How to know if someone viewed your profile on instagram

Instagram is the perfect platform for those who are interested in displaying the photos and images they create. Instagram can be used as a daily record of events and sights, or as a carefully curated collection of images that are meaningful to you.

People enjoy sharing information about their talents, lives, and interests with others, but sometimes, privacy becomes a concern. It is possible to lock down your Instagram account so that people have to request to see the beauty it beholds, but can you tell who viewed your Instagram profile? If someone looks but doesn’t tell or comment, can you see who or how many (or how creeped out you should feel about it)?

Not everyone wants to leave a trail wherever they go online, and not everyone feels the need to say something every time they look at a profile or Story. Some people just like to metaphorically window shop without buying or even trying anything on, and that’s one of the benefits of the vague sense of anonymity that social networks allow us.

You see a picture you like, click on it to learn more, and find out the user has nothing else like that photo.  No harm, no foul, no Follow.  At the same time, Social Media Influencers and others who have a firm grip on their own privacy might be interested in learning how many people visit their Instagram profile without a single peep.  Here are some tips for learning the who, when, and where of your Instagram visitors.

Who viewed your Instagram profile?

If you’re trying to figure out if someone is cyberstalking you, Instagram’s information cannot help. If you want to know because you’re running a business and want to reach out, it can help.

Currently, there is no way a regular, everyday, personal Instagram account can tell how many people have viewed your Stories or profile. There are no counters built into the app and no way that I know of to do it. So if someone is viewing your profile several times a day, you won’t be notified and there isn’t a way to see who they are.

If you found this article through Google, chances are that you had to wade through lots of low rent websites offering ‘Top ways to see who viewed your Instagram profile’. They all say pretty much the same thing. Use this app or that app to spy on your own profile and generate a list of who has visited your profile or looked at your stuff without saying anything.

The vast majority of these don’t work. They are pointless, like many third-party apps that say they can give you insights into who visits your social media profiles or show you who has lurked but not said hello. While there is nothing to say Instagram doesn’t track who visits whom, there is currently no mechanism by which an app can find that out.

You can, however, check to see who has been looking at your Instagram Stories.  It’s very simple.

How to See Who Viewed Your Instagram Story

Simply pull up your Story, then swipe up.  The results will be listed below a snapshot of the Story.

How to See How Many People Viewed Your Profile

The only way you can genuinely see who viewed your Instagram profile is to convert to a professional account. Even then it will only give you numbers, not identities.

If you switch to a business account you gain access to more insights into your Instagram account including how many visitors you get. If you absolutely have to see who has viewed your profile or read your Stories, this is how to do it.

Open Instagram and log in then follow these steps:

1. Click on your profile icon.
   
   
2. Tap on Settings, then tap on Account.
   
   
3. Choose Switch to Professional Account.
   
   
4. Choose Business as the type of account you wish to set up.
   
   
5. Follow the prompts and select Done when you’re ready.
   
   

There is no approval process or any more hoops to jump through. Your Instagram account should now be a business account that will automatically give you access to Instagram Insights.

The upside is that you will soon be able to see how many people view you on Instagram going forward. The downside is that you have to wait seven days to generate enough data to view.

Using Instagram Insights to see who viewed your profile

Instagram Insights includes a bunch of data you would need to review frequently if you use Instagram as part of your business marketing strategy. One of the things it measures is Impressions, which counts how many times a post has been viewed.

Once your business account has been running for a week, you should see a notification at the top of your profile window. It should say something like ‘155 profile views in the last 7 days’. This tells you how many people have viewed your content on Instagram.

Select the notification and it will show you when you experience traffic, how many individual visitors you receive per day, and so on. To learn even more, select “Insights and Audience” and then “Followers” to see the most active times of day for your Instagram account. If you’re looking to promote content, posting during those most active times would gain you the most views, and thus the most possible activity within your business.

If you run a business, the details gleaned from Instagram Insights can help you target marketing through your page.  Switching to a Business account can give you access to data that includes popular viewing times and demographics.

Unfortunately, this is not that helpful for finding out if someone is stalking you online, and while Instagram offers plenty of privacy features to help you lock down content, there’s no actual way to see who might be looking at your profile. Unless someone views your story or interacts with your posts, you won’t ever know they were there.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do if someone is Stalking me on Instagram?

Depending on your situation you can choose to block or report the offending user. If you’re experiencing real-life stalking accompanied by Instagram stalking then you may want to involve your local law enforcement.

Before blocking the offender be sure to take screenshots of any threats or texts because you will need them later. Also, you can download all of your Instagram data from the ‘Settings’ on the website. It isn’t a good idea to respond to someone if they are getting out-of-line, so quietly blocking them and making your account private is a good place to start.

Does a Business account know that I’m the one viewing their content?

Not unless it’s a story. Although this can increase their engagements (which isn’t good either because it’s a false lead) the account administrators will not know who is viewing their content.

If you do wish to retain a sense of anonymity on Instagram, make sure your privacy and security settings are set to your specifications. You can block any user who harasses you, and reports content, as well. Choose a user picture that doesn’t show your face, and remember, a strong password is always necessary!