If you wish to conceal your Instagram account and safeguard your privacy from intrusive observers, you have come to the appropriate location.
In recent years, Instagram has emerged as one of the most widely used social media platforms globally, attracting millions of users who share photographs, videos, and narratives from their everyday experiences.
Nevertheless, as personal data becomes increasingly visible online, concerns regarding privacy have intensified for numerous users. Not everyone desires their content to be available to the entire Internet audience.
By default, the images posted on your Instagram profile are accessible to nearly anyone with an account on the platform. However, if you wish to limit the audience for your content, there are various measures you can implement to conceal your Instagram account and prevent your contacts and others from discovering your profile.
Hiding Your Instagram Account: Why Do It?
There are numerous justifications for considering the concealment of your Instagram account.
Primarily, personal safety stands out as a significant concern. By restricting access to your profile, you can safeguard your personal information and images from being viewed by unfamiliar or undesirable individuals, thereby reducing the risk of potential misuse.
Furthermore, it is crucial for many individuals to uphold a distinction between their personal and professional lives. For instance, educators, healthcare providers, and those employed in sensitive professions may prefer to shield their colleagues or clients from insights into their private affairs.
Moreover, this approach serves as an effective means to mitigate spam and harassment. Public profiles are often vulnerable to spammers or trolls who may inundate users with unsolicited messages or inappropriate remarks. Therefore, limiting access to one’s profile is indeed the most effective strategy to safeguard against the potential risks associated with the Internet.
If you have concerns regarding your privacy on Instagram, continue reading. We will explore several strategies to conceal your account, thereby preventing others from locating you and ensuring the security of your personal information.
How to Hide Your Instagram Account From Unwanted Eyes
Remove your Facebook account from Instagram
To facilitate sharing, Instagram provides the option to link your Facebook account to the application, and vice versa. If you wish to restrict others from locating you on Instagram, it is advisable to disconnect the two accounts. When the accounts are connected, both platforms can access each other’s friend lists. Consequently, if any of your Facebook friends register on Instagram, your profile may be suggested as a friend. To prevent this from occurring, please follow these instructions to unlink Facebook.
- Launch the Instagram application on your Android device.
- Select your profile icon located at the bottom right corner.
- Access the hamburger menu situated in the top right corner of your profile and choose “Settings” from the options presented.
- Scroll down and select “Account Center” at the bottom of the list.
- Under the “Account Settings” section, tap on “Account.”
- Click the “Remove” button adjacent to your Facebook account name.
- Instagram will prompt you to confirm your intention to “disable connected experiences for your account.”
- Press the blue “Continue” button. Finally, confirm your decision by clicking the “Remove” button on the subsequent screen.
This procedure can also be executed from a personal computer:
- Navigate to your feed page and click on the profile icon located in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Choose the “Settings” option. Scroll down and select “Account Center” from the options on the left.
- Click on “Account” on the left side, then select your Facebook account.
- Finally, press the “Remove” button adjacent to your Facebook account.
Upon disconnecting your Facebook account, you will eliminate the possibility of being suggested as a friend to those of your friends who register for Instagram.
Set privacy to “private”
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Configuring your account to private is among the simplest methods to reduce the visibility of your profile. Even if an individual discovers your account, they will not be able to view your posts unless you grant them permission.
To activate privacy mode on your smartphone, navigate to “Settings > Privacy” and choose the “Private Account” option.
For PC users, access “Settings > Privacy & Security” and select the “Private Account” option.
This approach allows other users to locate you while preventing them from accessing your content.
Remove your phone number from Instagram account
Eliminating your phone number from your Instagram account serves as an effective method to enhance your privacy and reduce the likelihood of other users locating your profile. However, it is important to note that by removing your phone number, you will lose access to the convenient two-factor authentication feature. Additionally, it is essential to have a verified email address associated with your account, as Instagram mandates at least one contact method for emergency situations.
To disable two-factor authentication, navigate to “Settings > Security > Two-Factor Authentication” and deactivate the feature from that location.
To eliminate your phone number, please adhere to the following straightforward steps:
- Select the profile icon and choose “Edit Profile.”
- Proceed to “Personal information settings” by scrolling down.
- Delete your phone number from the specified field.
On a PC, please adhere to the following instructions:
- Select the “Edit Profile” button located adjacent to your Instagram profile name.
- Proceed to scroll down and ensure that the “Phone Number” section is left empty.
Upon the removal of your phone number, individuals who have saved your number in their contacts will no longer be able to locate you when they activate the “Connect Contacts” feature.
Turn off contact sync
It is likely that you utilized this feature during the initial setup of your Instagram account. Nevertheless, if you wish to maintain your privacy, it is necessary to disable it. The following steps will guide you:
- Navigate to “Settings > Accounts” on your device.
- Choose the “Contact Sync” option.
- Disable “Connect Contacts.”
Don’t appear in suggestions
If the individual you are attempting to evade follows an account that resembles yours, they can easily locate you. To avoid this situation, access Instagram through your desktop browser, as this option is not available on mobile devices or tablets, and adhere to the following instructions.
- Access your Instagram profile on a computer and select the “Edit Profile” option.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you will find a checkbox that you can deselect to ensure your account does not show up in results for similar accounts.
- Finally, click on the blue “Send” button.
Hide your status
For enhanced privacy, disabling your online status serves as an effective method to obscure your account further. To conceal your online status from others on Instagram using the mobile application, please follow these steps:
- Navigate to “Settings > Privacy.”
- Select “Activity Status.”
- Deactivate the “Show Activity Status” option. A blue button indicates that the feature is active, while a gray button signifies that it is disabled.
The same action can be performed on a PC by navigating to “Settings > Privacy and Security” and then deselecting the checkbox adjacent to “Show activity status” on the right side.
Block accounts you don’t want to be found by
If you wish to ensure complete privacy and prevent others from locating you, you can block their accounts if you are aware of their usernames. The process is as follows:
For mobile users:
- Access their profile and tap the three-dot menu located in the corner of the screen. A menu will emerge from the bottom; choose the option “Block.”
For those using a PC:
- Locate the three dots adjacent to the Instagram username and select “Block” from the ensuing pop-up window.
Temporarily deactivate your account
The sole method to ensure complete privacy from potential discovery is to deactivate your account. However, this action is quite extreme, as it results in the permanent removal of all content associated with your profile. Alternatively, you may choose to temporarily deactivate your account, allowing you to return later with all your previous content intact.
Consequently, your photographs, likes, and comments will remain concealed until you choose to log back into the application. This action is permitted only once per week.
To disable your account, you must access Instagram through a personal computer or log in to your account using a mobile web browser. The following steps outline the process:
- Navigate to your profile and select the “Edit Profile” button.
- Scroll down to find the option labeled “Temporarily deactivate my account.”
- Choose a reason for deactivating your profile and input your password again.
- Finally, click on “Temporarily deactivate your account” and confirm your decision by selecting “Yes.”
Adhering to these guidelines will significantly enhance the difficulty for unwanted individuals to locate your Instagram account, thereby improving your privacy on the platform.
If you find yourself disturbed by one or several users, you may also consider submitting a report to Instagram.
