This article describes how to turn off your active status on the Instagram website or mobile app. We’ll also look at why you might want to do that and the consequences if you do.

What to Know

  • Open the settings and toggle Show Activity Status off.
  • Desktop users can go directly to Instagram’s Privacy and Security page.
  • Disabling your active status also prevents you from viewing the status of other accounts.

How Do I Turn off My Activity Status on Instagram?

A few clicks or taps through your account settings will reveal the Show Activity Status toggle you can switch off to stop broadcasting your online status.

Turn off Active Status on Website

Here’s how to do it from the desktop website:

  • Select your profile icon from the top-right of the page, and choose Settings in the drop-down menu.
  • Select Privacy and Security from the left panel.
  • Locate Show Activity Status from the right, and remove the check from the box by selecting it. The change will save automatically and go into effect immediately.

Turn off Active Status on Mobile

The Instagram app uses the same term to describe this setting—Show Activity Status—but getting to it is slightly different from how it works on the website.

Select your profile icon from the top-right of the page, and choose Settings in the drop-down menu.

Select Privacy and Security from the left panel.

Locate Show Activity Status from the right, and remove the check from the box by selecting it. The change will save automatically and go into effect immediately.

  • Open your page by selecting your profile picture from the bottom menu.
  • From the three-lined menu at the top, choose Settings.
  • Tap Privacy and then Activity Status on the following screen.
  • Tap Show Activity Status, or its toggle to the right, to instantly disable it.

What Does Disabling Active Status Do?

Show Activity Status is on by default. When it’s on, it lets other users you follow, and people you message see when you were last active on Instagram, including if you’re active right now. If you’d rather not reveal that information, maybe for general privacy or to avoid feeling pressed to respond to messages, you can follow the directions above to disable the feature.

Open your page by selecting your profile picture from the bottom menu.

From the three-lined menu at the top, choose Settings.

Tap Privacy and then Activity Status on the following screen.

Tap Show Activity Status, or its toggle to the right, to instantly disable it.

The app has another setting that might interest you. From the same screen as step 4, disable Show when you’re active together to turn off the ability for someone you’re chatting with to see if you’re both active in the same chat. This setting is independent of Show Activity Status.

Something to be aware of is when you turn it off, you also won’t be able to see the status of other accounts.

This setting applies to all devices logged in to your account, so you can’t turn off active status only on your phone, for example, but leave it on for your computer or tablet.

Other Instagram Privacy Tips

Disabling the ability for users to see when you’re online is only one way to make your account more private. You can also make your Instagram account private by hiding your posts from non-followers. That way, only users you’ve explicitly allowed to view your account will be able to see your photos and videos.

Hiding your Instagram photos is another option. Archiving your photos so they’re only visible to you is easy to do (as is making them public again).

  • How can I tell if someone turned off their active status on Instagram?
  • There’s no way to tell for sure if someone has turned off their active status on Instagram. If you’re trying to connect with someone on Instagram and you suspect they’ve turned off active status, try sending them a direct message. If they open it, you’ll be able to see when, which means they were active. You can also try looking at Instagram profiles they follow and see if they’ve left a comment, which will have a time, giving you a general idea of when they were last active.
  • How do I turn on active status on Instagram?
  • To turn your Instagram active status back on if you turned it off, open the Instagram app and tap your profile icon. Tap Menu (three lines), and then tap Settings > Privacy. Scroll down and tap Activity Status, and then toggle on Show Activity Status.
  • How do I see someone’s activity on Instagram?
  • Instagram used to allow you to see a follower’s activity easily by tapping the Activity tab in the Notifications panel. Now, this ability is limited. You’re still able to see a follower’s posts by tapping Search, typing in their name, going to their account, and viewing their posts. From their account page, you can also view their followers by tapping Followers and see who they’re following by tapping Following. There are also third-party apps that can track your followers’ activity more extensively.

There’s no way to tell for sure if someone has turned off their active status on Instagram. If you’re trying to connect with someone on Instagram and you suspect they’ve turned off active status, try sending them a direct message. If they open it, you’ll be able to see when, which means they were active. You can also try looking at Instagram profiles they follow and see if they’ve left a comment, which will have a time, giving you a general idea of when they were last active.

To turn your Instagram active status back on if you turned it off, open the Instagram app and tap your profile icon. Tap Menu (three lines), and then tap Settings > Privacy. Scroll down and tap Activity Status, and then toggle on Show Activity Status.

Instagram used to allow you to see a follower’s activity easily by tapping the Activity tab in the Notifications panel. Now, this ability is limited. You’re still able to see a follower’s posts by tapping Search, typing in their name, going to their account, and viewing their posts. From their account page, you can also view their followers by tapping Followers and see who they’re following by tapping Following. There are also third-party apps that can track your followers’ activity more extensively.

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