Though Instagram is a home of entertainment, do you want to let everyone know what you are up to in your Instagram stories? The good news is that Instagram has advanced features to help you create private stories. Learn how to go about it.
Social media platforms have many advanced privacy options to help you have complete control over your content. You can create an Instagram account and make it public or private. Recently, there has been a debate if there are other ways to lock your Instagram stories besides locking your Instagram account.
The good news is that Instagram now allows you to narrow down the option and select the audience you wish to see your Instagram stories. This is a good step, especially for those people with public profiles who can now smile by restricting their stories to specific people on the platform. Therefore, you can be able to share content with limited friends.
This article has compiled several approaches to creating private Instagram stories. These are some of the best hand-picked online to help you manage your privacy. But remember, though you might hide the Instagram stories from the audience, that does not mean they will not be able to see your profile. Keep reading with us to the end.
How to Make a Private Story on Instagram?
Instagram is unique as long as private Instagram stories are concerned. This is because there are multiple methods to make a private story on this platform. You can control who accesses your private story, and we are here to give you multiple approaches. Let us get started here
1. Make Close Friends Story on Instagram
This is the first approach and is very simple indeed. Though, you need to pay close attention to details:
Step 1: Launch your Instagram application and log in to access your account.
Step 2: Then locate the profile icon and click on it to access the profile tab.
Step 3: Then navigate to the 3 black lines found in the upper right corner of your screen and click on them.
Step 4: Immediately after you click, you will access the settings menu.
Step 5: Then you will see multiple options from the settings menu, select close friends. Therefore, in this case, you should create a list of close friends before proceeding.
Step 6: Then, you will indeed have a list of all your Instagram followers. Then you will see a regular blue box beside each name on the list, which indicates add.
Step 7: So you can proceed by clicking on the blue icon, which is located at the front of every profile you want to add to your close friends' list
Step 8: if you have a specific person that is not visible on the list, you can search for them using their username or real name to add them to your list of close friends easily.
Step 9: Immediately after you are done selecting the people from the list of followers, click on create list button located at the bottom of the screen, and you have just successfully created the list of close friends.
That is the first phase; then the second phase is creating a private Instagram story for this close friend list. Here is how to go about this:-
Step 1: start by creating the story you wish to share with your close friend's list.
Step 2: Then locate the two options: your story and your close friend's story. These options are found at the bottom of your screen. The tap on the green start button, which is present with the close friends to share the story to the close friends' list
Step 3: The above story is successfully posted but accessible by eh close friends alone. It is true that once you post, you can still edit the story and add the people who can access it. The steps are similar as you will only have to add the person to the close friend list, and that is done.
2. Hide Your Instagram Story from Someone?
This is the best move especially if you do not want only a single or countable people to see your Instagram story. The only solution is to hide them from the story since adding whole followers to the close friend list is hard. The process is similar regardless of whether you are using iPhone or an android device. Here is how to go about it otherwise:
Step 1: Launch your Instagram application and ensure you are logged into the correct account with relevant details.
Step 2: Then click on the profile picture located at the bottom right-hand side of your screen to access your Instagram profile.
Step 3: At the top right corner of your screen, please navigate to the hamburger icon and click on it.
Step 4: After that, from the menu, click on the settings options.
Step 5: From there, select privacy and move ahead.
Step 6: Proceed by clicking story from the pop-up menu.
Step 7: Then click on the number of people below the hide story option.
Step 8: At that point, you can proceed to select the person whom you do not want to access your private Instagram story.
Step 9: Therefore, when you are through, click on the Done icon if only you are using iPhone, but when you have an android application, make sure you tick. You can equally unhide someone by unselecting them from the list.
There are many other methods to make a private story on Instagram. If you spot someone with whom you never wished to access your story, you can click that block button without going back from the Instagram stories section.
