Instagram might seem like a place where you can express yourself infinitely and without restrictions, but not so. Like most social media, Instagram presents only the illusion of choice. In fact, they are still very much in control of what you can and can’t show on your profile (for better or worse).
One of the things you cannot escape, no matter how hard you try, is the displaying of your followers and following numbers on your profile. Unfortunately, there just isn’t any way to hide your followers.
However, all hope is not lost. You can still take measures to ensure your profile is as private as possible, meaning that only your followers can actually see your followers list; in turn prohibiting any non-follower visitors from seeing this – in effect, ‘hiding’ the followers list from others.
To learn how, just follow our tutorial below. For any additional information, or if you have any other questions, see our FAQs at the end of this article.
Table of Contents
How to hide followers on Instagram (desktop and mobile)
- Open up the Instagram app or website, and sign into your account if prompted
- Head to your profile by hitting the profile icon in the bottom-right (mobile) or top-right (desktop – then click ‘Profile’ again)
- Next, tap the hamburger menu in the top-right and ‘Settings’ (mobile), or click on the Settings cog-icon to the right of your profile name (desktop)
- Now, tap or click on ‘Privacy’ (mobile) or ‘Privacy and Security’ (desktop)
- Lastly, toggle the ‘Private account’ setting to ON (mobile) or tick/check the empty box next to ‘Private account’ (desktop)
- You have successfully made your account and profile private, ensuring that your followers list is effectively ‘hidden’ from all non-followers
And there you have it. We know it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s the best that Instagram’s restrictions afford you, so do consider giving it a go. If you’d like any more information, or if you have more questions, see the FAQs below.
Frequently asked questions
Why would I want to hide my followers on Instagram?
In an ever-changing world of digital access to infinite quantities of information, it can be a little disturbing to know that your private details and information make up a part of the info available on the internet. As such, privacy has become a treasured and valued asset.
Unfortunately, privacy is not always an easy thing to achieve, especially on social media platforms which actually profit off of the public availability of your user habits, info, and data. This goes for Instagram, owned by Facebook (who have been the target in recent years of investigations into their monetization of user’s personal information).
As part of a push to be as private as possible on Instagram, you may well wish to hide the number of followers you have on your profile, whether to protect yourself or them.
Why does Instagram not allow me to hide my followers and following?
Unfortunately, Instagram actually makes it impossible to hide your followers from your profile. This does make some sense since the number of followers your account has corresponds directly to how popular it is, how much money you (and Instagram) can make from it, whilst of course acting as a signpost to others of how high-quality your content is likely to be.
Still, it kind of sucks that you can’t control whether it’s displayed on your profile or not, doesn’t it? We certainly think so, which is why we’re here to help teach you how to do the next best thing when it comes to your privacy.
Whilst you can’t actually hide your followers from your profile, thankfully, there are still some measures you can take to increase your privacy on Instagram.
What measures can I take to ensure my followers list is made more private?
Really the only course of action left open to you is to make your account private. Now, whilst this might seem like a pretty extreme recourse, it won’t actually affect you or the potential for the popularity of your account much at all. All that making your account private really means is that new visitors to your profile will not be able to see your feed posts until they request to follow you and you accept.
What it does in terms of making your followers hidden, though, is that it ensures only your followers can view your list of other followers – no one else can until they also follow you, and you approve their request. It’s not quite the same as hiding your followers, sure, but it’s the next best thing, and really the only thing you can do, thanks to Instagram’s stringent policies.
