Effective Ways How to Turn Off Read Receipts on Instagram

Share

Instagram is undoubtedly one of the most used social media platforms. The platform is said to have more than 1 billion active users and thus is considered as the best social networking app to connect and communicate with each other. People from all over the world use this Instagram to keep in touch with their loved ones.

Whenever someone sends you a message on Instagram, they expect you to respond as soon as possible. This social media platform supports read receipts, which means that the sender finds out when they read their message. However, sometimes it becomes necessary to read a message sent by your friend without telling him that you have read it. The good thing is that it is possible. You can read Instagram messages without them knowing. You can do this by turning off read receipts on Instagram.

He/ She gets offline

One of the simplest ways is to simply disconnect the phone. So:

  • Don’t hit the message notification on your phone. When you click on it, the message will open immediately, making it appear as read.
  • Instead, open the Instagram app. From the home page, touch the Messenger icon. Then refresh your inbox. This will preload all of your messages into the app, but since you haven’t opened them, they won’t be marked as read.
  • Swipe down on the screen to open your phone menu. Tap the Mobile data and WiFi icons, and make sure that they are both turned off.
  • Once you are disconnected from the Internet, you can open the messages in your inbox. Since it is offline, no read receipt will be sent.
  • Be careful when using this method. Once reconnected, a read receipt will be sent immediately. The only way around this is to uninstall the Instagram app while you are still offline. In other words, you will get a temporary reprieve.
how to turn off read receipts on instagram

Activate airplane mode

A similar option is to activate Airplane mode. Airplane mode turns off WiFi and data connections, so it’s the same as working offline. In fact, it would be much safer if you combined the two methods. In this way, you have ensured that the Instagram application cannot connect. It’s especially useful on Android phones, which want to reconnect to WiFi no matter what you do.

  • Without clicking the notification, open the Instagram app and refresh your inbox.
  • Swipe down to open the phone menu and tap the Airplane mode button. This will completely disconnect you from the Internet.
  • Go back to your inbox and read your messages.
  • Just like turning off WiFi and data manually, this method is only temporary. Once Airplane mode is turned off, the other person will receive a read receipt.

Turn off activity status

Activity status lets others know when you’re logged into Instagram messenger. A small blue icon appears every time you use the app. When you turn off the activity status, Instagram will no longer inform other users if you are active. But most people don’t realize that turning off activity will also turn off read receipts.

How do you do that? Here’s a quick overview:

  • Launch the Instagram app, then tap on your profile photo in the bottom left corner.
  • Open the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the upper right corner and select “Settings”.
  • Look for the “Privacy” option and select it.
  • In this section, click on “Activity Status”. This will open a submenu with additional options.
  • Next to Show activity status, you’ll see a toggle button. Select it and your activity status will be turned off. It will also turn off the “Show when active together” option.

When the option is off, the toggle will be gray instead of blue. As well as your activity icon, even if you are currently online. Now you can use the Instagram app without letting others know that you are active. You can even read your messages without sending a read receipt.

However, there is a downside to this method. There may be situations where you want people to see that you are active. If so, you will need another option.

Restrict the other user

Sometimes you don’t want to block read receipts for everyone. In fact, there’s a good chance that only one or two people will mind leaving them to read. If so, you may consider restricting it.

Restriction is not the same as prohibition. The other person can still message you. However, there are some changes, including the way your messages are handled. For our purposes, just know that the other person won’t see when you’re reading their messages. If you want to learn more about restricting vs blocking, read our full guide.

how to turn off read receipts on instagram

Here’s how to restrict someone on Instagram:

  • Log into Instagram and go to the person’s profile page. You can click their ID in your inbox or search for them from their homepage.
  • Click on the menu button in the upper right corner.
  • Click the “Restrict” button.

You will then see a confirmation that you have successfully restricted the person. At this point, you will no longer receive notifications when they send you a message. Also, your messages will be delivered to the Message Request section of your inbox. Please note that there is a limit to the number of users you can restrict. It is only really useful for dealing with a small number of problematic accounts.

If a certain person is spamming you on Instagram, you may not want to associate with them. In this case, you can remove another user’s likes on your content.

Turn off messenger notifications

Messenger notifications are probably the number one reason people keep reading. Let’s say you get the notification and try to scroll down to read more. Instead, you accidentally click and are taken to your inbox. Immediately, the other person receives a read receipt. The same thing can also happen when you go to dismiss a notification.

To turn off notifications completely, follow these steps:

  • Open the Instagram app and tap your profile picture in the bottom right.
  • On your profile page, open the hamburger menu in the upper right and select “Settings”.
  • Open the Notifications tab on the Settings page.
  • Find the “Messaging & Calls” option and tap to expand it.
  • You will see several options, including Messaging and Message Requests. Click next to “Disabled” on both.

After that, Instagram will no longer send messages or message requests to your phone. This way, you never have to worry about accidentally clicking on a notification. Whenever you want to check your messages, all you have to do is open the app and go to your inbox.

Conclusion

You cannot disable read receipts on Instagram, but you can read your messages offline to avoid being marked as read. Make sure to enable Airplane mode and disconnect from Wi-Fi before opening your messages.

Read more: What is Dumpor Instagram Story Viewer Anonymous

What is Picuki for Instagram? It is save? And how to use it

Snapchat: How to unlock the Butterfly Lens on Snapchat

Anil Kondla

Anil is an enthusiastic, self-motivated, reliable person who is a Technology evangelist. He's always been fascinated at work especially at innovation that causes benefit to the students, working professionals or the companies. Being unique and thinking Innovative is what he loves the most, supporting his thoughts he will be ahead for any change valuing social responsibility with a reprising innovation. His interest in various fields and the urge to explore, led him to find places to put himself to work and design things than just learning. Follow him on LinkedIn

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *