statistics*: check incoming and outgoing requests. nine0003

The Pepper.Ninja scraper is a service that helps you find customers on social networks. I created a portrait of the client, set up the application - and the algorithm will collect the target audience from all sites, taking into account the specified parameters.

But we need to find the Instagram account* of the right person. This can be done without any special settings.

The parser has the required option. It's easy:

Register with Pepper.Ninja.
Click on the big green "Quick Parse" button in the upper left corner. nine0011
At the top, you can specify a link to the VK profile of the person you need, if you have one, or to the community to which he is subscribed in VK.

Enter the data you have. For example, a profile in VK

Below there will be a filter where you can enter all the information about the person that you have.

General information block… ...and details

You will receive a list of matching Instagram profile IDs* and links to them.

You can return to the collected list in the "Assignments" section.

Depending on what you need, you can download links to profiles or only the list ID

If you know the nickname of a person on VKontakte, try entering it in the Instagram search box *. You might be lucky and he used the same nickname for different social networks. If you don't see a familiar name, you'll have to check each nickname on the list to find the specific person.

Or not found. Then try narrowing down your search. nine0003

Search Instagram* by mail

Some people use their first name, last name or nickname in the name of the email. And leave a mailbox as a contact on their page.

Enter the first part of the email, up to the @ sign, into your Instagram search*. Perhaps you will be lucky.

The system will show user nicknames that will be at least somewhat similar to the email address

If none of the listed methods helped in the search, move on. nine0003

Searching for a blocked Instagram account*

Nothing helps? Maybe you are looking for an account that you previously blocked. Then Instagram* does not show it in the SERP for you personally.

To get the opportunity to view the page of a friend or girlfriend again, remove it from the black list in the Instagram settings *.

Four easy steps:

Go to your Instagram settings*.
Select "Privacy".
Check the Blocked Accounts tab. nine0011
Remove the account from the black list.

Check this tab. Maybe the contact ended up here “magically” ;)

Searching for a person on Instagram* is more difficult than in other social networks. Registration on the site does not require you to indicate your real name, place of residence, gender or age.

But, as you can see, this is still not a dead end. You can find a user even with a minimum of data. Bookmark this article for future reference.

nine0002 See also: Ensuring the security of your Instagram account*.

Well, if none of the above helped, it may very well be that the person simply does not have an Instagram profile*, and we are looking for something that does not exist.

How to find a person on Instagram by name, nickname, number, etc.

September 16 Social media instructions

Contents:

nine0011
nine0011

How to find a person on Instagram?

Consider the main ways to search for a person in the social network Instagram. We will figure out how to do this and whether registration is required for this.

MUSTHAVE services for your Instagram!

TapLike - Instagram promotion. Buying followers, likes, story views, comments. Quality Audience! 100% service safety guarantee! nine0003

Instahero - instant cleaning of Instagram account from bots! Do a profile analysis for free!

Search by phone number

During the registration process on the social network Instagram, new users are prompted to enter a phone number or email. Since the first option is much more convenient and faster, many choose it.

Instagram search method by subscriber number:

Open Instagram social network; nine0011
Log in by entering your login and password;
Log in to your account;
In the upper right corner, click on the button - three horizontal dashes;
Enter the menu;
Press the gear button;
Select "Account";
Go to the "Sync Contacts" section;
Move the slider to the right so that the button is highlighted in blue;
Create a new contact in the address book of the mobile device with the subscriber number of the person of interest; nine0011
Open the Instagram app;
In the upper right corner, click on the three dashes;
Open the menu;
Select "People of interest" from the list;
At the top right of the screen, click the "Contacts" button;
Go to the "contacts" tab;
Click on the "Connect Contact List" button;
Scroll through the list and find the user of interest by name and profile picture;
Go to the user's page. nine0011

If the user of interest is not found in the list, then the page was created using a different number or email.

Search by photo

The Instagram social network does not have a search function by photo. You will have to resort to third-party services.

How to find a page on Instagram using a photo:

Log in to the Google Chrome browser;
Type in the search bar: images.google.com/ ;
Go to website; nine0011
Click on the camera icon;
You will be offered two tabs: "specify link" or "upload file", the choice will depend on what you have URL or photo;
Select the desired tab;
Enter a URL or upload an image;
Press the "search by images" button;
A list of many links will open - select the most appropriate one and follow it.

An absolutely similar service for searching for an account by photo is the Yandex.pictures service. nine0003

Search for an Instagram user by photo using the TinEye service:

Open any browser;
In the search box, enter the name of the service - TinEye;
Follow the link to the service site;
Click on the "Upload" button;
Upload a photo;
Click the magnifying glass icon;
Select the most appropriate link in the search results.

The TinEye service is in English, which is a big disadvantage compared to other services. nine0003

Search for an Instagram account by photo using the FindFace face search service:

Go to the service website;
Upload a photo;
Start searching;
Search results will give you many links to photographs of the same person. Perhaps among them will be a photo from Instagram.

Search by login

The easiest way to find an Instagram account is to search by username, that is, by login. This method is available both in the Instagram mobile application and in the desktop version of the social network on a computer. nine0007 How to find an Instagram account by login:

Open the Instagram application;
Log in by entering your login and password;
Log in to your account;
Press the magnifying glass button;
In the search box, enter the user's nickname;
Go to the "Accounts" tab;
Select the desired account from the proposed list. You can recognize the user of interest by the avatar.

Search by name and surname

If you do not know the user's login, you can search by first and last name. This method does not give a 100% result, unlike a search by login. Most likely, the search result will be a number of users - full namesakes. The method will also not work if the user has provided false personal data in his personal information when registering on Instagram.

