Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Phones
  3. Mobile
  4. How tos

How to turn off Activity Status on Instagram

Add as a preferred source on Google
Instagram on an iPhone.
Bryan M. Wolfe / Digital Trends

Instagram is a popular social networking site that allows users to communicate through text, photos, and videos. One of its features is the app's Activity Status, which lets users know when someone was last active on the app or if they are currently online.

Recommended Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • Instagram app on your mobile device

This way, you can see when someone was last using the app, giving you an idea of how active they are (or aren't) on Instagram. Here’s more about how Instagram's Activity Status works, and how to turn it off.

Instagram on an iPhone.
Bryan M. Wolfe / Digital Trends

What is Activity Status on Instagram?

When your Instagram Activity Status is enabled, your followers and chat contacts can see your online status and last active time. To check your own Activity Status settings, follow these instructions:

Step 1: Go to your Profile tab on Instagram, then select the More button at the top right.

Step 2: Scroll down to the section How others can interact with you. Next, select Messages and story replies.

A screenshot showing how to go into the settings in Instagram.
Bryan M. Wolfe / Digital Trends

Step 3: Select Show Activity Status. On the next page, you'll see whether the Instagram activity status is turned on for your account.

Screenshots showing whether the Instagram activity status is turned on.
Bryan M. Wolfe / Digital Trends

How to turn off Activity Status

You can turn the Instagram Activity Status off at any time by following a few steps.

Step 1: Go to your Profile tab on Instagram, then select the More button at the top right.

Step 2: Scroll down to the section,How others can interact with you. Next, select Messages and story replies.

Step 3: Select Show Activity Status. On the next page, you'll see whether the Instagram Activity Status is turned on for your account.

Step 4: If the toggle is in the On position, turn it off by tapping on it. Now, your Instagram Activity Status is turned off. You can continue to use Instagram services if Activity Status is off.

Screenshots showing the current Instagram activity status setting.
Bryan M. Wolfe / Digital Trends

And that's all there is to it! If you don't mind your friends/followers seeing when you last used the Instagram app, there's no harm in keeping Activity Status enabled. However, if you'd like more privacy regarding your Instagram use, turning it off might be the way to go.

Bryan M. Wolfe
Former Mobile and A/V Freelancer
Bryan M. Wolfe has over a decade of experience as a technology writer. He writes about mobile.
Reddit wants to send you down new rabbit holes with its personalized ‘For You’ feed
Your Reddit homepage is getting a makeover, with personalized recommendations and a feed dedicated to communities you follow.
reddit

Reddit is giving your scrolling habits a new twist with two homepage feeds designed for different moods. The new 'For You' feed pulls you into communities you never even knew you wanted. Meanwhile, Following keeps things familiar with posts from communities you have already joined.

The update is rolling out globally over the next few weeks, giving you a choice between discovering something new and catching up with your usual favorites.

Read more
Google’s new Android XR tools let developers test apps without needing to buy expensive smart glasses
Google has also added new Android CLI tools to help AI coding agents test apps and catch performance issues.
Gentle Moster smart glasses powered by Android XR

At the 2026 Android Dev Summit, Google has announced some interesting features coming to both Android XR and Android CLI. Developers can now build and test apps for smart glasses without owning the hardware, while Android's command-line tools are getting upgrades that help AI coding agents test applications and identify performance problems. Both announcements could eventually mean better apps for both Android and extended reality hardware users.

Building Android XR apps without owning smart glasses

Read more
Google is making it easier to adapt Android apps for laptops and foldable phones
Google is helping developers make Android apps work beyond smartphones
Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

Google updated its adaptive Compose skill to help developers adapt existing Android apps for laptops, foldable phones, tablets, and other form factors, including the upcoming Googlebook platform. The goal of this update is to help AI coding agents customize apps for different screen sizes and input methods without developers having to maintain separate codebases for different devices.

The new skill goes beyond responsive layouts, adding support for desktop-focused features and foldable-specific interface adjustments. Google is also signaling that adaptive app experiences will be more prominent on Google Play, with the company planning to pay more attention to how apps and games perform on foldable devices next year.

Read more