Can You Hide That You Viewed An Instagram Story? How To Unsee Instagram Story

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To unsee an Instagram story that you accidentally viewed, deactivate your Instagram account for 48 hours. Since an Instagram story will only last for 24 hours, once this period ends, they won’t be able to see who viewed their story.

Ever since the Instagram Stories feature was launched, I have come up with a few tricks which will let you hide Instagram Story seen from another user’s story. The way I mentioned above is only one of them.

You can use these methods to view someone’s Instagram story and without notifying them on the Instagram website, Android, and iPhone. Moreover, it is possible to watch the stories of people without even following them but that is of course only possible for public accounts.

In case you have already accidentally viewed someone’s story on the Instagram app and looking to delete or undo your seen action from the viewer’s list then also we’ve got you covered. We will start with the same here.

Delete Or Undo Seen From Instagram Story Or Direct Messages (Video)

At times, it happens we view stories by mistake and at the same time, we don’t want the owner to know. The good news is that you can hide your view. Whether the profile whose story you have viewed is private or public the process to remove your seen remains the same. Here’s how.

The steps are the same and applicable to both Android and iOS devices.

YouTube player

Here are the step-by-step instructions.

  1. Open the Instagram app and go to the profile of the user whose story you viewed
  2. Now, tap on the 3 dots at the top right and select Block
Remove Seen from Instagram story viewers list
  1. Confirm your decision by selecting Block.
    Blocking the owner of the story will remove your view from their story and also delete the DM conversation with them. But there’s a catch.
  2. Wait for 24 hours… or forever.
    As soon as you unblock that particular user, your view will come back and appear again in the story viewers list. So, to counter this keep that person blocked until their story(photo/video) expires which you viewed. This means the maximum time you need to wait before unblocking them is 24 hours.
    In case you want to unsee a DM then you’ll have to keep them blocked. As once you unblock them the conversation will be back and they will be able to see the “Seen” or the read receipt.
  3. Unblock the user (for Stories only).
    To unblock someone, go to your profile and tap on the Hamburger menu icon at the top right and select Settings.
Instagram app settings

Next, tap on Privacy and security and select Blocked Users/Accounts.

Privacy - blocked accounts Instagram

Now, select that specific user. This will take you to their profile. Tap on 3 dots at top right on their profile and select Unblock. Confirm the same on the next pop-up box.

Undo Seen from Instagram Story
  1. Follow the user again if you still want to follow them.

After that story has expired, you will have to follow them (if you were following them earlier) again as blocking someone removes them from your following.

Another thing you should know is that blocking someone will make them unfollow you (if they were following you earlier). So, you stand a risk of losing a follower in case they don’t follow you afterward.

Don’t Miss: How To Add Temperature In Instagram Story

Here is another useful tutorial for Instagram stories: Add Multiple Photos Or Longer Videos To Instagram Stories. And if you want to unsee an Instagram DM, read about how to read Instagram messages without being seen.

Turn Off Your Internet Connection

One of the best ways to view someone’s Instagram story without them knowing is to do it with your internet off. When you do this, it doesn’t register on Instagram that you’ve viewed the story because you viewed it while offline. 

Here’s how to see someone’s story on Instagram without them knowing, by turning off your internet connection:

  1. Open the Instagram app and allow it to load, you want to be sure that the person’s story you want to view is showing in your app, so it loads.
    Instagram feed in mobile
  2. Once you’ve done that, turn off your internet connection.
    You can do this by tapping the Wi-Fi icon in your settings. If you’re using data, turn off your data connection. On the off chance you have both turned on, you can put your device on airplane mode to turn off all connections.
    Android quick settings tray with wifi option highlighted
  3. After you’ve turned off your internet connection, go back to Instagram and view the story you want.
    A screenshot of an Instagram Story
  4. Once you’ve viewed the story, you’ve got to stay off of Instagram until the story times out, so when you go back online, Instagram doesn’t retroactively register your view. Stories last for 24 hours, however, if you viewed it a while after it was posted, say 17 hours after it was posted (like the story in my screenshot above), you have to wait another 7 hours until it times out before you can go back on Instagram. 

FAQs

Can you unsee someone's Instagram story?

You can unsee someone’s Instagram story by deactivating your Instagram account for 48 hours. It works because Instagram stories “live” only for 24h.

Can you look at someone's Instagram story without them knowing?

