How to “Unview” Instagram Stories & Turn Off Story Views

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Keep your Instagram story views private with this easy-to-use guide

Written by Glenn Carreau

Last Updated: November 12, 2025 Fact Checked

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Blocking

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Airplane Mode

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Other Tricks

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Can you unview a story?

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Can you turn off story views?

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Hiding Your Instagram Stories

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Video

On Instagram, the original poster of a story gets to see a list of everyone who viewed it—but there are a few workarounds if you’re determined to go undetected! In this article, we’ll teach you how to hide your “Seen by” activity on an Instagram story through the mobile app. If you’ve viewed a story you don’t want the original poster to know about, you can block that person for 24 hours or view their story in airplane mode.^{[1]
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Research source} Read on for all the details, plus ways to stop people from seeing your stories in return.

How can you hide that you viewed an Instagram story?

If you block someone after viewing their story, you'll disappear from the Seen list. Don't unblock them until the story expires (24 hours)! If you followed each other before, you'll need to re-follow once unblocked. Alternatively, try a half-swipe, or turn on airplane mode, watch the story, then log out of Instagram.

Section 1 of 6:

Hiding "Seen" on a Story (Blocking)

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Go to the profile of the story you viewed. If you temporarily block a user for about 24 hours, you can remove your name from their “viewer” list. Open the Instagram app and find the story you viewed. It might be in your Story Feed or on your Home screen. Then, tap the profile associated with that story to continue.^{[2]
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- This trick works best if you're not following each other. When you block someone on Instagram, you'll be removed from each other's friend lists, which the other person might notice. Plus, you'll have to re-follow them after you unblock them, which will send them a notification. If you want to hide your story view from a friend, try the airplane mode or half-swipe tricks!
It's in the top right corner of the screen on any person’s Instagram profile page.^{[3]
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Tap Block and then Block again to confirm. Now that this person is blocked, your name will be removed from the "Seen" area of their story. Just be sure to keep them blocked for 24 hours, or until their story expires. If you unblock them too early, they’ll see that you viewed their story.^{[4]
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- When you’re ready to unblock this person:^{[5]
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  - Go to your profile on the Instagram app.
  - Tap the menu ☰ at the top-right.
  - Tap Blocked.
  - Find the user and tap Unblock next to their name.
  - Tap Unblock again to confirm.

Section 2 of 6:

Hiding "Seen" on a Story (Airplane Mode)

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Make sure you’re connected to the internet! This method involves viewing the story while your phone is in airplane mode—but first, you need to completely load the content on your Instagram app before enabling airplane mode.
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Enable airplane mode on your phone or tablet. On your iPhone or Android, swipe down from the top of the screen, then tap the airplane icon to turn on airplane mode. Alternatively, you can use your Settings app:
- Android: Navigate to Settings → Network & internet and turn Airplane mode on.
- iPhone: Open Settings and switch the toggle next to Airplane Mode on.
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Watch the Instagram story, then log out of your account. Tap on the Instagram story to view it. When you're finished, you have to log out of Instagram completely. Here's how:^{[6]
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- Tap the menu at the top-right corner of your Instagram profile.
- Scroll down and tap Log out.
- If you're asked to save your login information, tap Save.
- Tap Log out again to confirm.
Make sure you turn airplane mode off first by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the airplane icon once more. Then, reopen your Instagram app and enter your username and password to log back in. With that, you’ll have viewed an Instagram story without being “seen” by the app.

Section 3 of 6:

Other Ways to View an Instagram Story & Not Be Seen

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Try half-swiping to the story you want to see. This trick definitely works, though it'll only be helpful if the story isn't a video. Follow these steps closely, as the wrong movement could expose you:
- Tap the Instagram story that appears right before or after the one you want to view anonymously.
- Tap and hold your finger on the screen, swiping slowly toward the next story without entirely opening it. Do not lift your finger while the story you want to view anonymously is still on the screen. This can be tricky—but if you’re careful, the story will play without Instagram “seeing” you do it.^{[7]
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- After you've seen the story, slowly swipe back toward the story you tapped originally, then lift your finger.
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Use an anonymous account. If you have a side account on Instagram that doesn’t use your full name, you can use it to view someone else’s story without them knowing it’s really you. Just log out of your main account, log in to the anonymous account, and use it to watch the story.^{[8]
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- While some third-party apps claim to let you view Instagram stories anonymously, they’re often not allowed according to Instagram’s Terms of Service. Using them can result in a ban.

Section 4 of 6:

Can you unview a story on Instagram?

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No, you can’t “unview” an Instagram story once you’ve seen it. Unfortunately, once you’ve seen an Instagram story, that’s that—there’s no undoing the action. The good news is that you can still use the “blocking” technique in this article to remove your name from the other person’s viewer list if you made a mistake and really don’t want them to know you saw their story.
- You could also deactivate your Instagram account for 48 hours to stop it from appearing in someone’s “viewed” list.To temporarily deactivate your account:
  - Go to your profile and tap the menu ☰ at the top-right corner.
  - Go to Accounts Center → Personal details → Account ownership and control → Deactivation or deletion.
  - Select Deactivate account, and follow the app’s directions from there.

Section 5 of 6:

Can you turn off story views on Instagram?

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No, but you can prevent certain people from viewing your stories. If you’re on the other side of things and have an Instagram story up, but don’t want to see who’s viewed it, the best way to do that is to simply not check your views. Unfortunately, there’s no way to stop Instagram from keeping track of views—but you don’t have to look at the list of names if you don’t want to.
- Alternatively, you can also block particular accounts from seeing your stories.

Section 6 of 6:

How to Hide Your Instagram Stories from Someone

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It's the three horizontal lines at the top of your profile. This will open the Settings and activity menu. Scroll down and look for the category labeled Who can see your content.
You will find this option under the category labeled "Who can see your Instagram content."^{[9]
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A list of your Instagram followers will appear.
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Select the people you want to hide your story from. Just tap their name, and the bubble next to it should fill with a check mark, indicating that you’ve selected them. When you’ve selected everyone you want, just tap the Back arrow to exit the menu.^{[10]
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- If you ever want to stop hiding your story from someone, just go back to the Hide story from list and unselect their name.