Instagram is a social sharing platform, but we all want privacy sometimes. Even if we have Public Accounts, we want some of our content to be private. That is why many users wonder how to change Instagram Privacy Settings. Although it might not seem like it, Instagram is very respectable regarding privacy. There are many things you can change about the Privacy of your Account.
First of all, you can have a Private Account. Yet having a Private Account restrains you from using hashtags. When you post something on your feed and use hashtags, only you and your friends can use them and go to their pages. Your content will not appear on the Explore page. It does not matter if you use hashtags or locations on your posts. Only you and your friends can reach them.
Privacy Settings on Instagram do not end with making your account Private. There are many adjustments. Let’s look at what kind of privacy adjustments Instagram has.
Privacy Settings on Instagram
To get to the Privacy settings, follow these simple steps:
- Go to your Profile.
- Tap on the three-lined button on the upper right corner of the page.
- Then tap on the ‘Settings’ button.
- Lastly, tap on ‘Privacy.’
Now that you have reached the ‘Privacy Settings’ page. There are two main Privacy Settings. Interactions and Connections. Let’s take a look at each one.
Interactions Settings
There are four settings you can change from here. They are all about the interactions on Instagram. Change Instagram Privacy Settings by adjusting; Comments, Tags, Stories, and Activity Status from the Interactions Settings. You can find a detailed explanation of these settings below.
Comments
Comments are critical when it comes to Instagram Privacy. No one wants offensive comments on their posts or stories. You can adjust this from the Comments settings. Let’s see what the Comments settings offer.
Block Comments From: Here, you can block people from making comments on your posts. Tap on the ‘x People’ arrow, and you can search for people through a search bar. After you enter the user’s name, there will be a blue ‘Block’ button next to their profile. If you tap that button, their comments are banned from your account.
The good thing is that they will not notice if you block their comments. They will still be able to write words, but only they can see the comments they wrote.
Filters: Here, you can filter your comments. One of the filters is the ‘Hide Offensive Comments’ filter. If you turn on its switch, offensive comments will be hidden automatically.
Another filter is the ‘Manual Filter.’ If you turn on its switch, it lets you filter words manually. You can write the words by yourself or turn on the switch of ‘Filter Most Reported Words.’
Tags
Here you can adjust the tags on your tagged posts. In the ‘Tag Controls,’ you can choose to approve tags manually. If you tap on the ‘Manually Approve Tags’ switch, you will get to decide to be tagged when other users want to tag you on their posts.
Approving manually lets you see how many pending tags you have. You can approve tags manually from the ‘Pending Tags’ list.
You can also edit the tagged photos and videos of yourself. To do it:
- Tap on the ‘Edit’ button.
- Choose a photo or a video.
- Select ‘Remove’ or ‘Hide’
Story
There are five different settings in Instagram Stories hiding stories, Close Friends, allowing message replies, Saving, and Sharing.
Hide Story From: You can hide your stories from specific people you can choose from in the search bar below the title.
Close Friends: Here, you can edit your CFS. You can ask what does CFS mean on Instagram. Instagram Stories has an option called ‘Close Friends.’ It is possible to create a close friends list and share stories with just them. When you post a Story, if you choose the green ‘Close Friends’ button, only the people on this list can see your Story. You can remove or add people; they will not be notified after your edit. You can select people on the list by tapping the search bar under the title.
Allow Message Replies: You can adjust who can reply to your Stories. Select:
- Your Followers
- Followers You Follow Back
- Off
Saving: You can save your photos and videos in your Stories. There are two options; Save to Gallery or Save to Archive. If you select ‘Save to Archive,’ your photos and videos are automatically saved to your archive. Yet, you can only see them after they disappear from your Story.
Sharing: There are three options for Sharing. The first is ‘Allow Resharing to Stories.’ If you turn on its switch, other people can add your feed posts and IGTV videos to their stories.
The second is ‘Allow Sharing.’ If you turn on its switch, you let other people share your Stories as messages.
The third is ‘Share Your Story to Facebook.’ By turning on its switch, you let Instagram share your Stories on Facebook.
Activity Status
There are not many things to say about Activity Status. The only option is to allow ‘Activity Status’ to be seen. You can make this adjustment through the switch, like others. Yet when it is turned off, you will not be able to see the Activity Status of others as well. If there is a problem with the activity status, you can contact Instagram Support.
Connections Settings
Connections Settings are about the adjustments you make about your account or other accounts. Change Instagram Privacy Settings by adjusting Account Privacy, Restricted Accounts, Blocked Accounts, Muted Accounts, Close Friends, and Accounts You Follow. Let’s take a closer look.
Account Privacy
Here you can choose whether you want your account to be private. If you turn on the Private Account switch, only people you approve can add you as friends. Turning it on after you connect with other people will not affect your current friends. Yet, you will turn your posts to private. New people should send you a follow request to see your posts and stories, and you can set your posts according to that.
A private Account allows you to be secluded from others. When you share posts with hashtags, your posts will not be seen on the Explore page. If someone searches your name through a search engine on a desktop, your Instagram profile will be seen, but searchers will not be able to see your Instagram posts and stories. Thus, if you want to buy Instagram likes to boost your account, you shouldn’t use a private account. If you are asking how to make Instagram private, you just need to open the Privacy section, as we mentioned before, and click on the “Private account” button.
Restricted Accounts
This is like blocking accounts, but it is not. Restricting an account works secretly. Only you and the accounts you restrict can see their new comments on your posts, but they will not be able to see if you are online or have read their messages. You are revoking access to your profile.
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They will not be notified when you restrict them.
Blocked Accounts
It is simply blocking accounts. Blocked accounts will not be notified, but they will not have access to your account. Here you can see the list of Blocked Accounts.
Muted Accounts
Here you can see the accounts you muted. Muting accounts will restrain you from seeing their posts and Stories. Muted accounts will not be notified if you mute them.
Accounts You Follow
You can see the list of the accounts you follow here. You can search for people from the search bar or tap the ‘Connect’ button to connect contacts. It will connect your phone contacts.
Conclusion – Privacy Is Important
We have covered the issue of ‘how to change Instagram privacy settings.’ As you can see, Instagram Privacy is quite important and varies. Privacy Settings on Instagram is not just about having a Private Account or not. You can adjust many options from Interactions to Connections.
1 Comment
I need to change my privacy settings on Instagram since I am worried about a data breach or a loophole. They keep updating their algorithms and I can’t keep up anymore.