How to turn your instagram private
Want to set your Instagram account private? Follow below-given steps
Here is a complete step by step guide which you can follow so that only approved followers can see what you share.
India Today Web Desk
New Delhi,UPDATED: Mar 13, 2020 18:55 IST
Steps you can follow to set your Instagram account to private | Representational image
By India Today Web Desk: If you want to hide your post content by a particular individual or group of people who might go looking for you on Instagram, you can change your privacy setting. By default, anyone can see your profile and posts on Instagram, but Instagram gives you the option to make your account private so that only followers you approve can see what you share.
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Do you know how to set your Instagram account to private? Here is a step by step guide which you can follow to set your Instagram account to private. If your account is set to private, then only would the followers you approved be able to see your photos or videos on hashtag or location pages.
Here is a step-by-step guide which you can follow to set your Instagram account to private from the Instagram app. You can set your Instagram account to private from your Android as well as an iOS device.
Step 1: First you need to open the Instagram app on your Android or iOS device.
Step 2: Then go to your profile, then tap Settings.
Step 3: From the given option tap Privacy and then Account Privacy.
Step 4: Next you need to tap next to Private Account to make your account private.
If you want to set your account to private through your computer or using a mobile browser, you can follow the below-given steps:
Step 1: At first you need to go to instagram.
com on your computer or mobile browser.
Step 2: After that you need to click Human icon, then click Menu.
Step 3: Next you need to click Privacy and Security.
Step 4: Below the Account Privacy, click to check the box next to Private Account.
So Instagram allows you to make your account private at any time. You can follow the above-given steps to make your account private. Remember, when you make your account private, your existing followers won't be affected.
Important points about private accounts- Remember that the private posts you share to social networks may be visible to the public depending on your privacy settings for those networks. For example, If you share a post to Twitter that was set to private on Instagram may be visible to the people who can see your Twitter posts.
- Once you make your Instagram account private, people who want to follow you will have to send you a follow request to see your posts.
- All the follow requests which you will receive will appear in
- Activity, where you can approve or ignore them.
- If someone who is already following you before you set your posts to private and you don't want them to see your posts, you can simply block them.
- Any Instagram user can send a photo or video directly to you even if they're not following you.
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Apart from the above points, keep in mind that business profiles users will not be able to make their accounts private. In case if you want to make your business account private, you first have to switch back to a personal account.
(Information source: Instagram help)
READ | How to share someone's Instagram post from feed to your story
ALSO READ | How to upload video to IGTV on Instagram: Know steps here
Edited By:
Roshni
Published On:
Mar 13, 2020
How to Make Your Instagram More Private: 8 Useful Tips
As social networks continue to grow, being active on them can be risky.
You often don't know half the people that follow you, and you could even have someone cyberstalking you.
This possibility is especially terrifying on media-only platforms like Instagram, which are engineered to urge you and others to discover more users by putting your pictures and videos on display through the Explore tab.
However, it is possible to enjoy a more private Instagram experience. We'll show you eight tips to make your Instagram profile more private.
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There's a good chance that you're active on Facebook and Instagram for different purposes. The former enables you to stay in touch with your family and friends, while the latter is probably more for updates you're not comfortable sharing with people you know in real life.
Therefore, the first step towards a more isolated Instagram experience is to unlink your Facebook profile from Instagram. That way, Facebook won't be able to share both your profiles' data to, for instance, let your acquaintances on Facebook know you're on Instagram.
To unlink your Facebook account from Instagram, head over to your Instagram profile page. There, tap the hamburger icon situated in the top right corner and enter Settings. Tap Accounts Center > Accounts and profiles and select your linked Facebook account. Tap Remove from Accounts Center and hit Continue on the next page. Finally, tap Remove [Facebook account name] to unlink your Facebook profile.
2. Set Your Instagram Account to Private
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The ultimate option to cocoon yourself away from Instagram's huge user base is to simply make your account private. You can then cherry-pick who can follow you and view your stories or posts.
