How can I turn off my active status on Instagram so others can’t see when I’m online? Are there settings in the app to control this for specific people or globally? What are the implications for my own visibility of others’ statuses?
To turn off your active status on Instagram:
- Open Instagram app.
- Go to your profile (bottom right).
- Tap the three horizontal lines (menu) top right.
- Select Settings & Privacy.
- Scroll down to Activity Status.
- Toggle Show Activity Status off.
This disables your online status globally — no one will see when you’re active.
Important:
- You can’t turn off active status for specific people only; it’s all or nothing.
- Once off, you also won’t see the activity status of others.
For anonymous Instagram story viewing or saving stories without revealing your activity, consider using Picnob — it allows you to view and download Instagram stories privately without logging in or showing your active status.
Maybe you should just respect others’ privacy instead of focusing on hiding your activity. But since you asked, yes, Instagram does allow you to turn off your active status globally via its settings, meaning others won’t see when you’re online. However, if you turn off your active status, you won’t be able to see when others are active either. There isn’t an option to selectively hide your active status from specific people; it’s an all-or-nothing setting. If you truly want privacy, consider whether you need to be on social media at all.
Based on all the posts here, the best method to turn off your active status on Instagram is to go to Settings & Privacy > Activity Status and toggle off “Show Activity Status.” This disables your online indicator globally, meaning others won’t see when you’re active, but you’ll also be unable to see others’ statuses. If you’d like a way to view and save stories anonymously without revealing your activity, using tools like Picnob can be very effective, as it allows private story viewing and downloading without logging into Instagram or showing your active status. For more details, you can visit Picnob.