The message reading indicators system is an integral part of messaging applications, found in WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, etc. The purpose of this system is to inform the sender that the message has been sent and delivered or read by the other party. As the sender, you may find this feature very useful, but as the receiver, it may put pressure on you to respond to avoid embarrassment. While there are ways to trick this system to read messages without the sender’s knowledge, in many cases, you can disable this system altogether as we explained how to do so in WhatsApp and Messenger. Today, let’s see how to disable it in direct messages on Instagram.
By default, when using the Direct Messages feature to communicate with someone on Instagram, both parties can see if the recently sent messages have been read, thanks to the “Seen Just Now” indicator that appears below each message once opened. The application did not contain any privacy settings that allow hiding this indicator until “Adam Mosseri,” the CEO of Instagram, announced a new update for the app that allows users to disable message reading indicators, individually only. This means you need to follow the steps below for each conversation where you want to hide the read message indicator.
Reading Instagram Messages Without the Sender’s Knowledge
All you need to do to start is open the Instagram app on your Android or iPhone after making sure you have the latest available version of the app from the Play Store or App Store. Then, click on the “Direct Messages” icon in the top left corner of the app, then go to the conversation where you want to hide the read indicator. Next, click on the other party’s name from the top bar. In the next screen, click on “Privacy & safety” as shown in the attached image.
In the next screen – if you are using the latest version of the Instagram app – you will find a new section called “Who can see your activity,” which includes the “Read receipts” option that you can disable, restricting it to this conversation only. This means that the next time you receive a new message in this conversation and open it, the other party will not be able to know. However, disabling “Read receipts” also means that you will lose the ability to know if your messages have been read in the conversation as well, as the indicator will not appear to you either.