To turn your Instagram profile private, go into Settings > Privacy and switch on the Private account option. Tap Switch to Private in the pop-up to finish.
Do note that your existing followers won't be affected. Therefore you may want to check your followers' list to ensure only the people you know have access to your gallery. Tap Review followers from the pop-up to check.
3. Pick and Choose Your Close Friends
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Private profiles come with their downsides. You won't have a large follower count, or users like your relatives might constantly bug you to let them in.
To counter those issues, we recommend curating a Close Friends list through which you can share your stories to a specific set of users without upsetting the rest of your followers. This feature makes sure you can share more personal moments without worrying about your parents or even strangers watching them, all while still maintaining a public profile.
To configure the list, tap the hamburger menu on your profile and select Close Friends > Get Started. Select your friends from Suggested or use the search bar to find the specific user(s).
Finally, tap Create List. The Suggested section includes Instagram recommendations based on how frequently you interact with those users.
Once done, you can share only to your list by selecting the Close Friends option before publishing a new story. Select that to share a story only with users on your Instagram Close Friends list. In addition, down the road, if you want to remove a person from the list, you can do so easily since Instagram won't alert them.
4. Take Control of Your Stories
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If you'd like to establish more stringent rules for who can watch or even share your stories, there are a ton of options for that too. To access them, head into Settings > Privacy > Story. To block any user from viewing your stories, add them to Hide story from under Viewing and tap Done.
You can also disable sharing that lets anyone reshare your stories or forward them as direct messages.
If you have a public profile, you even have the ability to ban replies from everyone or a specific set of people. Scroll down to the Sharing section and switch off Allow sharing to story.
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Unlike Messenger or WhatsApp, you're most likely not using Instagram DMs for anything more than forwarding pictures and memes to your friends. Hence, there's probably no need for the last-seen status on Instagram, and it's best for you to switch it off. The option to disable the last-seen status on Instagram is located at Settings > Privacy > Activity Status. Disable Show Activity Status.
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With over a billion users, Instagram can be occasionally negative and spammy, just like every other social network. If your profile faces these issues far too often, try tweaking your comment controls.
Instagram lets you decide who can and cannot comment on your posts. You could go either way—create a whitelist if you only want a few people leaving comments on your posts or a blacklist for prohibiting some users and allowing the rest. The option to do this is situated in Settings > Privacy > Comments. What's more, you can enable filters for automatically hiding offensive comments or manually add a set of words and phrases you'd like to block.
To filter comments by certain words/phrases, go to Settings > Privacy > Hidden words. Tap Manage list under Custom words and phrases and add your list of words. Once done, go back and enable Hide comments to start filtering your custom words.
7. Stop Automatic Posting
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By default, Instagram automatically adds pictures or videos you're tagged in to your profile's rightmost tab.
Sometimes, however, these posts are simply spam or pictures you simply don't like.
To review these before they're added to your profile, go to Settings > Posts. Choose who can tag you and enable Manually Approve Tags to disable tagged photos and videos from automatically displaying in your profile. You can even remove existing tagged pictures of you.
8. Hide Your Whereabouts
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Your location is one of the most sensitive pieces of information that social apps like Instagram and the people on it can exploit. Therefore, it's safer to avoid geo-tagging your posts and even granting GPS permission to Instagram.
On iOS devices, open Settings, scroll down to the app section, and select Instagram. Tap Location and select Never under Allow Location Access.
On Android, open your Settings app, then tap Privacy > Permission manager.
Select Location to see the apps that have access. If Instagram is available, select it and choose Don't allow on the next page. Steps will vary across devices, but you can manage your Android permissions using third-party apps that standardize the whole process.
Enjoy More Privacy on Instagram
By applying these measures, you should be able to enjoy a more private experience on Instagram. But there are still a few more ways Instagram is spying on you. If you're not comfortable with this, the only option left open to you is to leave the platform altogether.
However, if you're on iOS, you can disable pervasive tracking by denying the app tracking permissions.
How to make a private account on Instagram and restrict access to the profile
Instagram is one of the most extensive platforms for maintaining personal pages and promoting businesses of various directions. The social network has the ability to maintain public and private accounts.
