4 Ways to Set Your Instagram Story Privacy

Instagram Stories, often called Instastory or even SnapGram by some, is one of the most engaging features on Instagram. It's widely used for sharing daily activities, expressing feelings, or posting random snippets of your life.

Don't worry, Instagram lets you control who sees your Stories. You can choose to share them with everyone, just close friends, or specific people. You even have the option to hide your Stories from certain accounts.

Understanding these privacy settings can make your Instagram experience more enjoyable. Here’s how you can manage who sees your Stories.

How to Share Your Instastory Publicly

Sharing your Instastory with the public allows all your followers, and depending on your account settings, even non-followers to see it. Here's how:

1. Open the Instagram app.
2. Tap the blue plus sign or swipe right from the left side of your screen to start a new Story.

3. Take a photo or video live, or pick one from your phone's gallery.
4. Optionally edit your photo or video, then tap “Your story” to share it publicly. Remember, this means anyone might see it.

How to Share Your Insta story with Close Friends

If you prefer sharing your Insta story with just a select group of people, you can use the Close Friends feature. This allows you to share content exclusively with people you've marked as close friends. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open your Instagram app.
2. Tap the blue plus sign or swipe right from the left side of your screen to create a new Story.

3. Take a photo or video live, or choose one from your phone’s gallery.
4. Before posting, manage your Close Friends list by long pressing the “Close Friends” button.

4. Search for and select the friends you want to include, then tap “Done.”

5. If you're ready, feel free to edit your photo or video, and then press the “Close Friends” button to share your Story.

Your Story will appear with a green circle, indicating that it is private and only visible to your Close Friends list. This way, you can keep your more personal moments just between close connections.

How to Share Your Instastory to a Shared List

If you want to share your Instagram Stories with specific people without using the Close Friends feature, you can opt for Shared Lists. This allows you to create multiple lists with different groups of people tailored to each list. Here’s how to get started:

1. Open your Instagram app.
2. Tap the blue plus sign or swipe right from the left side of your screen to start a new Story.

3. Take a photo or video live, or select one from your phone’s gallery.
4. Tap the icon next to the Close Friends button.

5. If it’s your first time, select “Create your first shared list.”

6. If you already have lists, tap the white corner brackets, then select “Shared lists.”

7. Give your new list a name, choose a color for it, and then tap “Next” in the upper right corner.

8. Search for and select the people you want to add to this list, then tap the button at the bottom to create the list.

10. Once your list is set up, choose which list will see your Instastory and press the “Share” button to share it.

You can create as many lists as you like by tapping the blue “Create” text and repeating the steps. To add more people to an existing list, click on the “xx followers” under the list name and select “Add members.”

Remember, only the people included in the selected list will be able to see the Insta story you share.

How to Hide Your Insta story from Specific People

Sometimes, you might want to keep your Instagram Stories private from certain people. Fortunately, Instagram allows you to hide your Stories from specific users easily. Here's how you can do it:

1. Open your Instagram app.
2. There are two ways to get there, first, go to your profile and tap the three-line icon at the top right to open Settings and activity.

3. In Settings, select the “Hide story and live” option, then tap “Hide story and live from.”

4. Alternatively, you can swipe right from the left side of the screen to open the Instagram Story page. Then, tap the bolt icon at the top right to access Camera settings.

6. On the Story page, select the “Story” menu and tap the “0 people” option under Hide story from.

7. Once the option is open, find and select the people you want to hide your Story from.
8. When you’re done, tap “Done” at the top right to save your changes.

Now, the people you selected won’t be able to see your Instagram Story until you remove them from the list.

These steps help you manage your privacy on Instagram more comfortably. You can share your Stories with a select group, like close friends, or hide them from specific individuals. That’s it! Good luck!