How to Turn Off Read Receipts on Instagram DMs

To turn off read receipts on Instagram DMs, open Settings and activity, tap Messages and story replies, and switch off Show read receipts. After that, the “Seen” label stops appearing on messages you read. Note that the setting is mutual: once it is off, you also stop seeing when other people have read your messages. That trade-off is deliberate, and it is worth understanding before you flip the switch.

Step-by-step: turn off read receipts

1. Open Instagram and tap your profile picture in the bottom-right.
2. Tap the menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right.
3. Tap Settings and activity.
4. Tap Messages and story replies (under the “Who can reach you” or messaging section).
5. Find Show read receipts and turn the toggle off.

There is no Save button — the change applies as soon as you flip the toggle, and it takes effect across all your direct chats straight away.

What actually changes

With read receipts off, when you open someone’s message they will not see the small “Seen” note under it. In return, you lose that signal too, so you will not know when the other person has read yours. Instagram keeps this deliberately balanced so no one gets a one-sided advantage. Messages still arrive and send normally — only the read status is hidden. This is useful if you like to read messages when they arrive but reply later without feeling pressured to respond the instant someone sees “Seen”.

What it does not cover

A few things sit outside this toggle:

• Typing indicators (the “…” bubble) and active status (“Active now”) are separate settings; manage them under Messages and Activity status respectively.
• Vanish mode chats behave on their own terms and are not governed by this switch.
• Message requests from people you do not follow sit in a different inbox and are not affected.
• Delivery is unchanged — people can still tell a message was sent, just not that it was read.

If you want fuller privacy, also review your last seen settings on your other messaging apps — the idea is the same, just in a different place, and turning off read receipts there is also mutual.

Turn off active status too

Read receipts and the green “Active now” dot are separate. If you want to look offline as well, go to Settings and activity > Messages and story replies (or the dedicated Activity status setting) and turn off Show activity status. Like read receipts, this is mutual — you will no longer see when your contacts were last active either. Combining the two gives you the quietest possible inbox.

If the setting is not there

Instagram rolls features out gradually, so the read receipt control may not appear on every account or in every country yet.

1. Update Instagram from the Play Store or App Store.
2. Restart the app and check Messages and story replies again.
3. Wait and recheck if it is still missing — it may not have reached your account yet.

Do not install any “read receipt remover” or third-party Instagram clone that claims to unlock the feature. These unofficial apps often ask for your login and can get your account stolen or banned. If you are ever tempted by one, our guide on how to tell if an app is safe before you install it explains what to check first.

Read messages without sending a receipt

If the toggle has not reached your account and you just want to peek at a message without triggering “Seen”, there are two safe, built-in ways to do it. First, the notification itself often shows the full text — pull down the notification shade and read it there without opening the app, and no read receipt is sent. Second, on many phones you can long-press the Instagram notification to preview the message in a pop-up. Airplane mode is a third option some people use: turn it on, open and read the chat, then close Instagram before turning connectivity back on, though this is fiddlier and only delays the receipt rather than removing it. None of these needs an extra app, and none risks your account the way an unofficial “clone” would.

Turning read receipts back on

Changed your mind? Repeat the same path — Settings and activity > Messages and story replies — and turn Show read receipts back on. Everything returns to normal, and both sides can see Seen again. There is no penalty for switching back and forth, and doing so does not notify anyone.

Read receipts are a small setting, but they change the feel of your inbox more than you might expect. Turned off, you can open messages the moment they arrive and reply on your own schedule without anyone watching a “Seen” label and wondering why you have not answered. That said, the same mutual rule means you give up that signal for the people you message too, so it is worth trying for a few days to see whether the calmer inbox suits you. While you are in there, you might also turn on dark mode on Instagram for easier reading at night.