Instagram’s popularity has been rising exponentially. It can be fair to say Instagram has taken over the popularity that Facebook once had. It has also become a major platform for people to run their businesses, and brands to promote their products. Instagram keeps adding features to its app for a better user experience. The most two recent features that were added are chat themes and reels. A lot of us spend hours scrolling through Instagram and are probably aware of its little hacks. But for those who have not used the platform before, or for people who want to make their time on Instagram a lot smoother, and better, Instagram has some hacks, tips, and features that you would want to know.
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For you, we’ve compiled a list of 34 hacks, tips, and features so you don’t have to go searching for different hacks at different places.
General Hacks
1. Get notified when your favorite people post
If you want to never miss an Instagram post from your favorite influencers again, you can turn on their post notifications. You can choose to get a notification every time a specific user posts.
To turn on the post notifications, visit a user’s profile, click on the bell icon in the upper right-hand corner of the post, besides the three dots.
Then, toggle and turn on the post notifications for posts/stories/IGTVs. Whichever you want to be notified about.
2. Restrict posts or stories from accounts you don’t like
If you want to stop seeing posts or stories from accounts you don’t like, you can always restrict their account. It’s an alternative to blocking them on Instagram.
To restrict posts or stories from accounts that you don’t like, visit the user’s profile, click on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner, and click on Restrict.
3. Rearrange your filters
Instagram offers filters to edit pictures before you post them to your feed. Chances are, you might have a few favorite filters, while there are others that you don’t like and never use. You can now arrange the filters in whatever way you like. You can add new filters, hide the ones that you never use, or bring your favorite filters to the front.
To reorder or hide filters, add a new post, and begin editing it. When you get to the filters page, scroll to the very far right of your filter options and click “Manage.”
After clicking on manage, you will be shown the Manage filters slide. Here you can select/remove the filters you don’t like. If you long-press on the two horizontal lines, you can change the positions of the filters.
4. Archive your posts
Now, Instagram lets you archive your posts instead of deleting them. All you need to do is click on the three dots on a particular post, and select Archive.
To view all your archived posts, go to your profile, Tap Archive, At the top of the screen click Archive to view either Posts or Stories. If you want to restore content to your public profile, simply tap Show on Profile at any time and it’ll show up in its original spot.
5. Clear your search history
If you don’t want anybody finding out about your search history on Instagram, you can clear it out.
Go to settings, click on Security, Go to Search History, and click on Clear All.
6. Limit your screen time
We spend hours and hours scrolling on Instagram. And we don’t notice that. Now, you can restrict your screen time on Instagram.
Click on three lines on the uppermost right-hand corner. There you’ll find Your Activity. Click on Time. Go to Set Daily Reminders.
7. Search Instagram users without having an account
If you don’t feel like logging in on Instagram and want to check out profiles without logging in, or if you want to check out profiles without signing up on Instagram, you can.
You can enter a username at the end of the Instagram URL: At the end of “www.instagram.com/“, just add the username. For example, if you want to look for Fletcher’s Instagram account, her username is findingxfletcher, you enter www.instagram.com/findingxfletcher into your browser’s address bar.
8. Add and manage multiple accounts from the same device
You can own multiple accounts on Instagram. You might have a public account and a private account. Maybe an account for your pet, or for your makeup or for your drawings. And there is no problem with that. You can add and manage accounts alongside your personal account.
Go to your profile page. On the bottommost right-hand corner, you will see your profile picture in a small circle. Long press the small circle. You will see ‘Add Account.‘ Go ahead and add the accounts by entering your username and password for the accounts that you have.
Alternatively, you can click on your username. The arrow facing downward will open up ‘Add Account’.
9. Bookmark your favorite posts
You can save the pictures you come across. When you feel like going through the posts you liked, but are worried they got lost after refreshing your account, don’t worry. You can now bookmark your favorite posts.
When you see a post that you’d like to save, Tap the bookmark icon underneath the post you want to save.
10. Collection of saved posts
Instagram has an option to save or bookmark certain posts in collections that you create.
To access these, click on the three horizontal bars on the top-right corner. Then, click on Saved. You will see the collection. If you have created separate folders for your posts, you will be able to see those.
