Instagram Privacy Settings You Should Review
Instagram has several settings that give you control over who can interact with your account, see your content, mention or tag you and send you message requests. Reviewing these settings regularly can help you decide how you want to use Instagram and who you want to interact with.
Some privacy controls also help reduce unwanted comments, messages and other interactions on the platform.
Account Privacy
One of the main privacy settings to review is whether your Instagram account is public or private.
With a private account, you approve the people who can follow you and see your posts. A public account allows people to view content that is available publicly without requiring approval to follow you.
If you prefer to control who follows you and sees your posts, a private account may be more suitable.
Story Privacy
Instagram provides controls for managing who can see your Stories.
You can hide your Stories from specific people and use Close Friends when you want to share a Story with a selected group.
Review these settings if you regularly share personal updates through Stories and want more control over who sees them.
Activity Status
Activity Status controls whether other people can see when you are active or were recently active on Instagram.
If you do not want other people to see your activity status, you can turn the feature off.
Keep in mind that turning off your activity status also means you will not be able to see the activity status of other people.
Message Requests
Instagram provides controls for managing who can send you message requests.
You can review how requests from different types of accounts are handled and adjust the available options according to your preferences.
These controls can help you manage unwanted messages and reduce interactions from accounts you do not want to hear from.
Mentions
You can control who is allowed to mention your Instagram account.
Instagram provides options that can allow everyone, people you follow or no one to mention you in comments, captions or Stories.
If you receive unwanted mentions, reviewing this setting can help you limit them.
Tags
Instagram also lets you manage who can tag you.
You can control who is allowed to tag your account and use available controls for managing tagged posts.
Review these settings if you do not want other accounts adding your username to posts without your approval.
Comments
Instagram provides controls for managing comments on your posts.
You can limit who can comment and use tools to restrict unwanted comments. Instagram also provides filtering features that can hide comments containing words or phrases you choose.
These settings can be useful if you receive spam, offensive comments or other unwanted interactions.
Hidden Words
Hidden Words can help filter unwanted comments and message requests.
You can use Instagram's filtering options to hide comments and message requests containing offensive or unwanted words, phrases and emojis. You can also add your own words or phrases to the custom list.
This can be useful for reducing spam and other unwanted interactions.
Limits
Instagram's Limits feature can help reduce unwanted interactions during periods when you receive a large number of comments or message requests.
Depending on the available options, you can limit interactions from people who do not follow you or who have only recently followed you.
This can be particularly useful when an account suddenly receives a large amount of unwanted attention.
Restricted Accounts
Restrict is another option for managing interactions with specific accounts without blocking them.
When you restrict someone, their interactions with your account are handled differently. For example, comments from a restricted account can be managed before other people see them and you do not receive notifications for comments from that account.
Use the Restricted Accounts section to review accounts you have previously restricted and remove restrictions when they are no longer necessary.
Blocked Accounts
It is also worth reviewing your blocked accounts.
Blocking prevents an account from interacting with you in various ways on Instagram. Instagram also provides an option that can extend blocking to other accounts that a person may already have or create.
Review your blocked accounts occasionally and make changes when necessary.
Connected Apps And Websites
If you have previously connected third-party apps or websites to Instagram, review the services that have access to your account.
Remove access from apps or websites you no longer use or do not recognise.
Meta provides account controls that allow users to review permissions and the apps they have given access to their information.
Account Security
Security settings are separate from privacy settings, but they are important to review alongside them.
Check your password, login activity and two-factor authentication settings. Review the devices or sessions connected to your account and take action if you notice activity you do not recognise.
These checks can help you protect your account from unauthorised access.
Review Your Instagram Privacy Settings Regularly
Instagram's privacy and interaction controls give you several ways to manage who can contact you, interact with your content, mention you and tag you.
Review your account privacy, Stories, messages, mentions, tags, comments, Hidden Words, Limits, restricted accounts and blocked accounts from time to time.
It is also worth reviewing connected apps and your account security settings so you know which services have access to your account and which devices are signed in.
Taking a few minutes to review these settings can help you maintain better control over your Instagram account and your interactions on the platform.
