As an Instagram user, you have the option to make your profile public or private. If your account is public, your followers and non-followers will be able to interact with your posts and see who you follow and who follows you.

This way, your Instagram friends are visible to everyone. However, you can “hide” your friends by limiting the visibility of your Instagram account.

This article highlights how you can go about each option and what impact it has on “hiding” your friends on the app.

Why Would You Need to Hide Your Friends on Instagram?

Although social networks are primarily for connecting with your friends and catching a glimpse of other people’s lives, it’s become a malicious tool in the hands of stalkers and cyberbullies.

  • Why Would You Need to Hide Your Friends on Instagram?How To Change Your Account From Public To PrivateHow To Restrict Someone From Your AccountHow To Block Someone On InstagramConclusion

It’s easy to look up a person on a social network and interact with them as you wish. However, these social networks prioritize their users’ privacy and security, giving them features to control who has access to their accounts.

On Instagram, you might need to hide your friends from a stalker or cyberbully who knows they can access them through your account.

This is because Instagram will display your followers and the following list to anyone as long as your page is public.

If you need to control that, you’re open to three options, including turning your account private, restricting the person/persons, or blocking them.

The concept of turning your page private isn’t new, and neither is blocking. But if you restrict someone on Instagram, you’re stifling their access to your Instagram account.

A person you restrict on your Instagram will not know when you’re online, won’t see if you’ve read their messages, and their comments on your posts will be hidden until you choose to see them.

How To Change Your Account From Public To Private

Before making your account private because you want to hide your friends, you must ensure your followers are trustworthy.

You don’t want to make your account private with the person stalking your friends; hence you must be sure of your circle of friends. Once you make your account private, people will only be able to see your number of followers and the people you follow.

The accounts of the people you follow or people that follow you will remain hidden till a person’s request is accepted to become your follower.

It’s pretty simple to make your account private, whether on your iOS or Android device. These are the steps to follow to do so:

  • Click on your Instagram app icon to launch and login if you haven’t already.Tap on the profile icon to the right of the bottom navigation bar.Click on the three-line menu at the top of your profile page and select “Settings”.Click on “Privacy”.Toggle on “Private account”.

How To Restrict Someone From Your Account

Restricting a person from your account doesn’t exactly hide your friends from them. However, you can ask your friends to restrict the person, so they have limited access to them.

As mentioned earlier, this restriction means invisible comments, hidden activity status, and toggling off the read receipt for your messages.

You can restrict an account from your Instagram, either on your Android or iOS device, in the following steps:

  • Launch your Instagram app and sign in if you haven’t.Click on the profile icon to the far right of the bottom navigation bar.Tap on the three-line menu at the top right of the profile page.Click on “Settings” and then tap on “Privacy”.Tap on “Connections” and continue to “Restricted Accounts”.On the page that appears, tap “continue” and type in the account you want to restrict in the search box. Once the name pops up, tap on the “Restrict” button beside their name.

How To Block Someone On Instagram

Blocking a person on Instagram totally cuts them off from viewing your profile.

It’s the surest way to hide your friends from a person on Instagram and more if you don’t want the person interacting with your posts.

Whether you’re using an Android or iOS device, follow these steps to block a person from your Instagram:

  • Launch your Instagram and sign in.Go to the search box and enter the account name you want to block.Click on their profile icon to open the page.Click on the three-dot icon at the top right.Tap on the “Block” option in the menu that appears.Confirm that you want to block the person in the pop-up message that appears.

When an account is blocked, they won’t be able to search for your account, tag you, or mention your username in any post. The block option literally cuts off any ties you have with a person on Instagram.

Conclusion

Although you can’t directly hide your friends from any account on Instagram, these are the alternatives you can explore.

If you think the person is a threat to you or your friends, you can report the account to Instagram.

If it goes beyond Instagram, be sure to alert the appropriate authorities.