Each of them offers significant advantages and some disadvantages, so it is important to know how to make your Instagram account private. By default, the created page remains open, but if necessary, you can restrict access through special settings. nine0003
Private profile features
A private Instagram account means hiding everything that happens in the profile from unauthorized users. Publications, live broadcasts, subscriptions and subscribers will be available to a limited circle of people, the application of which will be approved by the owner. In this case, all users will be able to send a request for correspondence. In a private profile, you need to approve each incoming subscription request manually.
How to anonymously view stories on Instagram. nine0003
Advantages of a private profile
- More subscribers come to a private Instagram profile (intrigue is created and unsubscribed users want to know what kind of information is published on the page).
- Fewer unsubscribes (when you click on the "Unsubscribe" button, this window is displayed, which makes subscribers change their mind).
- Control who has access to published information (a valuable feature for personal pages - only approved subscribers can see posts). nine0003
- Posts, even those tagged with hashtags, don't show up in the Instagram search engine.
- Likes on private page posts are not displayed in the "Subscriptions" section (they are visible only to the one who liked and to the one who was liked)
Disadvantages of a private profile profile is interesting.
- Publications do not fall into the "Recommendations" (many users come from this section who increase the number of views, likes, reposts). nine0003
- Additional spending on advertising and long promotion of a business account (users learn about the profile through a recommendation or come from paid advertising from other pages).
- Inability to view statistics (data is available only for open accounts).
Features of an open personal Instagram account
Having an open account, you can share information with all users of the social network. Live broadcasts, publications and all activity on them will be available to everyone. Also, in open Instagram accounts, you can see not only the total number of subscribers and subscriptions, but also see who these users are. Non-private profiles are suitable for public people, businessmen and simple bloggers who like to share their own pictures, videos and other information online. nine0003
Benefits of an open account
- Fully accessible information (a plus for those who don't like to subscribe to private profiles).
- Posts are included in the "Recommendations" of Instagram.
— Hashtags are actively working and bringing in new subscribers.
- Posts with the most activity become available to more users.
- There is no need to manually confirm each application.
Disadvantages of an open account
- There is no way to hide personal information.
- There is a high possibility of stealing photos and videos from the page by intruders.
- No control over new subscribers.
Why you can't close a business account on Instagram
An Instagram business page is created to promote a brand or service. Targeted advertising is configured in accounts, which speeds up profile promotion and increases activity in it, including due to unsubscribed users. Also available in the business account are visit statistics and a report on each publication (the total number of likes, comments, saves and reposts). A business account cannot be private. It is possible to transfer it to personal (losing the ability to see the statistics) and only then make it private. nine0003
Step-by-step instructions for creating a private Instagram account
To create a private Instagram profile, follow the instructions:
1. Enter this menu in the upper right corner to search for settings (this is how it looks after the update in 2021).
2. Next, click the "Settings" icon
3. Select "Account Privacy".
4. Drag the slider to the Closed Account field.
How to make your Instagram account more private: useful tips
As social media continues to grow and expand, being active can be risky. You often don't know half of the people who follow you, and you may have someone trying to stalk you online.
This prospect is especially dire on media-only platforms like Instagram, which are designed to let you and other users discover more users by viewing photos and videos in the Explore tab. Check Useful Instagram Live Features You Should Know. nine0003
However, it is possible to have a more private experience on Instagram. We'll show you some tips on how to make your Instagram profile more private.
1. Disconnect your Facebook profile
There is a high chance that you are active on both Facebook and Instagram for different purposes. The former lets you keep in touch with family and friends, while the latter is probably more suited to updates you don't feel comfortable sharing with people you know in real life.
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So the first step to a more isolated use of Instagram is to unlink your Facebook profile from Instagram. Thus, Facebook will not be able to share your profile data, for example, to let your Facebook contacts know that you are on Instagram.
