Hoe te verbergen wie je volgt op Instagram: Creëer uw beste sociale ervaring

Profielfoto van Karen Lin, auteur

Karen Lin

Instagram Tips | 17 aug 2023

Wil je meer echte Instagram volgers?

With the explosion of social media in recent years, it seems like everything is online these days. From vacation photos to daily means, people are sharing it all – and making it public. In fact, privacy can sometimes feel like a thing of the past. But what if you don’t want to share everything with your followers? Or even share your list of followers with everyone else? Is there a way to learn how to hide who you follow on Instagram? Yes. 

Turns out, you can have a prominent presence on social media – and still keep a few things under wraps. And we don’t just mean making your Instagram profile private to avoid those random profile viewers. There are other ways to monitor what you see on the social media app, in addition to what others see from you. This can apply to both your actual followers’ lists, as well as the content they are sharing. Ready to learn more? Keep reading as we cover it all, including utilizing Instagram’s mute, block and restrict features.

Vrouwen verbergen zich door haar gezicht te bedekken.

Can You Hide Who You Follow on Instagram?

Before we dive right into the how, let’s address if this is even possible. By that we mean – can you hide who you follow on Instagram? The answer is yes. But there are a few different methods to approaching this, with a few different outcomes. For example, you can hide your content from certain people in your friend list. This is helpful if you don’t want to let certain people know what you are doing – or who you are with.

Additionally, you can do the opposite – hide certain people’s content from appearing in your Instagram feed. This is a great option if you feel certain followers are posting too much but aren’t quite ready to unfollow them. They might even be posting content that you simply don’t agree with. This method can be applied to both feed posts as well as Instagram stories.


You also have the option of completely hiding Instagram users by unfollowing them or blocking them. This is a more permanent solution but can sometimes be necessary. Now that you’re all caught up, let’s get right to learning how to hide who you follow up on Instagram. Keep reading below as we cover it all, with options to go with any method we mentioned above.

Smartphone opened to Instagram app.

How to Hide Who You Follow on Instagram From Friends

Let’s get started. First, we’ll cover how to hide who you follow on Instagram from friends. Wondering what exactly this means? Sometimes, you may not want your other friends on Instagram to know exactly who you follow. Maybe there’s a bit of conflict between your friends or perhaps you’re just a private person. Either way, you may want to keep who you follow on Instagram hidden. 


Currently, there is no way through the app to do this. However, there are a few workarounds to learn how to hide who you follow on Instagram. One option? Setting your profile to private mode. If you are private, people who do not follow you will not be able to see who you are following. Nothing will appear on the “followers” list on your profile. Keep in mind that this will only prove effective if the person you wish to hide your followers from is not currently following you. To make your Instagram profile private, simply follow the below steps.

  1. Open your Instagram app and tap on your profile tab at the bottom right hand corner of your home screen.
  2. Tik vervolgens op het pictogram met de drie horizontale lijnen in de rechterbovenhoek en selecteer instellingen
  3. Vanaf hier, tab op privacy.
  4. Schakel de optie privé account in. U moet de omschakeling naar privé bevestigen met nog een tik.

Women using her phone and smiling because she figured out how to hide who you follow on Instagram.

How to Hide Who You Follow on Instagram Activity

Soms kan je behoefte om iemand te verbergen te maken hebben met de inhoud die ze delen. Misschien vindt u dat bepaalde mensen te vaak posten of dingen delen waar u het niet mee eens bent of die u niet waardeert. Maar misschien ben je er nog niet klaar voor om de banden met hen volledig te verbreken en heb je een meer tijdelijke oplossing nodig. 

Are you looking for a way to learn how to hide who you follow on Instagram activity? If so, you’ll want to make use of the app’s mute feature. This will hide the users’ posts in your feed as well as their stories and incoming messages. People who you mute will remain that way until you manually reverse the process and unmute them through the Instagram app.


Perhaps the best part? Instagram will not notify the user that you’ve muted them. We promise. This allows you to take a break from any user before deciding if you want to take a more permanent approach. Now, keep in mind that muting someone is different than unfollowing, restricting or blocking them. We’ll dive into those options further down below so be sure to keep reading. For now, let’s cover the multiple ways you can use the mute feature as a solution for how to hide who you follow on Instagram.

Person using Instagram to capture content

How to Hide Who You Follow on Instagram Feed

Muting someone on Instagram is an easy method when it comes to how to hide who you follow on Instagram feed. Like we mentioned above, this will remove another user’s content from showing up in your Instagram feed. You have the option to do this for both feed posts and for stories. The person will stay muted until you manually go in and unmute them. First up, let’s review the steps for how to hide who you follow on Instagram feed posts. 

  1. Open your Instagram app and go to the profile of the user you wish to mute. You can access this by searching for their handle or by tapping on their name from their posts or stories.
  2. Net onder hun profielfoto en bio, tikt u op het gearceerde vakje dat zegt volgen.
  3. Nu ziet u een paar opties, waaronder dempen
  4. Selecteer mute en zet dan berichten aan.
  5. Om iemand uit te schakelen, schakel je gewoon de berichten uit.

You’ve successfully muted that user’s posts and they will not show up in your feed. Now, let’s dive into how to hide who you follow on Instagram stories.

Person showing another person how to hide who you follow on Instagram

How to Hide Who You Follow on Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are a great way to quickly share snippets of your daily life with others. Sometimes, though, it can be a little too much. We all have those followers who seem to overshare certain aspects of their life. Luckily, you also have the option to mute people’s stories. This is in addition to their feed posts. To learn how to hide who you follow on Instagram stories, simply follow the easy steps we’ve outlined below. The best part? They are almost exactly the same as the steps we just learned above for feed posts. So, this will be a quick lesson.

  1. Open your Instagram app and go to the profile of the user you wish to mute. You can access this by searching for their handle or by tapping on their name from their posts or stories.
  2. Van hieruit tikt u op het gearceerde vakje met de tekst volgend. Dit staat net onder hun profielfoto en bio.
  3. Vervolgens moet u de optie dempen selecteren.
  4. Selecteer mute en schakel verhalen in.
  5. Om iemand te dempen, schakel je gewoon verhalen uit.

Je kunt ervoor kiezen om zowel verhalen als berichten van een gebruiker te dempen. Vergeet niet dat je het geluid handmatig moet uitschakelen als je hun inhoud weer in je feed wilt zien.

Smartphone opened to Instagram app

How to Hide Who You Follow on Instagram by Blocking Them

There are some people who you may prefer to never see or hear from again. And that’s okay – the internet has plenty of other people for you to engage with. If this is the case, you’ll want to go ahead and block the user on Instagram. We know this may sound like a drastic measure to take when it comes to how to hide who you follow on Instagram. However, sometimes it is necessary. There are a couple different ways to go about this. Below, we’ll outline the steps you need to take. First up? Learning how to block someone from their profile.

  1. Ga naar het Instagram profiel van de gebruiker. