Can You Hide Instagram Posts from Certain Followers?

If you don’t want specific people seeing some of your Instagram posts, there are ways to prevent it. While Instagram doesn't allow you to hide posts from certain followers, you can still hide your stories and limit who sees your account. Keep reading, and we’ll cover what settings you can change, such as archiving old posts and making your account private.

Hiding Instagram Posts: Quick Overview

Your posts are visible to your followers and you can't hide them from certain people.
You can hide Stories from specific followers, or limit visibility to your Close Friends.
Archive posts on your page to hide them but keep them on your account.
Go private or block unwanted followers to keep them from seeing your profile.

Section 1 of 7:

Can you hide posts from people on Instagram?

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Currently, there is no way to hide your posts from specific people. Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t allow you to hide pictures or videos on your profile from your followers. If you have a public account, your posts are visible to everyone. With a private account, all of your followers can see your posts.^{[1]
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- Even though you can’t hide posts on your profile from followers, you can hide your story or make a Close Friends story.

Section 2 of 7:

Hiding Instagram Stories from Someone

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Open the Settings menu on your profile. Tap on your profile picture in the bottom right corner of the screen. Then, tap on the 3 horizontal lines in the top right corner to access your account settings.^{[2]
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- If you’re on a computer, tap the 3 lines in the bottom left corner and then select Settings from the menu that pops up.
Scroll down until you see the Who can see your content section in the menu. Tap on Hide story and live and then choose Hide story and live from on the next screen.^{[3]
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Select the followers you want to hide your story from. Type in the usernames of the followers you want to hide your story from, or scroll down to see your full follower list. Tap the circle to the right of the person’s name to hide all of your stories from them.^{[4]
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- Any followers you select will still be able to see the posts on your profile.

Section 3 of 7:

Sharing Instagram Stories with Close Friends

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Open your Instagram settings. Tap your profile picture in the bottom right corner of the screen. When you’re on your profile page, tap the 3 horizontal lines in the top right corner of the screen to open your user settings.^{[5]
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- If you’re using Instagram on a computer, click on the 3 horizontal lines in the bottom left and select Settings from the menu.
Scroll down to the section labeled Who can see your content and tap on Close Friends to access and edit your Close Friends list.^{[6]
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Select the friends you want to add to your Close Friends list. Type in a friend's username in the text box at the top of the screen. Alternatively, scroll down to see your entire Friends List. When they appear in the list, tap the circle to the right of their name to add them to your Close Friends list.^{[7]
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- You can also add someone to your Close Friends from their profile page. When you visit their profile, tap on Following and select Add to close friends list.
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Tap Close Friends when you share a story. Swipe left while you’re on the home screen or tap the + sign on your profile picture near the top of the screen. Take a pic or video to post on your story, or tap on the gallery icon in the bottom left to select a file saved on your device. When you’re finished editing your story, select Close Friends at the bottom of the screen to only share it with the people you selected.^{[8]
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- Your Close Friends will see your story pop up in their feed with a green circle around your profile picture, but it will be invisible to all your other followers.
- You can only post a story to your close friends from a phone or mobile device.

Section 4 of 7:

Archiving Old Instagram Posts

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Tap the 3 dots on the post you want to archive. Archiving hides a post from your profile without completely deleting it from your feed. Go to your profile and scroll until you find the post you want to hide. Tap the 3 dots in the top right corner.^{[9]
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- You can only archive posts from a mobile device.
Tap on the Archive button that has the clock icon from the list. The post will immediately be removed from your profile and no longer be visible to anyone.
If there are multiple posts that you want to hide at the same time, open the Settings menu on your profile. Scroll down and select Your activity and then tap on Posts. Tap Select in the top right corner and then choose all the posts you want to hide. When you’re finished, tap Archive at the bottom.^{[10]
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Unarchive posts if you want to make them public again. Archived posts are still saved on your profile so you’re able to restore or redownload them whenever you want.^{[11]
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- Open Settings.
- Tap Archive.
- Select Stories archive at the top and switch it to Posts archive.
- Choose the posts that you want to restore.
- Tap the 3 dots in the top right corner and select Show on profile.

