Whether you feel it’s an invasion of your privacy, or you just don’t like other users knowing when you’re online or offline, turning off the Active Status (or ‘Activity Status’) on Instagram is super easy.
To learn how to do so, simply follow our step-by-step tutorial. 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 turn off Active Status on Instagram (iOS/Android)
- Open up the Instagram app on your mobile or tablet device, and sign in to your Instagram account if necessary
- First, tap on your Profile icon in the bottom-right of the page
- Next, tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right
- From the pop-out menu, select ‘Settings’ (right down at the bottom)
- Then, select ‘Privacy’
- Scroll down and tap on ‘Activity status’
- Finally, toggle the blue ‘Show activity status’ button to OFF (it will turn grey, indicating it is now off)
- To turn Active Status back on at any point, simply repeat steps 1-6, but at step 7, toggle the button from OFF to ON instead (grey to blue)
How to turn off Active Status on Instagram (desktop)
- Navigate to the Instagram website and sign in
- Click on your Profile icon in the top-right, and then from the drop-down menu, click ‘Settings’
- In the left-hand sidebar, click ‘Privacy and Security’
- Finally, under ‘Activity Status’ simply uncheck/untick the ‘Show Activity Status’ box to turn this feature OFF
- To turn it back on at any time, follow steps 1-3, but in step 4, check/tick the box to set it ON, instead of unchecking/unticking it.
And there you have it! As easy as that you can turn Active Status off and stop people from knowing when you are or aren’t online.
For any additional information or queries, see the FAQs below.
Frequently asked questions
What is Active Status on Instagram?
Active Status on Instagram is the setting which dictates whether your friends and followers (or anyone else who can view your profile, for that matter) is able to see when you are or are not actually using Instagram.
Put in other words, when you are on the Instagram app, your ‘online status’ is shown to your followers and those who can see your profile. Whereas, when you toggle Active Status to OFF, whether you are using Instagram or not, it will always appear to other users as if you are offline.
Why would I want to turn it off?
There are any number of reasons why you might want to turn Active Status on Instagram off. You may feel like Instagram telling others when you’re online is an invasion of your privacy, or you may dislike the idea for another personal reason. Perhaps you’ve got a lot of followers, and some of them try to message you whenever they can see you’re online.
Whatever your reasoning, it’s perfectly reasonable to decide that you’d rather turn this setting off, and thankfully, to do so is easy. Simply follow our step-by-step guide above and you can toggle the Active Status on your Instagram profile off in just a few taps.
