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Even easier and more private than our web appUpdated January 2026
Want to appear offline? Learn how to hide your online status and "last active" time from others on Instagram.
Quick Answer
Go to Settings → Messages and story replies → Show activity status → Toggle OFF. You'll now appear offline to everyone.
Go to your profile, tap the menu (☰), then select 'Settings and privacy'
Scroll down and tap 'Messages and story replies'
Tap 'Show activity status'
Toggle off 'Show activity status'. The switch should turn gray
Before (Status ON)
Your Profile
Active now
After (Status OFF)
Your Profile
No status shown
Managing your Instagram privacy?
While you're managing your privacy settings, discover who unfollowed you and who your real followers are.
Check your followersWhen you turn off active status, other users won't see the green dot indicating you're online, and they won't see when you were last active (e.g., 'Active 2h ago'). Your profile will simply show no activity status at all. However, you also won't be able to see other people's active status.
No, Instagram doesn't notify anyone when you turn off active status. Your status will simply not appear to others. They might notice the absence of your activity status, but they won't receive any notification about the change.
No, Instagram's active status is all-or-nothing. You cannot selectively hide your status from specific people while showing it to others. It's either visible to everyone or hidden from everyone.
No, turning off active status doesn't affect your ability to send or receive direct messages. You can still use DMs normally—people just won't see when you're online or when you were last active.
No, this is the trade-off. When you turn off your active status, you also lose the ability to see when others are active. Instagram treats this as a mutual privacy setting.
The settings are separate. Turning off active status on Instagram only affects Instagram. If your accounts are linked and you use Messenger, you'll need to separately manage your active status in Facebook/Messenger settings.