If you want to take some time for yourself and turn off that active status on Instagram, you’ve come to the right place. Instagram shows when you’re online or last active, which can be helpful, but it can also interrupt your flow, especially if you’re a creative who needs quiet time to focus. Constantly being marked as “active” can mess with your flow and productivity. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to turn off your active status, giving you more control over your Instagram and allowing you to focus on your creative work. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents:
What Does Being Active on Instagram Mean?
When you’re “active” on Instagram, it means that the app is showing other people when you’re online or how recently you’ve been on the app. For example, if you’re on Instagram right now, your friends or followers might see a little green dot next to your name, letting them know you’re active. If you haven’t been on Instagram for a while, it might show the last time you were active, like “active 3 hours ago.”
How Can One See Who is Active on Instagram?
- Look for the Green Dot: When someone is online, you’ll see a small green dot next to their profile picture in your direct messages (DMs) or on their profile. This means they’re currently active on Instagram.
- Check Your Messages: In your Instagram DMs, if someone is active, you’ll also see “Active now” under their name or something like “Active 10 minutes ago” if they’ve been active recently.
- Story Replies: If someone replies to your story, you might also see their active status next to their message. If they’re active, it will say “Active now” or show the time they were last active.
Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Off Active Status on Instagram:
For Mobile:
- Open Instagram on your phone.
- Go to your profile by tapping your profile picture at the bottom right corner.
- Once you’re on your profile, tap the three horizontal lines in the top right corner to open the menu.
- Now, scroll down a bit and look for a section called “How Others Interact With You.”
- Under that, tap on “Messages and Story Replies.”
- You’ll see an option for “Show Activity Status.”
- To turn it off, just toggle the switch next to it. Once it’s off, people won’t be able to see when you’re online or when you were last active.
For Desktop:
1. First, go to your profile by clicking on your profile picture in the top right corner.
2. Click on “More” at the bottom left of the screen (the three dots).
3. From the menu that opens, click “Settings.”
4. Scroll down until you see “How Others Can Interact With You.”
5. Under that section, click on “Messages and Story Replies.”
6. You’ll find “Show Activity Status” there.
7. Just toggle it off to make sure no one can see when you’re online.
Other Alternatives to Turning Off Active Status
If you don’t want to completely turn off your active status but still want to manage how you interact with others on Instagram, there are some other options you can try:
1. Use Quiet Mode
Quiet Mode helps you focus by silencing notifications for a set period of time. To turn on Quiet Mode:
- Go to your Instagram settings by tapping your profile picture, then the three horizontal lines.
- Tap on “Notifications” and choose “Quiet Mode.”
- You can choose how long you want to be in Quiet Mode, whether it’s for a few hours or a whole day.
- This will stop all notifications from coming in while you work, and no one will see when you’re active.
2. Adjust Notifications
If you’re getting too many notifications but don’t want to miss important messages, you can make changes to your notification settings:
- Go to your profile and tap the three horizontal lines, then go to Settings > Notifications.
- From there, you can choose which notifications you want to keep, for example, messages, story replies, or likes, and turn off the ones you don’t need.
3. Mute Users
If you find certain people’s activity distracting, you can mute them. Muting someone stops their posts and stories from showing up on your feed without them knowing. Here’s how you can mute a profile:
- Go to their profile and tap the three dots in the top right corner.
- Select Mute, and select whether you want to mute their posts, stories, or both.
4. Block If Necessary
If you need more privacy or are constantly getting unwanted messages, you can block someone on instagram too. Blocking someone means they won’t be able to see your profile or interact with you in any way. Here’s how you can block someone on Instagram:
- Go to their profile, tap the three dots in the top right corner, and select Block.
Pro Tip: How to Make the Most of Your Instagram Visitors
Even though you might want to step back from constantly being notified or interacting, you still want your Instagram visitors to engage with your work and discover what you offer. So how do you make the most of those visitors without the constant notification or interaction? One way to do this is by using link in bio tools like CheckYa. While Instagram allows you to add up to five links in your bio, it can be limiting and not very user-friendly. The links aren’t easy to access, and it can feel a bit clunky when trying to direct people to multiple places.
With CheckYa, you can simplify all of that. It lets you list all your important links in one neat, user-friendly page. You can use this page to add affiliate links, sell freebies, collect emails, offer free and paid consultations, sell digital downloads, and even receive donations or support, all through a single link in your bio. This way, you’re still making the most of your visitors by giving them access to everything you offer, without having to be notified all the time. Here’s an example of how a link in bio page on CheckYa would look like.
Conclusion:
Now that you know how to turn off your active status on Instagram, you have a lot more control over your privacy and how you interact with others, the next time you feel the need to step away from Instagram, try using these options to keep things balanced.
