If you’re a live-streamer on Instagram, frustrated by the inattention of your viewers thanks to the commenting system, worried about users posting inappropriate content, or just sick of the comments taking up so much space during your stream, you’ll want to know how to hide the comments on Instagram Live.
Thankfully, the process is pretty easy. To learn how to hide comments on Instagram Live, simply follow our step-by-step tutorial below.
For any additional information, or if you have any further questions, see our FAQs at the end of this article.
Table of Contents
- Frequently asked questions
- What is Instagram Live?
- Why would I want to hide comments on Instagram Live?
- Can viewers still comment despite the comments being hidden?
- Can I still see the comments later even if I hide them?
- How do I unhide comments on Instagram Live?
- I used to be able to hide comments as a viewer easily, why has this changed?
- Related Posts
How to hide comments on Instagram Live (iOS/Android)
- Open up the Instagram app on your mobile or tablet device and sign into your account if necessary
- Tap the (+) icon toward the top of your screen (when on the homepage)
- Next, scroll along to ‘Live’ from the options at the bottom of the screen
- Tap the Live Record button in the bottom-centre of your screen to begin live-streaming
- To ‘hide’ comments, what you actually need to do is to disable them. To do so, tap on the three dots you see in the comment textbox in the bottom-left of your screen
- From the pop-up options, select ‘Turn Off Commenting’
- You have successfully disabled the ability of your viewers (and yourself) to comment on your Instagram Live, effectively hiding any potential comments from popping up and interrupting your stream
And there you have it! It’s a pretty straightforward system, despite it being frustrating that you can’t just ‘hide’ the comments, you actually have to stop them from being made altogether.
If you need any additional help, we recommend checking out our FAQs below.
Frequently asked questions
What is Instagram Live?
Live-streaming is an interesting facet of the modern world. Of course, we’ve had versions of it for decades – news reporters reporting live from around the globe on the six o’clock news on TV, for example. However, in 2021, live streaming has really become its own entity, separate from traditional mediums.
Live-streaming essentially just means that you begin videoing yourself or your surroundings, and the ‘stream’ of that video is uploaded in real-time to your chosen platform. In this case, of course, that platform is Instagram. You can find live streams in the stories panel at the top of the homepage, and may even be notified when an account you follow begins a live stream.
Live streams can be utilized for any number of things. You may be a business live-streaming the opening of a new venue or taking your followers on a virtual tour of your office or shop. Perhaps you’re a performer delivering a virtual stage show or a podcaster podcasting live from home. Maybe you’re just a regular joe who’d like to share an element of their day with the viewing public. Who knows what it is you want to live-stream? Honestly, the possibilities are endless.
Why would I want to hide comments on Instagram Live?
When hosting or watching an Instagram Live, you’ll notice that the likes, reactions, and comments made by you or other viewers appear in a scrolling chat toward the bottom of the screen. This can be super interesting since it creates a virtual sense of community. It can also, however, be pretty infuriating, especially when that community is maybe several hundred (or even thousand) people strong, and growing.
If you’re finding the comments distracting during your Instagram Live stream, it’s super handy to know how to turn them off. Of course, it might also be necessary, should there be offensive or inappropriate comments popping up during a stream intended to be inclusive or even child-friendly. As a viewer, too, you might just want to clear the screen so that all you see is the actual stream, and don’t have to concern yourself with what anyone else is saying about it or thinking about it.
It may also simply be the case that you want your viewers to focus on your content/performance, rather than distracting themselves with comments and the micro-conversations which they elicit.
No. Despite us calling it ‘hiding’ the comments, you are actually turning the entire commenting feature off. In other words, you have to fully disable the ability of your viewers to comment on your Live feed in order to ‘hide’ the comments from the screen.
Can I still see the comments later even if I hide them?
Since you’re actually disabling the comments, there is no way for users to still post comments during your Live stream so long as you’ve got the feature turned off. As such, you’ll not see any comments unless you have the commenting ability enabled.
How do I unhide comments on Instagram Live?
That’s easy! Just follow the steps we walk you through above, but instead of turning commenting off, just turn it back on instead.
I used to be able to hide comments as a viewer easily, why has this changed?
It used to be that when you watched an Instagram Live as a viewer, you could simply tap on the part of the screen free of comments, and the comments would be hidden so that the only thing on your screen was the actual footage of the Live stream. Unfortunately, as part of the social media big guns’ ongoing efforts to tie us closer and closer into their apps, you can no longer do this.
Instead, the comments you see on Instagram Live have been made a permanent, un-hideable feature of the live stream, in a bid to get you to take part in them. Only if the streamer themselves disables commenting will the comments be hidden to you.
