How to restrict someone on Instagram

Georgina Smith
App store page for Instagram

If you want to limit your interactions with a certain account on Instagram but don’t want to completely block or mute them, you are able to restrict them. Here’s how to restrict accounts on Instagram.

Instagram is still one of the main places people flock to in order to share pictures and videos with their friends and followers, whether that’s through regular feed posts or other content types like stories and reels.

As with any social media platform, a situation may arise when you decide that you want to limit your interactions with a certain person on the app for whatever reason.

The main ways you can go about doing this are by either blocking them or muting them, but if you don’t want to go that far, you are also able to restrict users.

This will mean that the user won’t be able to see when you’re online, or when you’ve read their messages. It also means that comments from them on your posts will only be visible to that account, and you will have the option to decide whether you want to see the comment.

Instagram logo on a phone
Instagram makes it easy to interact with friends and other accounts.

How to restrict people on Instagram

Although there are several different ways to restrict someone on Instagram, the easiest way to do so is through the profile of the person you want to restrict.

To restrict them, simply do as follows:

  1. Open Instagram.
  2. Go to the profile of the person you want to restrict.
  3. Tap the three dots in the top right.
  4. Click ‘Restrict,’ then ‘Restrict account’ to confirm.

If you want to unrestrict someone, you simply have to repeat those steps, but select ‘Unrestrict’ instead.


If you want to know more about how to use Instagram, you can check out our other guides here:

How to link your Instagram account to TikTokHow to see your first-liked Instagram postHow to switch Instagram feed to chronological orderHow to re-share a post to your Story on InstagramHow to make money on InstagramHow to hide likes on Instagram

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