How to read Instagram DMs WITHOUT being seen or ‘opening’ them

READING Instagram messages without being “seen” is handy – and very easy.

We reveal a handy method of checking on Instagram DMs without having “opened” them in the eyes of the sender.

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You can switch that setting off, but that’ll affect all of your contacts – which isn’t ideal.

And it’ll also stop you being able to see when people have read your messages.

However, you can use Instagram’s new Restrict feature to read a pal’s DMs without triggering the ‘Seen’ icon.

“They won’t be able to see when you’re online, or if you’ve read their messages,” Instagram explains.

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Of course, you’ll have to put up with a few other changes relating to Restrict.

For a start, the person’s new comments on your posts will only be visible to that person.

You can choose to see the comment by tapping See Comment.

And if you want others to be able to see their comment, you can tap Approve.

Alternatively, you can just delete it or ignore it.

You also won’t receive any notifications for future comments from the Restricted person.

That’s because this feature is designed to tackle bullying or harassment. However, it’s also useful for Instagram sleuths who want to read messages in stealth mode.

How to Restrict someone on Instagram

To Restrict someone through DMs, tap the DM icon and enter the chat with the person you want to restrict.

Then tap the “i” icon in the top right of the chat, and tap Restrict > Restrict Account.

You can also Restrict someone through a comment on your post.

Find their comment and swipe left over it (iPhone) or tap and hold it (Android).

Then tap the “!” symbol and press Restrict > Restrict Account.

Alternatively, you can Restrict people through Settings.

Go to your profile and tap the icon that looks like three stacked lines.

Then tap Settings, then Privacy, and then Restricted Accounts.

Tap Continue and then search for the account that you’d like to Restrict.

Next, simply tap Restrict next to their username and the setting will be a activated.

The final way to Restrict someone is to do it through their profile.

Find their profile then tap the icon that looks like three dots (horizontally on iPhone or vertically on Android) in the top right.

Then simply tap Restrict > Restrict Account.

It’s worth noting that the Restrict feature was only added to Instagram very recently.

So if you can’t see it, make sure you’ve updated your Instagram app to the latest version on the App Store or Google Play Store.

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In other news, Instagram now lets you send DMs using the desktop website.

Facebook Messenger Rooms lets you create 50-person video calls.

And WhatsApp is preparing for a major update.

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