Okay, so Instagram doesn’t have a direct “hide post from this person” button. Everyone who follows you can normally see everything you post. If you really need to prevent someone from seeing your stuff, blocking is the most foolproof way to do it. Blocking will completely prevent them from finding your profile at all.
However, there are other options. You could make your account private, which means only approved followers can see your posts. Also, you can hide your Stories from specific people without having to resort to blocking or a private account. Let’s break down these options.
Method 1: Blocking a user
Blocking someone on Instagram is the most effective way to prevent them from seeing your posts and stories, and it prevents them from even finding your account. They won’t be able to follow you or send you messages.
- Open the Instagram app and find the profile of the person you want to block. You can use the search icon or find them in your DMs.
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Once you’re on their profile, tap their username or profile picture to go to their main page.
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On their profile page, look for the three dots at the top right and tap on them.
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In the pop-up menu, choose “Block”.
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Confirm by tapping the “Block” button. They will now be unable to see your account, follow you, or view your posts unless you unblock them.
Note: You also have the option to ‘Block and report’ a user if you believe they’ve violated Instagram’s policies. This is handy if they are harassing you or breaking other rules of the platform.
Method 2: Hide your stories from a specific user
If you don’t want to go as far as blocking, you can hide your Instagram Stories from particular people. This means they won’t see the temporary content you post.
- On your Instagram app, navigate to your profile by tapping your profile picture in the bottom right corner.
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Now tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the top right of your profile page.
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Tap on ‘Hide story and live’ in the menu.
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Then select ‘Hide story and live from’ on the next page.
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Use the search bar to find the profiles you wish to hide your Stories from.
- Check the box next to each profile you want to hide your Stories from, and then tap ‘Done’ at the top right.
Method 3: Make your account private
You can switch your account to private, which means only people you approve as followers will be able to see your posts.
- Go to your profile by tapping your profile picture at the bottom right.
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Tap the hamburger menu to access your profile page.
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Select ‘Account privacy’ from the menu.
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Tap the ‘Private account’ toggle to make your account private.
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You’ll see a pop-up explaining the consequences. Confirm by clicking the ‘Switch to private’ button.
Things to know
- Instagram also allows you to ‘restrict’ users, which limits their interaction with your content. But this doesn’t completely hide your posts from them.
- You can create a ‘Close Friends’ list for your stories and posts, meaning only people on this list can see your content. However, this isn’t ideal if you only want to hide your content from a few specific users.
- Archiving posts is another method, but it hides the posts from everyone and only you can access them in the ‘Archive’ section.
- All of these options work on both the mobile and web versions of Instagram, so you can choose whichever one suits you best.