SMSD Tech Support Center

Instagram Privacy Information

How do I set my Instagram account to private so that only approved followers can see what I share?

By default, anyone can see your profile and posts on Instagram. You can make your account private so that only followers you approve can see what you share. If your account is set to private, only your approved followers will see your photos or videos on hashtag or location pages.

Set your account to private from the Instagram app on your Android or iOS device

1. Go to your profile, then tap .
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Privacy > Account Privacy.
4. Tap next to Private Account to make your account private.

Set your account to private on your computer or mobile browser

1. Go to instagram.com on your computer or mobile browser.
2. Click , then click .
3. Click Privacy and Security.
4. Below Account Privacy, click to check the box next to Private Account.

Things to keep in mind about private accounts

• Private posts you share to social networks may be visible to the public depending on your privacy settings for those networks. For example, a post you share to Twitter that was set to private on Instagram may be visible to the people who can see your Twitter posts.
• Once you make your account private, people will have to send you a follow request to see your posts, your followers list or your following list.
• Follow requests appear in Activity, where you can approve or ignore them.
• If someone was already following you before you set your posts to private and you don't want them to see your posts, you can block them.
• People can send a photo or video directly to you even if they’re not following you.

How do I approve or deny a follower request?

If your account is set to private, anyone who wants to see your photos or videos will have to send you a follower request. Follow Requests will appear in your Activity.

To approve a request, tap Confirm. To deny a request, tap Delete (iPhone) or x (Android).

How do I remove a follower?

If your account is set to private, you can remove people from your followers list:

1. Go to your profile
2. Tap Followers at the top of the screen
3. Tap (iPhone) or (Android) to the right of the follower you'd like to remove, then select Remove

When you remove a follower, they aren't notified that you've removed them.

You can also block someone to get them to stop following you. People aren't notified when you block them. Learn more about blocking people.

Blocking People

How do I block or unblock someone on Instagram?

To block or unblock someone:

1. Tap their username to go to their profile.
2. Tap (iPhone/iPad/computer) or (Android) in the top right.
3. Tap Block or Unblock.
4. Tap Block or Unblock again to confirm.

People aren't notified when you block them. 

• After you block someone, your messaging threads with them will remain in your Direct inbox, but you won't be able to message them.
• If the person you blocked sends you any messages in Direct, you won't receive those messages, and they won't be delivered later if you unblock them.

Note: After you block someone, their likes and comments aren't removed from your photos and videos. You can delete their comments from your posts.

How do I report a message that was sent to me or stop someone from sending me messages?

You can report abusive photos, videos and messages that are sent to you with Instagram Direct:

1. Open the conversation in the Instagram app.
2. Tap and hold the individual message you'd like to report.
3. Tap Report.
4. Select a reason for why you're reporting the message and then tap Report.

If you'd like to report a post from Feed that was sent to you with Instagram Direct, you can tap the post and report it.

If you want to stop someone from sending you messages, you can block that person or report their profile. 

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If your child’s Google Account is managed with Family Link, you can set up parental controls for them.

How Google Play parental controls work

• Parental controls work on Android devices where your child is signed in to their Google Account.
• A parent in the family group needs to use their Google Account password to set up or change their child's parental control settings.

Set up parental controls

1. Open the Family Link app .
2. Select your child.
3. Tap Manage settings Controls on Google Play.
4. Tap the type of content you want to filter.
5. Choose how to filter or restrict access.

Important: You can also manage this setting by clicking on your child's name at families.google.com.

Note: Parental controls don't prevent seeing restricted content as a search result or through a direct link.

Note: You or your child will still be able to see any apps and games you downloaded before you added parental controls, even if they're outside of the rating you set. If your child’s account is supervised with Family Link, you can block these apps on their Android devices.