All your bookmarks will already be saved under ‘All Posts‘
11. Scroll through pictures without accidentally liking them
How many times have you been ‘stalking’ a profile and accidentally liked their post? Have you wanted to crawl into a corner and never come out again? Don’t worry. Now you won’t have to.
It’s a quick double-tap. And it can happen by mistake. But there’s a hack for everything. To avoid ending up in a corner, you can browse through Instagram feeds with your phone set to airplane mode.
A problem with this is that you will first have to load the pictures before scrolling through the feed. It’s a little work, but it might be worth it.
If you accidentally like a post, while your phone is on flight mode, Instagram will notify you that your likes will be updated once you get internet connectivity. You can just unlike the post so you wouldn’t have to worry about it.
12. Browse pictures from certain locations
One way to pass time on Instagram is by browsing pictures and videos from a specific location. If you are bored at home and want to travel, or if you are actually planning to travel to a place, you can search for the location on Instagram. You can also search for restaurants.
To browse posts from a specific location, you search for the location by tapping on the magnifying glass on your home screen. You will see four tabs. Choose “Places” and type in the name of a place. It will show you different locations. Choose the most appropriate one. It will show you all the top and recent posts that were tagged to that location.
13. Hide Ads you don’t find relevant
You can teach the Instagram algorithm that you like and don’t like to see. It usually collects data based on the people you follow and things you Like on Instagram. It collects data from third-party websites. The Instagram algorithm will find ads that are interesting and relevant to your searches.
To hide ads on Instagram, tap on the three dots to the right of a post labeled “Sponsored,” and choose “Hide ad”
14. See all the pictures you’ve liked
Instagram saves all the pictures that you have liked. If you ever want to go through those pictures, Instagram will let you.
To check all the pictures you’ve liked, go to your profile. Open Settings, and click Account. Under Account, scroll down a little and click on Posts you’ve liked.
Hacks for Posting Pictures and videos
15. Schedule your posts
It can be a task to take out time from your routine and post. You can pre-post them from your computer for a set day and time in the future.
You can use this feature by using a business account. After switching to a business account, you can download software that schedules your posts for you and post it for you when the time comes.
16. Post on Instagram through your laptop
Instagram is growing. Recently, Instagram introduced Stories on laptops. Now, you can post on Instagram through your laptop too.
17. Choosing a cover for your video
Instagram usually decides the cover for your video. But now you can too.
When you select a video that you want to use, you will see ‘Cover‘ on the right-hand side bottom corner. Click on that. Then you can choose any portion from the video as your cover.
18. Hide and disable comments
If you want to restrict or hide or disable comments on your posts, you can. Not all posts require comments. Sometimes you don’t like what a person has commented, so you want to hide it.
You can do this by going to your Settings. Then you click on Privacy. Then Comments. You can Hide Offensive Comments and Instagram will auto-filter common rude language. Or, you can set Manual Filters for specific words or phrases.
Unfortunately, you cannot disable comments for all your posts at once, but you can individually turn off comments while you are posting. Go to Advanced Settings and Turn off Commenting.
Story Hacks
19. Hide stories from specific people
You can also choose people to hide your story from as you’re looking at who’s seen your story.
Click on the Gear option on the uppermost left-hand corner on your ‘Story’ and select Hide Story From [Username].
20. Create highlights to keep stories for more than 24 hours
Instagram stories last for 24 hours. But you can save them for longer by highlighting them on your profile page.
Click on the + on your profile page. It will show you a list of all your stories. You can choose the ones you want to highlight.
Then, give it a cover photo and a name to display as its own Instagram Story on your profile page. You can remove Stories Highlights at any time by tapping and holding down the highlight.
21. Change the cover of your highlights
You can also change the cover of your highlights. First, long-press your highlight, and then tap on Edit Highlight. Then go ahead and click on Edit Cover.
You can choose a picture from the highlight, or upload your own picture from your gallery.
You can also delete your highlight.
22. Add texts to make your story more attractive
Instagram Stories is a feature of Instagram that allows you to post pictures, separate from your feed, for 24 hours. You can add texts to your story to make it more attractive.
Open Instagram Stories by swiping right from your Instagram feed. This will launch your smartphone camera. Then, take a photo or video and press the “Aa” icon to the top-right of your screen.
This “Aa” icon will open Type Mode, where you have fonts to choose from. Add your text and place it wherever you want.
