These days, browsing social media almost always means using a platform owned by Meta. For browsing social media, Facebook and Instagram are the two top choices. If you want to text a friend, WhatsApp – the world’s most popular messaging app – is the go-to. All these platforms are under the umbrella of Meta.
These platforms share another feature besides their ownership – the ability to see who is online, when they were last active and how long it has been since they last logged in. This small but very handy feature can help you in many ways. If you need a quick reply, it allows you to gauge whether you can get a response immediately. Additionally, knowing who’s online is also handy if you just want to chat; you can easily see and message your friends who are still online.
However, this feature can sometimes be cumbersome. If you like to browse social media without announcing your presence, the little green activity dot might give away your online presence. For example, if you excuse yourself from a conversation by saying you’re going to bed, it can get awkward when Facebook shows half an hour later that you’re still active. Thankfully, like all of Meta’s social media platforms, Instagram allows you to turn off your activity status, effectively hiding whether you’re online or not. This is a simple process that only takes a few minutes to complete.
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How to hide your Instagram activity or presence
You can turn off Instagram status in settings
Turning off your activity status on Instagram is easy, but it does have its drawbacks. Don’t worry, though; if you change your mind, you can easily reverse the steps to reactivate your active status.
What do I miss by turning off active status? The answer is simple: If you can’t see other people’s online status, they can’t see your online status either. This means that if you turn off activity status and want to see if your friends are online, you’re out of luck – everyone’s activity points will disappear from your interface. So if you want to run some discreet checks on someone, you can’t do that without showing yourself online. If you decide you want to hide your activity status, follow these steps to turn off the feature.
- Open Instagram App on iOS or Android.
- Next, click on your Profile icon In the lower right corner.
- On your profile page, click three lines in the upper right corner of the screen.
- tap Settings and privacy.
- Now you have to scroll down a little bit.When you see it, click Message and story replies.
- Next, click Show activity status.
- Finally, you can click Toggle button next to activity status Close your active status.
Just like in Facebook Messenger, there is no option to disable read receipts on Instagram. Direct messages (DM) always appear as “Viewed” when opened by the recipient. However, if you’re using WhatsApp on your desktop, there’s a cool way to read messages without them being “seen” by other chat members. Check out our WhatsApp Desktop tips and tricks to learn how to do this.
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Who can see you’re active on Instagram?
If you’re worried about others seeing your online presence on Instagram but are hesitant to turn it off, it’s worth noting that this information isn’t as easy to come by as you might think. Many people on Instagram can’t see your activity status. Those who simply view your profile or encounter your name in the comments section will not be able to tell whether you are online.
For your followers, the situation is slightly different. They also can’t see the last time you were online because they don’t have access to your activity status. However, they may see a green dot indicating your current online status, indicating that you are actively using the app. Your activity status on Instagram is only visible to people you’ve interacted with, specifically people you’ve sent direct messages to or received messages from. This means someone has to interact with you directly before an app can show them your activity status, making this feature even more focused on your privacy.
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How to know when someone is online on Instagram
Instagram lets you know when your friends are active in a few easy ways: through online and active statuses. Here’s how it works:
- online status: Someone’s profile picture has a simple green dot in the lower right corner to indicate that they are currently active on Instagram. You’ll see this in places like your direct inbox.
- Active status: For more details, activity status shows up in your direct messages with someone, telling you their latest moves. This can be anything from “Active now” meaning they’re online, “Active X time ago” showing when they were last logged in, to specific information like “Send a post,” “Send a message,” or if they liked a post your message.
These metrics are your go-to indicators to know if someone is just hanging out on Instagram or has recently interacted with your content.
To find out if someone is online, please note:
- In your direct inbox or elsewhere on Instagram, they’ll have a green dot next to their username and photo to indicate they’re active.
- Their latest activity status in your direct messages, letting you know about their recent activity.
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FAQ
Q: Can I hide my online status from specific people on Instagram?
No, Instagram does not offer the option to hide your online presence from specific people. When you disable activity status, it is hidden from everyone, not just selected users.
Q: Will turning off activity status on Instagram affect my ability to see when others are online?
Yes, once you turn off your activity status, you won’t be able to see other people’s online status. This change affects your visibility to others and your ability to see their activity status.
Q: When I turn off my online status on Instagram, how long does it take for the change to take effect?
The changes were almost immediate. Once you turn off your activity status in settings, Instagram will update your status and you will no longer show your online status to others.
Q: If I turn off activity status on Instagram, can I still see the last time someone was active?
No, if you decide to turn off activity status, you won’t be able to see when other people were last active or whether they are currently online, just like they can’t see yours.
Q: Will turning off activity status on Instagram hide my actions, such as when I like or comment on a post?
Turning off your activity status only hides your online status and last activity time. Depending on your privacy settings, your interactions (such as likes or comments on posts) will still be visible to others.