Instagram Stories are a great way to share moments with your followers, but sometimes you may want to keep certain viewers from seeing your stories. Whether it’s for privacy reasons or simply personal preference, Instagram offers built-in features to control who can view your stories. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to hide your Instagram Story from specific people.
Why Hide Your Instagram Story?
- Privacy Concerns: Avoid sharing personal content with certain followers.
- Professional Boundaries: Keep work-related contacts from seeing your personal updates.
- Avoid Unwanted Reactions: Prevent certain people from commenting or reacting to your stories.
- Surprise Factor: Hide a story to keep a surprise event or announcement confidential.
How to Hide Your Instagram Story from Someone
Method 1: Using Story Settings
- Open Instagram App
- Launch the Instagram app on your iPhone or Android device.
- Go to Profile
- Tap on your profile picture at the bottom-right corner.
- Access Settings
- Tap the three horizontal lines (hamburger menu) at the top-right corner.
- Select Settings and Privacy.
- Navigate to Story Controls
- Scroll down and tap on Story and Live.
- Choose ‘Hide Story From’
- Tap on Hide story from and select the people you want to exclude from viewing your stories.
- Tap Done or the back arrow to save your changes.
Method 2: Hiding Story from Someone While Posting
- Create a New Story
- Swipe right on your Instagram home screen or tap Your Story to add a new story.
- Tap on Settings Before Posting
- On the Story preview screen, tap on the Settings (gear icon) at the top.
- Select ‘Hide Story From’
- Choose the specific followers you want to hide your story from.
- Post Your Story
- After adjusting the settings, share your story as usual.
Method 3: Using the Close Friends Feature
Instead of hiding stories from specific people, you can create a Close Friends list to share stories only with selected people.
- Go to Instagram Profile
- Open Instagram and tap your profile picture.
- Access Close Friends List
- Tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) and select Close Friends.
- Add People to Close Friends List
- Select followers you want to include in your exclusive story audience.
- Post a Story for Close Friends
- When creating a story, tap Close Friends instead of Your Story to share it only with selected people.
Additional Privacy Controls
- Block or Remove Followers: If you don’t want someone to view any of your content, you can block or remove them from your followers.
- Mute Users: If you want to avoid seeing someone’s stories without unfollowing them, you can mute them.
How to Know if Someone Can’t See Your Story
Instagram doesn’t notify users when they’re restricted from viewing your story. To confirm:
- Use a secondary account or ask a trusted friend to check if your story appears for them.
- If a user claims they can’t see your stories, they might be on your hidden list.
Conclusion
Instagram makes it easy to control who sees your stories, ensuring a private and comfortable social media experience. Whether using Story Settings, Close Friends, or other privacy features, you have multiple ways to customize your audience. Try these steps to protect your privacy while sharing content on your terms.
If you found this guide helpful, share it with friends who might need to secure their Instagram stories too!