23. Post content from other people to your story
Instagram allows you to share an inspiring post from someone else through your Instagram stories. Find a post that you want to share on your Instagram Stories and tap the paper airplane icon.
This icon will open a screen allowing you to send this post to specific followers, or add to your Story.
Tapping Add Post to Your Story option will automatically turn the post into an Instagram Story, which you can edit and design to your liking the same way you would any other Instagram Story.
Bio and Profile Hacks
24. Hide photos you’ve been tagged in
You can hide photos that you are tagged in.
Go to your profile. Tap the person in a box icon beneath your bio to go to the Photos of You tab. Tap on a photo. You will see Edit on the top right-hand corner. After you tap that, you will be able to select pictures that you want to Remove your tag from or Hide from your profile.
You can also toggle on Manually approve tags to approve the next time people tag you in pictures.
25. Switch to a Professional Account
Business accounts have various benefits. Insights to posts and demographics of followers being two of them. To enjoy several other benefits, it’s advisable to switch to a business profile.
Tap Settings. Tap Account.
Tap Switch to Professional Account at the bottom. Then you fill in all the details that are asked.
You can also connect your business account to a Facebook Page. It will help you put all the benefits of a business account to use.
26. Special fonts in bio
Instagram lets you add emojis to your bio, but have you ever wanted to put fancy fonts in your bio? In-app Instagram limits this function.
But we’ve found a hack. You can use third-party websites/apps which offer you different fonts. You can type your bio with a font you love the most. Then all you have to do is copy it. Open your Instagram app, after copying the text. Go to your profile page, select ‘Edit Profile‘ and tap ‘Bio‘. There, paste your chosen font into the empty field.
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27. Add another account to your bio
This one is rather easy. If you have different accounts for different purposes, you can add them to your main profile.
To draw people’s attention to your other account, add the name of the account with a “@” sign into your Bio. You’ll be able to select the account you want to tag and then press “Done” or the Tick Mark
Hashtag Hacks
28. Follow your hashtags
Now you can follow Hashtags on Instagram. Select the magnifying glass icon to visit the Explore page. Type in the hashtag you want to follow. And then when the hashtags appear, click on the one you are looking for.
After selecting the one, you will be able to Follow the hashtag. You can also see the Top ad Recent posts.
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29. Search for top and recent hashtags
You can search for hashtags that might work with your posts on Instagram.
Select the magnifying glass icon to visit the Explore page. Tap Tags from the four tabs. Type in hashtags you want to see. You will be provided with the “Top” and “Recent” portions of the page.
30. Hide hashtags on posts and stories
Yes, Hashtags get you discovered. But they can also be visual clutter. To avoid adding hashtags to your post, you can add them in a comment below your post.
Instagram Direct Hacks
31. Turn off your activity status
Just like Facebook, you can tell when somebody is Online on Instagram. This is the “Activity Status” feature Instagram introduced. But, if you don’t want people to know, you can always turn it off. (But if you turn it off, you won’t be able to see other people’s statuses)
Go to settings. Tap Privacy. Go to Activity Status and toggle off your Activity Status.
32. Send disappearing content to your friends
In efforts to match with Snapchat trends, Instagram lets you send disappearing pictures, videos, or boomerangs to your friends through Instagram direct.
From the chat window, open a chat with your friend. Tap the camera icon at the bottom left of the screen. Shoot a photo, video, or a boomerang. Edit it with the filters you like.
You’ll be given a choice to let the receive ‘View Once’ or ‘Allow Replay‘. If you want the picture, video, or boomerang to stay, you can ‘Keep in Chat’
Alternatively, you can swipe left from your home screen on Instagram to open up your camera. Click the picture. Tap “Send to >” and then you can choose to send your picture, video, or boomerang to anybody you like.
33. Change Chat Theme Colors
Instagram recently added “Chat theme colors.” The color is a default set by Instagram, but it lets you change it.
To change your chat theme colors, open your chat with somebody you want to change the colors with. Tap on the i at the top right corner of your screen. It will open up the following.
Then you tap on Theme. You can choose from the various chat themes provided to you by Instagram.
34. Reply and Unsend Messages
Just like on Whatsapp, now you can reply and unsend messages on Instagram. You can also react to the messages. To do so, long press on the message.You will be shown to Reply or Unsend the message. You will also be shown various emojis that you can use to react to the message.
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