Many of us interact with people who aren’t our friends on Instagram, and you might want to check a message that they sent but that hasn’t been “seen” yet. When you check any DM on Instagram, it is immediately marked as “seen” for both you and the sender.
WhatsApp allows you to disable read receipts (the blue ticks), but Instagram does not.
However, there are two ways to check DMs on Instagram without having them marked as “seen.”
The temporary solution for reading DMs without informing the sender
- Go to your Instagram DMs by opening the app. All of your new DMs will be loaded as a result of this action.
- Now, open the control center on your smartphone and disable both WiFi and mobile data.
- Return to your DMs and ensure that your mobile data and WiFi are still turned off.
- Because your internet is down, you won’t see the “seen” report if you check the DMs right now.
- The “seen” report will appear on the message as soon as you restart the internet and open the app, so keep in mind that this solution is only temporary.
The more permanent solution to reading DMs without being “seen”
- When you see a DM from someone you don’t want to be “seen” by but still want to read the message, don’t click on it.
- Navigate to the profile of the individual in question. Then you must restrict this person. Select “Restrict” from the three dots on the top right of the profile page.
- Restricting the account prevents you from having unwanted conversations with the person without having to unfollow or block them. You will also be able to choose whether or not the comments made by these restricted people on your posts are visible to everyone. In addition, their message will be moved to the “Message Requests” folder, where they will be unable to see whether or not you have read it. As a result, you cannot be “seen.”