How to Make Instagram Private and Control Who Sees Your Stories
Here's how to make Instagram private: open your profile, tap the three lines in the top-right corner, choose Account privacy and switch on Private account. It takes effect straight away. From then on, only people you approve can see your posts, reels, stories, highlights and your followers and following lists.
Going private is only one of the controls you have, though, and it doesn't do everything people assume. In particular, it does nothing about the followers you already have.
How to switch your account to private, step by step
- Tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner to go to your profile.
- Tap the three lines in the top-right corner to open Settings and activity.
- Under "Who can see your content", tap Account privacy.
- Turn on Private account and confirm when Instagram asks.
If you don't see the option, you probably have a business account. Business accounts can't be private, so Instagram will ask you to switch to a personal account first. Teen Accounts are set to private by default, so if you're under 18 you may find it's already on.
What changes when you go private, and what doesn't
- Your existing followers stay. Going private doesn't remove anyone. If there are people among them you don't want seeing your content, remove them as well (see the next section).
- New people have to send a follow request, which you approve or delete from your notifications.
- Non-followers still see your username, profile picture, bio and your post and follower counts, but not your content.
- Your posts stop appearing to non-followers on hashtag and location pages.
- Anonymous story viewers stop working on your account, because they can only reach public profiles.
- Comments and likes you leave on other people's public posts are still visible to everyone who can see those posts.
You can switch back to public whenever you like, from the same Account privacy screen. Just know that when you do, any follow requests still waiting for an answer are approved automatically, so clear out the ones you don't want first.
Remove followers without them being told
Go to your profile, tap Followers, find the person and tap Remove, then confirm. Instagram doesn't notify them. On a private account, they'd have to send a new request to see your content again, and you can simply ignore it. On a public account, removing someone doesn't stop them following you again straight away, so blocking may suit you better.
This is the step most people skip when they go private. If your account was public for years, it's worth scrolling through your followers once and clearing out the ones you don't recognize.
Close Friends: stories for a smaller circle
Close Friends lets you share a story with a hand-picked list instead of all your followers. Set it up under Settings and activity, then Close Friends, and tick the people you want. When you post a story, choose Close Friends instead of Your story before sharing. These stories show a green ring, and nobody is told whether they're on the list or when you take them off it.
Hide your story from specific people
Sometimes you want a story out to everyone except one or two people: a manager, an ex, a nosy cousin. Go to Settings and activity, then Hide story and live, and select the accounts. They won't see your stories or live videos, and they aren't notified. You can also do it on the fly from a story's viewer list by tapping the three dots next to someone's name.
Restrict, block and a few settings worth a look
Restrict is useful for people you'd rather not block outright. Anything new they comment on your posts stays hidden from everyone else until you approve it, and their messages land in your requests, where they can't see if you've read them. Block is the stronger option: they can't find your profile, posts or stories.
While you're in Settings and activity, check who can tag and mention you, who can message you, and whether Show activity status is on (under Messages and story replies). With it on, people you message can see when you were last active.
Keep track of who's following you
Once your account is private, your followers list is your audience, so it pays to look at it now and then. That's what Follo Tracker is for. It compares your followers and following each time you open the app, shows who doesn't follow you back and who unfollowed you since your last check. You sign in inside the app on Instagram's official login page, so Follo never sees or stores your password. That matters when privacy is the whole point. You'll find it on the App Store and Google Play.
Frequently asked questions
Does making Instagram private remove my followers?
No. Everyone who followed you before stays, and they can see everything as before. Remove anyone you don't want in your audience from your Followers list; a quick pass through the list in Follo makes it easier to spot the accounts you don't recognize.
Can people see my profile picture and bio on a private account?
Yes. Your username, name, profile picture, bio and counts stay visible to everyone. Posts, stories, highlights and your lists are hidden from non-followers.
Can someone see a private Instagram account with an app?
No. Private content is only shown to approved followers, and apps or websites claiming otherwise are scams. The people who can see your posts are exactly the followers you've approved, which is why reviewing that list is worth doing.
Will my followers know I switched to private?
Instagram doesn't send them a notification. Your current followers won't notice any difference; non-followers who visit your profile will see that the account is private.