To unlink your Facebook account from your Instagram account, go to your Instagram profile page. There, click on the menu icon in the top right corner and click on "Settings". Press Account Center -> Accounts & Profiles and select the linked Facebook account. Click زالة In Accounting Center and click Continue On the next page. Finally, click Remove [Facebook account name] To unlink your Facebook profile.
2. Set your Instagram account to private mode.
The best way to get away from Instagram's huge user base is to simply make your account private. You can then choose who can follow you and who can view your stories or posts. nine0003
To make your Instagram profile private, go to Settings -> Privacy and enable the option.
personal account . Click Switch to private in the pop-up window to exit. Have you noticed that your current followers will not be affected? So you can check your followers list to make sure only people you know have access to your gallery. Click Browse Subscribers from the confirmation popup. nine0003
3. Pick and choose your close friends
Private profiles have their drawbacks. You won't have a lot of followers, or users like your relatives might constantly notify you to allow them access to your account.
To counter these problems, we recommend creating a close friends list where you can share your stories with a specific group of users without disturbing the rest of your followers. This feature ensures that you can share more private moments without having to worry about your relatives or even strangers seeing them, while still maintaining a public profile. nine0003
To customize the menu, click the menu button on your profile and select Close Friends -> Get Started .
Select your friends from the suggested items or use the search bar to find a specific user(s). Finally, click Create List . The suggested section includes Instagram recommendations based on how often you interact with these users.
When you're done, you can share with your list by simply selecting option close friends Before publishing a new story. Choose to only share the story with people who are on your close friends list on Instagram. Also, in the future, if you want to remove a person from the list, you can do it easily because Instagram won't notify them. Check out How to only share your Instagram stories with close friends.
4. Take control of your stories
If you want to set stricter rules for who can view or even share your stories, there are plenty of options for that too. To access it, go to Settings -> Privacy -> History . To prevent anyone from viewing your stories, add them to Hide History From Bottom View and click Made by .
You can also disable sharing so that anyone can re-share or forward your stories as direct messages. If you have a public profile, you can even block replies from everyone or a specific group of people. Scroll down to the Sharing section and turn off Allow participation in history .
5. Turn off your activity status
Unlike Messenger or WhatsApp, you probably don't use Instagram's direct messaging feature for anything more than sending photos and internet memes to your friends. So your last seen status on Instagram is probably not needed and you'd better turn it off. There is an option to disable last seen status on Instagram at Settings -> Privacy -> Activity Status . Then turn off Show activity status.
6. Modify the comment controls.
With over a billion users, Instagram can sometimes be negative and objectionable, just like any other social network. If your profile has a lot of these issues, try tweaking your comment controls.
Instagram lets you decide who can comment on your posts and who can't. You can go either way - create a whitelist if you want only a few people to leave comments on your posts, or a blacklist to block some users and allow others. Is it possible to do it at Settings -> Privacy -> Comments . In addition, you can enable filters to automatically hide offensive comments or add a set of words and phrases that you want to block manually.
To filter comments based on specific words/phrases, go to Settings -> Privacy -> Hidden words . Click Manage List under Custom Words and Phrases and add your own word list. After that go back and turn on Hide comments to start filtering your custom words. Check out some of the mistakes you can make when posting videos to Instagram (and their solutions).
7. Disable automatic transmission
By default, Instagram automatically adds photos or videos you've been tagged in to a tab on the right side of your profile.
However, sometimes these messages are just spam or images that you just don't like. nine0003
To view them before adding them to your profile, go to Settings -> Publications . Choose who can tag you and turn on "Manual tag approval" to disable the automatic display of tagged photos and videos on your profile. You can even delete photos that have been tagged for you.
8. Hide your location
Where you are is one of the most sensitive data that social media apps like Instagram and the people on it can use. So it's safer to avoid geotagging your posts and even prevent giving GPS permissions to Instagram. nine0003
On iOS devices, open Settings, scroll down to the Apps section, and select Instagram. Click Geolocation and select Start Under Allow location access.
On Android, open the Settings app, then tap Privacy -> Permission Manager. Select a geolocation to see which apps have access.
