How to restrict Instagram Story views?

Controlling who sees your Instagram Stories is important for maintaining your online privacy and safety. Sharing your daily life publicly might not be suitable for everyone.

You wouldn’t want just anyone to see your personal moments, right? Managing your Story’s privacy lets you decide who gets a peek into your life.

There are several ways to adjust your Story’s privacy, giving you a range of options for sharing, from completely private to completely public. Let’s explore how you can take control and choose exactly who sees your Stories.

A completely public Story has potential downsides. While convenient, it opens your content to strangers, potentially impacting your security and privacy.

Restricting Stories to Close Friends

Using Instagram’s Close Friends feature is a simple way to share your Instagram Stories with a select group of trusted people. This allows you to post more personal content without worrying about who sees it.

Adding People to Your Close Friends List:

1. Open the Instagram app and go to your profile.
2. Tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the upper right corner.
3. Select “Close Friends” from the menu.
4. Search for the people you want to add and tap the “Add” button next to each name.

Screenshot of the Close Friends list in the Instagram app

Removing People from Your Close Friends List:

1. Follow steps 1-3 from above to access the Close Friends list.
2. Tap the “X” button next to the name of the person you want to remove.

Screenshot of removing someone from Close Friends list in the Instagram app

Sharing a Story with Your Close Friends:

1. Create your Instagram Story as usual.
2. Before posting, tap “Close Friends” at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap “Share” to post your story only to your Close Friends list.

Screenshot of sharing a story to Close Friends only in the Instagram app

Benefits of Using Close Friends:

• Share more personal moments and updates without the pressure of a large audience.
• Maintain privacy and control who sees your more intimate content.
• Strengthen bonds with close friends through more personal storytelling.

Using the Story Settings for Audience Selection

You can choose who sees your Instagram Stories using the settings. Here’s how:

1. Open Instagram: Launch the Instagram app on your phone.
2. Go to your profile: Tap your profile picture in the bottom right corner.
3. Access Story settings: Tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top right corner, then tap “Settings” and then “Privacy”.
4. Story settings: Tap “Story”.
5. Choose your audience: Select one of the following:

Remember to save changes after selecting an option.

Hiding Stories from Specific People

You can prevent specific accounts from viewing your Instagram Stories. This is useful for maintaining privacy and controlling who sees your content. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Instagram and go to your profile.
2. Tap on your profile picture. This will open your profile page.
3. Tap the three lines in the upper right corner. This opens the settings menu.
4. Tap “Settings.”
5. Tap “Privacy.”
6. Tap “Story.”
7. Tap “Hide Story From.”
8. Search and select the accounts you want to hide your Stories from. You can add multiple accounts to this list.

Implications of Blocking: When you hide your Story from someone, they will not be able to view your Stories. They won’t receive any notifications about your new Stories, and they won’t see your Stories in their feed. They will still be able to interact with other parts of your profile such as posts and reels.

Unblocking: To allow someone to see your Stories again, follow the same steps as above. Find the account you want to unblock in the “Hide Story From” list and tap on the “x” next to their name to remove them from the list.

Remember, blocking someone from seeing your story is different than blocking them completely from your profile. Blocking completely will prevent them from seeing your posts, stories, reels, and your profile information.

Managing Story Privacy for Specific Posts

You can control who sees each Instagram Story individually. Here’s how:

Remember to save your Story before changing its audience if you created it earlier.

You’ve learned how to fine-tune your Instagram Story privacy settings to control who sees your updates. Remember, regularly reviewing and adjusting these settings is crucial for maintaining your desired level of privacy.

Privacy is important. Take control and choose who sees your stories. Be mindful of the content you share, as it impacts your online presence. By carefully selecting your audience and regularly reviewing your settings, you can enjoy Instagram Stories while maintaining your privacy.