If you’re someone who prefers texting over phone calls or voice notes, you’d agree that different messages are of different natures. Some messages are simple and can be replied to right away; for instance, a direct question or instruction that doesn’t require too much thought.
On the other hand, there are some messages that deserve more time and attention, more thought and speculation before you come up with an appropriate reply to them. But the one thing that comes in the way of a recipient taking their sweet time to reply is read receipt.
Once you’ve opened a message, the other person will know that it has opened and will be expecting a reply in kind. The mere pressure of this knowledge often disturbs us and makes us answer haphazardly without thinking it through.
If only there were a way to read a message without the sender knowing. Or is there? In our blog today, we’re going to discuss the possibility of reading an Instagram DM without the sender knowing. Stick with us till the end if you want to know how that can be done.
Can You Read Instagram Messages Without Seen?
Unfortunately, there’s no direct action you can take on the platform in order to read Instagram messages without being seen. Although WhatsApp rolled out the read receipt turn-off feature long ago, Instagram is yet to follow suit.
However, you needn’t worry; we’re keeping close tabs on the platform’s new development plans and will be the first ones to give you news when such a launch is announced.
Now that we’ve crossed out this possibility, there are several other possibilities that you can entertain to be able to read Instagram DMs without letting the sender know about it. Let’s start exploring them one by one now!
How to Read Instagram Messages Without Seen
1. Restricting the sender
The first and most convenient method of reading someone’s DMs without letting them know about it is by restricting them on the platform. And while most of you might be familiar with how restricting someone works, for those of you who aren’t, we’re here to walk you through it.
Restricting someone on Instagram is an action you take on someone who annoys you on the platform but not enough to get rid of them entirely. The best examples of this could be friends who are far too vocal and comment on all your posts, the ones who send you far too many posts and reels in DM, and so on.
Now, here’s how restricting people works on Instagram. The first consequence of it would be that their comments on your content will only be seen by them and yourself, and no one else. Secondly, any DM this person might send you goes straight to your Message Request section. Most importantly, this person would have no idea that they’ve been restricted by you until you or someone else discloses it to them.
If you read the second consequence of restricting someone, you’d have noticed how it solves your problem as well. If their messages are received by you as message requests, you’re automatically protected from the hassle of read receipts because message requests don’t display read receipts until you approve them. Sounds interesting? Then let’s get you a guide to explain how it’s done:
Step 1: Open the Instagram app on your smartphone.
Step 2: You’ll find yourself on the Home tab. From here, you can either go to the Explore tab and search for this person’s profile there or head directly to your Profile tab, where you can find them from your Following or Followers list.
Step 3: No matter which method you prefer, you’ll ultimately end up on their profile. Once you’re there, navigate a Bell icon on the top-right corner of their screen and a three-dots icon next to it; tap on the latter.
Step 4: As soon as you do, a menu will appear on your screen, displaying Restrict as the first option on it. Just as you do it, you’ll receive a confirmation message saying this user has been restricted from your account. Your job is now done.
2. Turning off Data/WiFi to prevent the read receipt
Just now, we read about the restriction feature on Instagram and how it can help you avoid read receipts most conveniently. However, it has its own flaws, too.
When you receive message requests, you’re indeed protected from the read receipt, but since these messages don’t show up in your DMs section directly, you can often not know they exist until too late. This can potentially create more problems for you than it solves, which is why we understand if you’re not too eager to go through with it.
With that being said, restricting users isn’t the only way of reading someone’s message without them knowing on Instagram. There are other ways as well, just like the one we’re going to talk about now. The one might seem a bit long, but it’s also safer:
Step 1: As soon as you check the notification of having received an Instagram DM, the first thing you need to do is scroll down your quick notification window and disable both mobile data and WiFi on it.
Step 2: Doing this will ensure that you’re no longer connected to the internet, which means any action you take now will not be registered.
Step 3: Now, open the Instagram app and tap on the message icon from the top-right corner of your screen to view your DMs section.
Step 4: Here, open the chat in which you’ve received a new message that you wanted to read without the sender knowing about it.
Step 5: Once you’re done reading the message, go back to the Home tab and then close the app altogether. You can now safely turn on your internet without having to worry about the read receipts.
Some users have also claimed that logging out of your account in the no-data mode adds an extra layer of security to your actions. Once you’ve turned on the internet, you can log back into your account at any time.
3. Employing the help of third-party tools
So far, we’ve already talked about two ways of solving your problem. In this particular section, we’ll talk about two more ways of getting it done, both of which can be done by employing the help of a third-party tool, namely, AiGrow.
AiGrow is a Toronto-based Instagram growth tool that helps business people, influencers, creators, and e-commerce brands boost their digital presence and attract more traffic to their business. In addition to offering users Instagram and influencer marketing tools, the tool also helps inconsistent content creation and organic follower growth.
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