How to turn off last seen on instagram
How to hide your Instagram activity or online status
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Maggie Tillman, US contributing editor
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Explainer Provides context or background, definition and detail on a specific topic.
- Plus, how to tell if someone is online
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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
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
- Launch the Instagram app.
- Tap the profile icon in the bottom-right corner.
- Tap the three lines in the top-right corner.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Privacy.
- Tap Activity Status.
- 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
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How to hide visit time on Instagram - step by step guide
Instagram decided to start the New Year 2018 on the wrong foot. The application has implemented a new feature that we are familiar with on WhatsApp, but did not expect to see on Instagram. More recently, the company introduced the "Network Status" (Last Active) option, which shows the exact time the user entered their page.
The last seen time appears in the Instagram messages section (also known as Instagram Direct) just below the name of friends or contacts you've chatted with recently. Don't think that the connection time that is displayed there refers to the last entry into the messages section - it actually shows the time of the last visit to Instagram (we checked). nine0003
Many users call this feature an invasion of privacy, but fortunately it can be easily turned off. Just keep in mind, if you don't want your friends to see the last seen time on Instagram and you choose to disable this feature, you won't be able to see other users' last seen times either (same as on WhatsApp).
How to hide visit time on Instagram on Android
- Go to Instagram .
- Go to tab Profile .
- Click on "three small dots" in the upper right corner.
- After you see the settings menu, scroll down to the item "Network status" (this option is enabled by default).
- Click on "switch" . If it becomes gray , the function is disabled; if you leave it blue the option will be enabled.
How to turn off online status on Instagram on iOS
- Go to Instagram .
- Go to tab Profile .
- Click on the "gear" (gear icon) in the upper right corner, next to profile editing.
- After you see the settings menu, scroll down to the item " Network status" (this option is enabled by default).
- Click on "switch" . If it becomes gray , the function is disabled; if you leave it blue , the option will be enabled.
Now that you know how to turn on and turn off time on Instagram, share your thoughts - do you think it's better to turn off "Online Status" to avoid interpersonal conflict? Let us know what you think of it in the comments!
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How to hide the time of the last visit on Instagram, remove visibility on the network
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. nine0003
“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.
Online status on Instagram - where it is displayed
If you want to know when a person last accessed the Insta application, then you need to open the direct (paper plane icon) and tap on any dialogue. In it, under the user's nickname, you can notice a gray inscription, for example, "Was online 58 minutes ago." This is the status we are interested in. It only appears in the Direct tab. nine0003
You must have noticed that some of them have no inscription. This means that the person decided to hide it from their followers.
And how exactly he did it, we will understand below.
Interesting. If the user is online, then a small green circle appears next to his profile picture.
How to hide the time of your visit to Instagram from your phone
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Go to the appropriate section of the article and repeat the steps from the instructions.
On Android
So, to hide the time of your visit on an Android smartphone, you need to perform the following algorithm of actions:
- Unlock the gadget screen and open the Instagram application.
- Log in to your account. To do this, enter your login (nickname / email address / mobile number) and password in the empty fields and click "Login". nine0014
- Tap on the "person" icon in the lower right corner.
- Click on the menu and go to settings.
- Scroll down and click on the "Privacy" section.
- Click on the "Network Status" tab.
- Move the toggle switch to the inactive position.
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. nine0003
On the iPhone
You can delete your online information on Instagram for iOS in the same way:
- Launch the social network application and log in to your account.
- Go to your profile page and click on the gear icon next to your name and the Edit button.
- Scroll down to the "Network Status" option
- Move it to the inactive position.
It's easy to see if you succeeded. If this option is enabled, then in the settings it lights up in blue, if not, it is gray. nine0003
Keep in mind that once you hide the visit time, you will no longer see when your friends last visited the feed. Everything is honest.
Through the mobile version of the browser
If you "sit" on Instagram through a mobile browser, it doesn't matter. Removing online visibility is just as easy. Do this:
- Log into your mobile web browser and go to Instagram.com.
- Log in and click on the "person" icon. nine0014
- Tap on the gear, which is located in the upper left corner above the avatar.
- Scroll down and select "Privacy".
- Locate the Network Status column and uncheck the option.
That's it, it's almost impossible to track you now.
Disable online status visibility on Instagram on computer
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- Go to Instagram.