Section 5 of 7:

Blocking Instagram Users

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Go to the person’s profile you want to block. Type the person’s username in the Instagram search. Tap on their name to go directly to their profile.^{[12]
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- Alternative, tap on your profile picture, open the Settings menu in the top right corner, and select Blocked from the list of options.
Tap the option in the top-right corner of the person’s profile page.
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Select Block from the list. As soon as you block someone, they will no longer be able to see your profile, posts, or stories on Instagram.^{[13]
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- Users aren’t notified when you block them.
- If you ever want to unblock someone, go into your settings, select Blocked, and tap Unblock next to the person’s name on the list.

Section 6 of 7:

Making Your Instagram Account Private

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Open your account settings. When you open Instagram, tap on your profile picture in the bottom right corner. After that, tap on the 3 horizontal lines in the top right corner to open the Settings menu.^{[14]
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- If you’re on a desktop computer, click on the 3 horizontal lines in the bottom left corner, and then select Settings from the menu.
Scroll down to the Who can see your content section of your settings. Then, tap on the Account privacy option at the top of the list.^{[15]
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Tap the switch to change to a private account. When the account privacy page opens, tap the switch on the right side of the screen. Once you change to a private account, only your followers can see your posts and people will have to request to follow you.^{[16]
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- When your account is private, your name, profile picture, bio, follower count, and links are still visible to the public.
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Remove followers that you don’t want seeing your posts. Once you have a private account, you’re able to remove followers from your account. Go to your profile and tap on your follower count at the top of the page. When you find someone you want to remove, tap the X next to their name and then select Remove.^{[17]
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- The person isn’t notified when you remove them, and they will have to request to follow you again if they want to see your posts.
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Consider making a separate Finsta account. Finsta stands for “fake Instagram,” and it’s usually a second private account you make to share more personal photos and posts. Use a different email and password to create your account, and be sure to make it private. Let your close friends know that the account is yours so they follow you and see your posts.
- Choose a username that’s different from your real name and avoid using a picture of yourself for your profile pic if you don’t want other people to find your Finsta.

Section 7 of 7:

Instagram Privacy FAQ

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Who can see your Instagram posts? When you have a public account, anyone who logs into Instagram can see all the posts on your account. If you set your profile to private, only people you approve as followers can see your entire profile.^{[18]
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Can you mute your posts for someone else? No, you cannot mute your account for another person. While there is a mute feature on Instagram, it only works to mute someone else’s posts from appearing in your feed.^{[19]
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- If you want to mute someone, go to their profile, tap on Following, and then tap the slider switches on Posts or Stories depending on what you want to mute.
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Does restricting someone’s account hide your posts? No, restricting an account doesn’t stop someone from seeing your posts. When you restrict an account, they are not able to see when you’re online and any comments they leave are only visible to you. They also won’t be able to tag you in any posts.^{[20]
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- If you want to restrict someone’s account, go to their profile, tap the 3 dots in the top right corner, and then tap on Restrict.

Community Q&A

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I want to hide a post from my friend on Instagram, so they won't know that I have done.

Community Answer

You cannot hide a post from a specific person. Either you make your entire profile private or block the person you don't like, or you could just post the sensitive post in a second, anonymous account for only a few others to see without telling that particular friend about it.

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Will the user know you've blocked them?

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If they were following you before, your account will disappear from their list like it was never there. If they have your profile link, it will show a "page not found" message. They won't receive a notification about your blocking them.

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Is there an option to make a certain post private and not seen for a specific person on Instagram like it happens on FB?

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No, this is not possible. You can make your entire profile either public or private but not specific photos.

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wikiHow Video: Hide Instagram Posts From Someone

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Only post pictures and videos on Instagram that you’re okay with being seen publicly so you don’t feel the need to hide posts later on.

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