How to Mute Someone on Instagram*

You can mute someone on Instagram* to hide their posts, stories, and notes without unfollowing or blocking. Instagram* doesn’t notify them, and you can unmute anytime. You stay connected while their content stops appearing in your feed. This guide covers posts, stories, notes, messages, and how it differs from restrict and block.

What Does Muting on Instagram* Mean?

Muting is a quiet way to clean up your feed. You stay connected with the person, but their content stops appearing in your main feed and stories tray. You can mute posts, stories, and notes separately. The person is never alerted. You can still visit their profile, like, comment, and send messages. Muting is not the same as unfollowing or blocking. It simply gives you control over what you see every day.

You might mute an account that posts too often, shares content you find irrelevant, or goes through a phase you’d rather skip. Because muting is reversible and invisible, it’s a low‑pressure tool. You can unmute at any time and everything returns to normal. The muted account will not appear in your feed, but you remain in their follower list. They can still see your posts and interact with you as usual.

Muting is especially useful for managing a busy feed without hurting relationships. For example, you can mute a friend’s excessive story updates while still seeing their main posts. Or you can mute a brand temporarily during a sale season. The flexibility makes it one of the most underused features for a calmer Instagram* experience.

How to Mute Someone’s Posts and Stories

You can mute both posts and stories from a profile or directly from a post. The steps are simple and take only a few seconds.

From the profile:

1. Go to the profile of the person you want to mute.
2. Tap the Following button (or Follow if you don’t follow them yet).
3. Tap Mute from the menu.
4. Toggle on Posts to hide their feed posts. Toggle on Stories to hide their stories. You can enable one or both.
5. Tap the back arrow or close the menu. The changes save instantly.

From a post in your feed:

1. Tap the three dots (…) at the top right of any post from that account.
2. Select Mute.
3. Choose Mute Posts to stop seeing their feed posts. This does not mute their stories.
4. Confirm if prompted.

Once muted, their posts won’t appear in your home feed. Their stories won’t show in the stories bar at the top of your feed. You can still see their content by visiting their profile directly. The mute settings are independent, so you can hide only stories while keeping posts visible, or vice versa.

While you fine‑tune your feed, you might also want to grow your own audience. If you’re looking to boost your presence, you can buy Instagram* followers to give your profile a stronger start.

How to Mute Instagram* Stories Only

Sometimes you want to keep seeing someone’s posts but skip their stories. Instagram* lets you mute stories without touching posts.

From the stories tray:

1. Find their story circle at the top of your feed.
2. Press and hold the circle until a menu appears.
3. Tap Mute.
4. Select Mute Story. Their stories will disappear from the tray immediately.

From their profile:

1. Go to their profile.
2. Tap Following, then Mute.
3. Toggle on Stories and leave Posts off.
4. Close the menu.

Muted stories won’t appear in the tray, but you can still watch them if you visit the profile and tap their profile picture. The person will never know you muted their stories. This is perfect for acquaintances who post dozens of story slides daily. You remain a follower, and you can catch up on your own terms by visiting their profile.

How to Mute Notes and Messages

Instagram* Notes are short status updates that appear at the top of your inbox. You can mute them separately from posts and stories. Messages can also be muted to silence notifications.

Mute Notes:

1. Open the profile of the person whose Notes you want to hide.
2. Tap Following, then Mute.
3. Toggle on Notes. Their Notes will no longer appear in your inbox header.
4. Close the menu.

Mute message notifications:

1. Open the chat with the person.
2. Tap their name at the top of the conversation.
3. Tap Notifications.
4. Toggle on Mute Messages. You can also choose to mute calls if needed.
5. Select a duration (e.g., 8 hours, 1 week, or indefinitely).

Alternatively, from your inbox, swipe left on the chat and tap Mute. This silences notifications but does not hide the chat. You will still see new messages when you open the conversation. The sender is not notified. Muting messages is helpful for group chats that are too active or for individuals who message at odd hours. You stay in the conversation without constant pings.

For official guidance on managing your inbox, visit the Instagram* Help Center at help.instagram.com.

How to Unmute Someone on Instagram*

Unmuting is just as easy as muting. You can reverse the setting at any time, and the person will never know you had them muted.

To unmute posts or stories:

1. Go to the profile of the muted account.
2. Tap Following, then Mute.
3. Toggle off Posts and/or Stories. The content will reappear in your feed and stories tray immediately.

To unmute Notes:

1. Follow the same path and toggle off Notes.

To unmute messages:

1. Open the chat, tap the person’s name, then Notifications.
2. Toggle off Mute Messages. Notifications will resume.

There is no time limit on muting. You can leave someone muted for years and unmute them whenever you like. Instagram* does not send any alert when you unmute, so the transition is seamless.

Mute vs Restrict vs Block: A Quick Comparison

Instagram* offers three ways to manage interactions: mute, restrict, and block. They serve different purposes. The table below summarizes the key differences.

Mute is purely about what you see. Restrict is for quietly limiting someone’s interactions without them knowing. Block is the nuclear option that cuts all ties. Choose mute when you just need a break from someone’s content. Choose restrict if someone is leaving unwanted comments but you don’t want to escalate. Choose block only when you want no contact at all.

Does Muting Someone on Instagram* Notify Them?

No. Instagram* does not send any notification when you mute someone. The person will not receive an alert, a message, or any indication that you have muted their posts, stories, notes, or messages. Muting is completely private.

They can still see your content, like your posts, reply to your stories, and send you messages. From their perspective, nothing changes. The only way they might suspect something is if you suddenly stop engaging with their content. Even then, there is no official notice. Muting is designed to be a silent, personal curation tool.

FAQ

Can I mute someone I don’t follow?

Yes. You can mute an account even if you don’t follow them. Go to their profile, tap the Follow button, then select Mute. Toggle on the content types you want to hide. This is useful for public accounts that appear in your Explore feed or are suggested to you. You won’t see their posts or stories in your feed, but you still won’t be following them.

Will muting someone affect my ability to see their old posts or stories?

No. Muting only stops new content from appearing in your feed and stories tray. You can still visit their profile anytime and see all their posts, story highlights, and any active story by tapping their profile picture. Nothing is deleted or hidden from their profile view.

If I mute someone’s stories, can they see that I viewed their story?

Yes. Muting stories does not affect story view counts. If you visit their profile and tap their story to watch it, they will see your name in the viewers list just like any other follower. Muting only removes the story from the tray at the top of your feed; it doesn’t make you invisible.

How do I know if I’ve muted someone?

Instagram* doesn’t show a muted icon on profiles, but you can check your mute settings. Go to the person’s profile, tap Following, then Mute. If the toggles for Posts, Stories, or Notes are on, that content is muted. You can also review all muted accounts in your settings under Privacy and Security > Muted Accounts (the exact path may vary slightly by app version).

Can I mute someone’s live videos?

Muting a person’s posts and stories does not automatically mute their live videos. If they go live, you may still see a notification or a live badge on their profile picture. You can mute live notifications separately by going to their profile, tapping the bell icon (if available), and adjusting live video notifications. Alternatively, you can mute the account entirely, but live videos are often treated like stories and may still appear in some contexts. To avoid seeing a live video, simply don’t tap on it.

What’s the difference between muting and taking a break?

Instagram*’s “Take a Break” feature is a reminder you set for yourself to limit overall app usage. It doesn’t target specific accounts. Muting is account‑specific and hides content from particular people. You can use both together: mute noisy accounts and set a break reminder to reduce your overall screen time.

Prepared with AI assistance by the LikeMan editorial team. Last reviewed: 2026-10-24.