How to find a person on Instagram by first and last name:

Open the Instagram app;
Log in to your account;
Press the magnifying glass button;
In the search box, enter the user's first and last name;
Go to the "Accounts" tab;
Select the required account from the proposed list.

Search by region or place

If you know in which city or region a person lives, or he often visits the same place, you can search for him by geolocation. nine0003

How to:

Open the Instagram app;
Enter your username and password;
Log in;
Log in to your account;
Press the magnifying glass button at the bottom of the screen;
Go to the "Places" tab;
In the search box, enter the city or place of interest;
A list of geolocations will be generated;
Choose the one you need from the list and view posts posted on Instagram with such geolocation. Sooner or later you will find the right account. nine0011

Search by subscriptions

If you know a person's place of work, interests, favorite stores, surroundings, then you can search for a person on Instagram by their subscriptions. To do this:

Open the Instagram app;
Enter your username and password;
Log in;
Log in to your account;
Press the magnifying glass button at the bottom of the screen;
In the search box, enter the name or username of the person to whom your acquaintance is supposedly subscribed; nine0011
Find the required account in the list;
Go to the account page;
Find the "Subscribers" tab at the top of the screen and click on it;
A list of people subscribed to this account will open;
Manually scroll through the list and find the right person.

Search by hashtags

If there is very little information about the user, there is a way to search by geotags or hashtags. In this case, you need to know the event in which your friend took part. nine0003

How to find a person on Instagram by hashtags:

Open the Instagram app;
Enter your username and password;
Log in;
Log in to your account;
Press the magnifying glass button at the bottom of the screen;
Go to the "tags" or "tags" tab - depends on the Android or IOS operating system;
In the search box, enter the name of the event without the # sign, which, presumably, was attended by your friend; nine0007
A list of hashtags with the same name will be generated. Since there are many variations of describing an event or place, you will have to look at each hashtag in turn;
Follow the links one by one - a list of posts posted with this hashtag on Instagram will open. Perhaps one of the photos will be posted by your friends.

Google search

If you don't have an Instagram account but need to find a user page, you can search using Google search:

Open a browser;
Go to the site google.ru;
In the search box, enter all the available information about the user (first name, last name, nickname, and so on) and at the end write the word "Instagram";
Most likely Google will offer you a link to the user's page. If the account is not closed, you can view publications and current stories.

How to find a person on Instagram through VKontakte

Most social networks interact with each other and have the function of searching for people in other applications. For example, the social network Facebook notifies its users that one of the subscribers has a page on Instagram, in this case, you can not use the search, but immediately follow the link to the desired account. nine0003

You can also search for a page on Instagram using the social network VKontakte. Instagram and VKontakte interact closely. Most users link their accounts of these social networks to each other. Then, when publishing a post on Instagram, you can automatically duplicate it on your VKontakte page.

If you want to find a person on Instagram and you have him as a friend on VKontakte, you need:

Enter the social network VKontakte;
Log in by entering your login and password; nine0011
Open your VKontakte page;
Open the friends tab;
Find the user of interest;
Go to his page;
Scroll through his wall and pay attention to publications with photos. If there is a small camera icon next to such publications, then this photo was published by the user on Instagram;
Click on this icon;
Go to the Instagram page of the user you are interested in. nine0011

Another way to find a person on Instagram is through VKontakte. It also applies to the situation when the person you are interested in is registered on VKontakte and is on your friends list.

Search option for IOS mobile phones:

Open the Instagram app;
Enter your username and password;
Log in;
Log in to your account;
In the upper right corner, click on the button with three horizontal dashes; nine0011
Tap on the button with the image of the "gear";
Open the option to subscribe to people from different social networks;
A list of persons registered on VKontakte and Instagram will open;
Find the person you are interested in;
Go to his account page.

Search option for Android mobile phones:

Open the Instagram app;
Enter your username and password;
Log in; nine0011
Log in to your account;
In the upper right corner, click on the button with three dots;
Open the menu;
Select an item with subscriptions;
Go to the "VKontakte Friends" section;
Find the person you are interested in;
Go to his account page.

Search via Facebook

Similar to searching for a person on Instagram using the social network VKontakte, you can find a user using Facebook. This method is suitable for those who are registered on Facebook, and the users of interest are friends. nine0003

How to find a person on Instagram using Facebook:

Open the Instagram app;
Enter your username and password;
Log in;
Log in to your account;
In the upper right corner, click on the button with three dots;
Open the menu;
Select an item with subscriptions;
Go to the "Facebook Subscriptions" section;
Find the person you are interested in;
Go to his account page. nine0011

Search by email address

If only an email address is known about a person, try entering E-mail in the Instagram search bar. Perhaps the e-mail address is specified by the user of interest as a contact.

Search by recommendations

The Instagram social network collects information, people, publications and so on for each user who is interested in him. If you have common followers with the person you are trying to find, or if you like posts on a certain topic, their account may be in your recommendations list. nine0003

The subscription recommendation list opens automatically when you subscribe to a user, or you can open it yourself by going to any user's profile and clicking on the small arrow icon next to the "Subscribe" button.

Search via Viber or WhatsApp

Using the standard functionality of the social network, you cannot find a friend who is in your contacts in the messenger. The social network does not integrate with them, but you can copy the user number from Viber or WhatsApp to the phone book. Create a new contact on your mobile device, then try to find a person using the search method using the phone number listed above. nine0003

How to delete search history

Instagram keeps search history by faces, hashtag and other parameters.