You can view someone’s Instagram story without them knowing. One way you can do this is by using the Story Saver app on Android. It allows you to view the person’s Instagram story without their knowledge, and you can save it too.

Can someone see that I viewed their Instagram story if we are not friends?

If you view someone’s story on Instagram, they can see that you viewed their story even if you are not friends on the platform. It works both ways, if someone views your story, you can see that they viewed it even if you’re not friends, or they don’t follow you.

How To See Someone’s Story On Instagram Without Them Knowing – Wrapping Up

How’d you like this article?

I know that sometimes a situation can arise where you need to view Instagram stories privately, and I hope this guide helped you learn how to do just that. Whether you want to view someone’s story without them knowing or “unsee” a story when you accidentally viewed someone’s, I wanted to create a guide to solve these exact problems. 

If you’re looking for more Instagram tutorials, here’s how to unblock someone on Instagram and how to hide comments when you’re watching an Instagram live

Thank you again for reading, be sure to comment your thoughts below and share this article with your family and friends!

About The Author

  • Hemant Mendiratta

    Hemant Mendiratta is a co-founder of TechUntold and a passionate tech blogger, avid gamer, and social media guru who keenly monitors useful apps and gadgets. He is the ideator of our Instagram tool StoryHoot which allows watching Instagram stories anonymously. You can connect with him on: Facebook, Twitter.

Photo of author

Hemant Mendiratta

Hemant Mendiratta is a co-founder of TechUntold and a passionate tech blogger, avid gamer, and social media guru who keenly monitors useful apps and gadgets. He is the ideator of our Instagram tool StoryHoot which allows watching Instagram stories anonymously. You can connect with him on: Facebook, Twitter.

29 thoughts on “Can You Hide That You Viewed An Instagram Story? How To Unsee Instagram Story”

  1. Hi Hemant.
    I’m an Android user.
    If I block someone who has a public profile, will I still be able to see their stories?

    Or do I need to unblock them each time I want to view their stories?

    Reply
  2. You can simply block and unblock as much as you want and whenever you wish, though, no? You don’t necessarily have to wait the 24 hours or whatever, so long as you keep them blocked after viewing their story.

    Reply
  3. Hi,

    What can be done if one mistakenly unblocks the account before 24 hrs the story expires ?

    Can disabling the account for a day will help?

    Reply
    • Hi Belfunk,

      Yeah, I see these apps have been removed. I have updated the article with a method that can be used on smartphones both iOS and Android.
      I hope this helps 🙂

      Reply
  4. Now it seems like if you watch someone’s stories offline, the view will get registered as soon as you are online again 🙂
    Btw, I have a friend who watched my stories but I couldn’t see she watched it and that’s what made me come here. Could this also be because of some bugs?

    Reply
    • Hi Jonas, Yes I also see that now coming online notifies the owner of the story.
      Your friend might have viewed your story using any of the 1-3 methods mentioned in the article.

      Reply
  5. Hi! what if I own a second account, with a different email but I log with the same app on the same mobile phone? I mean, if I watch with the second one, when I will log in with the first one again, the name will be listed too? I thought not, but I am not sure anymore.

    Reply
    • Hi Hanna, multiple accounts are not dependent on each other. If you view the story with the second account using the trick. The view won’t be reflected when you switch to the first account on the same app.

      Reply
  6. Hi, what will happen if I block person after viewing his/her story? Will my name disappear from the list? Thanks for Answer:)

    Reply
    • Hi Ale, Yes on blocking that particular user, your name will no longer be there in the story viewers list. But I won’t recommend such an aggressive method if the sole purpose is only to view a story without notifying.

      Reply
  7. about method 1 does it matter that the photo or video is uploaded from ios or android device?
    does this method work for both of them ?

    Reply
    • Hi John,
      It does not depend on the smartphone(iOS or Android) from where the story was uploaded. It will work for both of them.

      Reply
  8. Your name is listed there and you can see only one picture/video. I have two accounts and i just tried this and its not working.

    Reply
    • Hi Milica,
      It is sad to hear that it didn’t work for you. But I am still able to use the same method to view Instagram story without letting the owner know about it.

      I have added a few more methods in the article. I hope one of them works for you. Let me know if you get it working.

      Reply
      • It’s any method to see on desktop someone’s instagram story without following them? I can see only my followings insta story’s (with using method 1)

        Reply

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