And from the list of Instagram viewers, you can still hide the story at that point. You only need to navigate to the friend list; besides each name, there are 3 dots; when you click on them, it gives you the option to hide your story from them.
3. Hide Instagram Story from Any Hashtag Page or Location
This is another good step, especially when you do not want to directly access your story using a particular location and hashtag in their search results. It is also recommended for the social media marketing campaign that excludes a specific audience from a particular place or niche. Therefore, here are simple steps to block such metrics:
Step 1: Launch your Instagram application on the device you prefer.
Step 2: Then proceed as regular, clicking the story button on your account
Step 3: Then, you can swipe up to access who has seen your Instagram story on your account.
Step 4: Then, at the top of your viewer's list, you will be able to see the hashtags and locations in which your Instagram story has been featured. To block these features, click on the X button and remove your story from these hashtags and locations.
That is not all; there are still other means if you are unsatisfied with the above options. Keep reading and find out more before we conclude.
4. Hide Story from Username
This is the least approach in this series of methods. And here, you are making a private story from your Instagram stories. However, it would be best if you had the targeted username at hand for you to have an easy time with this method. If so, then proceed as follow:
Step 1: Launch your Instagram application and log in with the relevant details.
Step 2: Then click on the profile photo to access the profile tab.
Step 3: Then, at the bottom of your screen, click on the story button.
Step 4: After that, you can swipe up to access the accounts of people who have seen your Instagram story.
Step 5: Then locate the username of the person you do not want to access your Instagram stories. After that, click n the 3 dots located next to the username.
Step 6: From the pop-up menu, once you click on the 3 dots, select hide story form” username” so they will no longer be able to access your future Instagram stories. That is all for today.
But what if you have a private account? All your content, including your Instagram stories, is kept private. Now, at this juncture, what should you do to make the Instagram story public when you have a private Instagram account? Just hold there; this is where we are headed in the next section.
How to Make Instagram Story Public with Private Account?
Instagram is stringent; no one can edit your privacy settings on a post you make on your account, even if it is a story. However, as the content creator, you can modify your account privacy settings and make your Instagram stories public even if you are operating a private account.
But remember that what we are about to do to make the private stories public also changes your profile photos and video. It is like changing a private account to a public account.
Only a few approved people can engage with your profile and see your stories and content when you have a private Instagram account. But when you want to make your private Instagram stories public, follow the below procedure:
Step 1: Regardless of the devices you are using, launch the Instagram application. Then ensure you have logged in to your account to access the profile.
Step 2: Then head to your Instagram profile by clicking on the profile photo.
Step 3: Then, at the upper right corner of your screen, locate the more option and click on it to get more advanced options.
Step 4: You will be redirected to the settings menu once you click on the more option.
Step 5: Therefore, from the pop-up menu, select privacy and proceed by clicking on the account privacy.
Step 6: Then, you will have to click on the next, which is close to the private account option, so that you can make your private Instagram account public. That is everything you must do, and all the Instagram stories will be public so that anyone can access them. Still, you can manage these Instagram stories with the above approaches.
How to See Private Story on Instagram?
The only people who can access the Instagram stories and posts from a private account are the account owner and the people that the owner has approved to see. However, the technique is different when you have a public account. This is because when someone clicks on the profile photos, they can access all your Instagram stories on the top of the application.
Therefore, if someone has a private account and you want to access their Instagram stories and posts, then the first thing is to request to follow their account. Once they approve your request, you will be granted permission to see their Instagram posts and stories. If you want to see someone's Private Instagram Account, here are other ways.
Conclusion
Instagram is a more advanced social media platform that gives account owners complete control of the contents. Besides making your Instagram account private, there are also other means through which you can make a private story on Instagram. In our article, we have covered multiple approaches to get you through.
Read the detailed procedure and pay attention to details. However, you must know how to hide Instagram stories and block them. Remember that account privacy matters now here. Your Instagram story will be visible. Ensure you have the right privacy settings while targeting the audience on the platform.
