Muting on Instagram is a convenient way to reduce the visibility of someone's content in your feed without unfollowing them, which can be useful if you want to temporarily or permanently limit your exposure to their posts and stories. It's a discreet feature that allows you to maintain your connection with someone while customising your Instagram experience to your preferences.
Curating your feed, avoiding drama, or making your Instagram feed more pleasant—whatever the reason, here are a few scenarios when muting someone on Instagram can come in handy:
- If you follow a large number of accounts, your Instagram feed becomes cluttered with posts and stories from various users. Muting allows you to manage the content you see, reducing the overwhelm of too much information.
- There may be users you want to stay connected with but whose content you don't want to see regularly. Muting allows you to continue following them while keeping their posts and stories out of your primary feed.
- Muting can be a discreet way to distance yourself from someone's content if you want to avoid potential drama or conflicts without unfollowing them.
- Instagram's algorithm shows you content from accounts you interact with the most. Muting someone's content allows you to curate your feed to prioritise the posts and stories that matter most to you.
The good news is that the muted user won't be notified as you mute them.
What Happens When Muting Someone On Instagram?
When you mute someone on Instagram, you're still following them, but you limit their visibility in your main or story feed.
Here's what happens when you mute someone on Instagram:
🟣 Their Posts, Stories & Reels Don’t Appear in Your Feed
Photos, videos, carousels, and Reels of a muted account will no longer appear in your main feed. You'll need to visit their profile directly to see their posts.
Story updates won’t appear at the top of your Instagram feed, either. You won't see their profile picture in the story tray, and you won't be notified when they post a new story. However, you can still view their stories by visiting their profile.
🟣 DMs Aren’t Affected
Muting someone on Instagram does not affect your ability to send or receive direct messages from them. You can still communicate with the muted user through Instagram Direct Messages.
🟣 Is the User Notified When I Mute Them on Instagram?
No. What's more, they will still see your activity (e.g., likes and comments) on their posts as usual.
🟣 Can I Unmute the User If I Muted Them Earlier?
You can do that any time by going to their profile, tapping the "Following" button, and selecting "Unmute." This will restore their posts and/or stories to your feed.
How to Mute Someone on Instagram: Posts & Stories
This can be useful if you want to reduce the visibility of someone's content in your feed without completely disconnecting from them.
Here's how you can mute someone on Instagram:
- Open the Instagram app on your mobile device or log in to your Instagram account on the desktop browser.
- Go to the profile of the user you want to mute. You can do this by searching for their username in the search bar or by tapping on their profile picture if they appear in your feed.
- Once you are on their profile, tap the Following button (if you are already following them) or the Follow button (if you are not following them).
- A menu will appear with several options. Select Mute.
Instagram will give you the option to mute their posts, their stories, or both.
5. Choose the option that suits your preferences. If you only want to mute their posts, you can toggle off the Posts option. If you only want to mute their stories, you can toggle off the Stories option. If you want to mute both, you can leave both options toggled on.
💡Starting 2023, there's also the Notes option. We've covered what Instagram Notes are in our other post.
6. Once you've made your selections, tap Done (iOS) or the checkmark icon (Android) to confirm.
Alternatively, you can find the account from your feed and repeat the steps above.
Mute Someone’s Instagram Stories Through Stories
If you mute only the stories right when browsing the stories, do the following.
- Open the story of an account.
- Press the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Select Mute.
- Select which content type you want to mute: Story or Story and Posts and click on the option.
How to Mute Someone’s Messages in Instagram Direct
To mute someone’s attempts to reach you via Instagram DM, follow these steps:
- Visit the Instagram DM page on Instagram.
- Find the user who you want to mute by searching for their user handle.
- Tap and hold the username and select Mute from the options that pop up.
Thus, you’ll mute that user’s messages and calls.
How to Mute Someone’s Comments on Your Posts
If you want someone’s comments no longer bother you, here’s how to do that:
- Head over to Settings -> Privacy.
- Find Hidden Words under the Interactions tab. Click on it.
- Scroll down to Manage custom words and phrases.
4. Set words, phrases, or even emojis that you won’t allow on your profile.
5. Toggle Hide comments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Muting vs. blocking on Instagram: What’s the difference?
Blocking and muting are two different actions on Instagram, each serving distinct purposes:
Blocking someone on Instagram implies complete restriction. When you block someone on Instagram, you completely cut off all communication and interaction with that person on the platform. They will no longer be able to see your profile, posts, stories, or follow you.
The person you block will not be notified that you've blocked them, but they may realise it when they can't find your profile or see your content. Blocked users cannot send you direct messages, and any existing conversations with them will disappear from your inbox. They can't tag you in posts or mention you in comments or captions, either.
💡Suggested read: Learn how to know if someone blocked you on Instagram.
Muting someone on Instagram is partial restriction, as it allows you to limit their content visibility in your feed without completely cutting off communication. You continue to follow them, and they won't be aware that you've muted them.
How do you know if someone muted you on Instagram?
Instagram does not provide a direct notification or feature that informs you if someone has muted your account.
If you suspect that someone has muted you on Instagram, there is no surefire way to confirm it directly through the platform.
What is the difference between restrict and mute on Instagram?
Instagram's "Restrict" and "Mute" features serve different purposes and offer distinct functionalities:
When you restrict someone on Instagram, their comments on your posts are only visible to them unless you approve them. Similarly, their direct messages will be sent to your Message Requests folder, and you can choose to review and respond to them or ignore them.
The restricted user won't receive any notifications that they've been restricted. It's a discreet way to control interactions with potentially problematic or unwanted followers.
Your posts and stories remain visible to the restricted user, but they won't see when you're active or when you've read their direct messages.