Instagram privacy hacks: 7 ways to make your profile more private

One of the easiest ways to make your social life more private on Instagram is by changing your account visibility to 'Private.' This not only prevents strangers from strangers from viewing your posts, but also gives users the option to share content with the people they approve.

To do so, open Instagram on your phone and head over to the app settings. Under the 'Who can see your content' section, tap on 'Account privacy' and enable the toggle named 'Private account'.

Instagram has a handy feature that lets users automatically share content they post on the platform to Facebook. While this can be handy at times, for many, this can cause problems since the people we follow on these platforms might be different.

If you want to unlink Facebook account with your Instagram profile, head over to the app settings, tap on the topmost option named 'Accounts Centre', scroll down a bit and click on 'Accounts'. Now, press the 'Remove' button to the right of the Facebook account and you are good to go.

Don't want random strangers or certain people to see the content you post on Instagram? If your answer is yes, consider creating a 'Close friends' list, which allows users to share posts and stories with a limited amount of people.

To do so, head over to the app settings, scroll down and tap on the option named 'Close friends'. On the screen that appears, add the friends you want to share and you are good to go.

The next time you upload a post or a story on the platform, Instagram will ask you if you want to share it with your followers or close friends.

Just like X and Facebook, Instagram can, at times, be a really toxic place. If you looking for a way to hide story or live from select people, Instagram has an option that lets you do so. To find it, head over to the app settings, and under the 'Who can see your content' section, tap on 'Hide story and live' and you will have the to option to add people to the list.

Similar to WhatsApp, Instagram has a soft of 'Last seen' feature that allows users on the platform to check when you were last active. However, this can be easily disabled. If you are wondering where is option is, open Instagram settings and tap on the option named 'Messages and story replies'. Now, click on 'Show activity status' and on the screen that appears, disable the toggle.

Like the blue ticks on WhatsApp, Instagram also alerts users when someone reads their seen by marking it as 'Seen'. If you are looking for a way to disable the feature, open app settings, head over to 'Messages and story replies', tap on 'Show read receipts' and disable the toggle.

If someone you know is bothering you on Instagram, there is a way to temporarily limit people's ability to interact through messages and comments. While this will prevent most interactions like mentions, and story replies and disable content remixing, you can choose if you want to allow people on your close friends list to text you.

To do so, find the option named 'Limit interactions' under 'How others can interact with you' and tune the toggle to your preferences. Instagram will also send you a reminder at the time of your choice in case you forgot to disable it.