Can you hide your active status from just one person on Instagram?

Yes: restrict that person. According to Instagram's Restrict page, a person that you restrict can't see when you're online. The other people who see your status today still see it. Restrict also changes other things. Your chat with that person moves to Message Requests, and their new comments on your posts stay hidden until you approve them.

Many guides say that you can't hide your status from one person. This guide compares the tools that people suggest, by what Instagram's own pages say about each one. Then it gives the steps to restrict someone, what changes for both of you, and what Restrict can't hide. For what the green dot and the time labels mean, see what Active now means on Instagram.

Which Instagram tools hide your status from one person?

Only Restrict. It is the one tool for a single person whose Instagram page says that it hides when you're online. The other tools for one person do different jobs, and their pages don't mention activity status.

What Instagram's help pages say about each tool and your active status.

Some answers online suggest Block instead. Instagram's page on blocking lists the effects on likes, comments, tags and messages, and it doesn't mention activity status. Block also does much more than hide a status. According to Instagram's guide to Block, Mute and Restrict, a blocked person can't search for your profile, see your content or send you messages.

Mute works in the other direction. It changes what you see from the person, not what they see from you. Instagram's mute page says that Instagram won't let them know that you muted them. Limits works on groups, such as recent followers, not on one person.

An unfollow isn't a dependable way either. Instagram's activity status page says that "people you follow and anyone you message" see your status. Instagram's page on who's active words the follow rule the other way round. Both pages agree on one point: anyone you message sees your status. So if you have a chat with the person, the follow doesn't decide it.

How do you restrict someone to hide your active status?

Restrict them from your chat. In the Instagram app for Android or iPhone, do these steps:

1. Tap Messages at the bottom.
2. Tap your chat with the person.
3. Tap the person's name at the top of the chat.
4. Tap Options at the top right, then tap Restrict.
5. Tap Restrict again to confirm.

If you have no chat with the person, go to their profile. Tap Options at the top right, then tap Restrict. On a computer, click their username to open their profile. Click Options at the top right, then click Restrict.

You can also use your settings. Go to your profile and tap Menu at the top right. Below How others can interact with you, tap Restricted, then tap Next. Search for the account and tap Restrict next to their username.

What else changes when you restrict someone?

Instagram made Restrict to help people deal with bullying, so it does more than hide your status. Instagram's Restrict page and its 2019 announcement list these changes:

• Your chat with the person moves from your main inbox to Message Requests. Their new messages go there too, and you get no notifications for them.
• They can't see whether you've read their messages.
• Their new comments on your posts are visible only to them. You can tap See comment, then Approve or Delete.
• They can't tag or mention you or remix your content. Instagram added this in May 2024.
• If you share a group chat with them, Instagram warns you that you'll see a restricted account's messages. You can stay in the group or leave it.

To undo it, go to their profile or to Restricted in your settings, and tap Unrestrict. According to the 2019 announcement, their future messages then go to your main inbox again.

Will the person know you hid your status?

Instagram doesn't tell them. Its guide to Block, Mute and Restrict says that you can restrict someone "without alerting them". On their side, your status stops showing, because they can't see when you're online.

A missing status has more than one possible cause. As why Instagram activity status isn't showing explains, the cause can be a setting that is off, a restriction, or a long break from Instagram. The person can't tell from the missing status alone which one it is. But Restrict can't stop them from asking themselves why your status is gone.

Does Restrict hide your status from last seen apps like iLS?

Yes, when the app reads Instagram through that person's account. iLS (instagram Last Seen) is one example. It signs in to its user's own Instagram account and opens a DM conversation with a contact. Then it reads the same status line that the user would see. So iLS can show your status only when Instagram shows it to that account.

If you restrict someone who uses iLS, its checks through their account can't show when you're online. When Instagram shows no status at all, the iLS report marks the check as No signal, as how to read the iLS report explains.

iLS has other limits too. It works only for a contact that the user already has a DM conversation with, and only when both people have activity status on. Each check opens the conversation, which can mark the contact's messages as read. Using iLS also breaks Instagram's Terms of Use and can get the user's account restricted. What that risk is and how to lower it gives the details.

What can't Restrict hide?

• Your status inside a chat or a group. Instagram's pages don't say whether Restrict also hides In the chat or Typing..., or your status in a group chat that you share.
• Your status on Threads. According to Instagram's page on restricting on Threads, a restriction on Instagram doesn't restrict the person on Threads. Threads has its own online status setting.
• Their other accounts. The Restrict page describes one account at a time. If the person has a second account, restrict that account too.
• Your posts and stories. The Restrict page doesn't list your posts or stories among the things that it hides.
• What they decide from a missing status. Restrict hides the status, not the fact that it's missing.