Instagram safety and privacy settings

Set account to private

From your account, tap . Tap “Settings”. Tap “Privacy” and then “Account privacy”. Then swipe to toggle the feature on.

Unfollow a user 

Go to your profile and tap ‘Followers’ at the top of the screen. Select the follower(s) you wish to remove by tapping on the Following button.

You can also unfollow an account by going directly to their profile and tapping “Following”. They will not be notified but they will no longer see your posts.

Allow or block comments
You can allow or block comments from: people you follow and your followers, people you follow or your followers.
If you’d like to allow comments  before posting:

Go to your profile and tap . Tap“Settings”.
Tap “Privacy” > “Comments”.Next to Allow comments from, tap the arrow and choose your option.

To block comments before posting:

Next to Block Comments from, tap “People”. Enter the name of the person you want to block, then tap “Block” next to their name.

To unblock someone from commenting on your photos and videos, tap “Unblock” next to their name and then tap “Unblock” again to confirm

Filter comments

Go to your profile and tap . Tap“Settings”. Tap “Privacy” > “Comments”.
Next to Block Comments from, tap “People”. Next to Hide offensive comments, swipe to toggle the feature on.

You can also manually filter specific words or phrases from your posts or stories:

Next to Manual filter, swipe to toggle the feature on. Then enter the words you want to filter.

Mute a user

If you don’t want to see someone’s posts in your feed, you can mute them:

Go to their profile by tapping the search icon at the bottom.

Type their name into the search at the top and select their profile when it appears.

Tap “Following” below their profile info and tap “Mute”

Swipe to toggle the feature off – next to Posts.
To unmute them, swipe to toggle the feature on, next to Posts.

You can also mute them from feed:

Tap (iPhone) or  (Android) next to their post. Select “Mute” then “Mute Posts”.

Instagram won’t let them know you muted them. Muting someone’s posts is different from unfollowing them and from muting their stories.

Choose Close friends settings 
Remember that—even if you have a private account—there are ways to post that are even more selective.

You can use the “Close Friends” setting on stories so that only certain people see them. People who are unable to see the story won’t know that they are missing something.

To create your close friends list using the Instagram app:

Tap  in the bottom right. Tap  in the top right. Tap “Close Friends”, then tap “Suggestions” at the top.
Tap “Add” next to the people who you want to add to your close friends list.

You can also tap “Search” to search for a friend – tap “Done” when you’ve finished adding people to your list.

Visit Instagram help for more support

Restrict an account
Restrict is a new way to protect your account from unwanted interactions. If someone is being aggressive or negative in your comment section, you can put them on a “Restricted” list.

To restrict a user:

Access Restrict by swiping left on a comment. Through the Privacy tab in Settings , or directly on the profile of the account you intend to restrict.
Tap “Restrict” to add the account to your restricted list.

Report posts or profiles
You can report a user or post and select from It’s spam or It’s inappropriate.

To report something on a user’s profile:

Tap on the top right corner of the user’s profile. Tap “Report”. Select from the appropriate option and follow the instructions.

To report something on a user’s post:

Tap on the top right corner of the user’s post. Tap “Report”. Select from the appropriate option and follow the instructions

Reporting is totally anonymous. You can also use this Instagram form to make a report about posts or people on the platform.

When you report on Instagram, it will be reviewed by moderators and they will take action if it breaks community guidelines.

If someone is in immediate danger contact the police or other local authorities.