Can People See When you Look at their Instagram? Well, Yes and No…

Let’s be honest, we’re all guilty of the occasional Instagram snoop!

We like to pretend we’re private detectives, snooping through people’s profiles, checking out their photos, and generally just being curious.

It’s nothing to be ashamed of but you’re probably wondering if people can see when you look at their Instagram.

Related: How to Know Who Viewed Your Instagram Video or Story

After all, the last thing you want is to be is called out but a former colleague or partner.

Good news – the short answer is no, people won’t know if you look at their Instagram photos, but this doesn’t apply to Stories or videos.

Let’s start with when people can see when you look at their Instagram…

Instagram Stories are a relatively new feature. They enable users to post fleeting photos, complete with captions and filters. 

Related: How to Edit Vertical Video for Instagram and IGTV

Instagram Stories work a little differently than the rest of the platform and you can actually see a list of users that viewed your story.

These users will be listed no matter their privacy settings. 

So, if part of your Insta-snooping involves browsing stories, be prepared to have your identity known!

Most of Instagram, however, is fair game.

From day one, Instagram hasn’t told users when somebody visits their profile or views one of their photos.

This means you can scroll through somebody’s photos and they’ll be none the wiser.

Yes, Instagram’s algorithm will know (that’s how they recommend similar content in the search tab) but that information won’t be passed on to other users.

The only content you need to watch out for are videos.  Keep in mind that a view counts as 3 seconds or more of watching, so if you accidentally stumble across a two-year-old video of your ex, make sure you get out of there quickly.

To summarize:

People will know if you watch one of their videos, or view one of their Stories. These are best avoided if you want to remain undetected.

However, people won’t know if you view their profile page or their photos so you can snoop there to your heart’s content.

Of course, whatever you do, don’t accidentally hit “Like”!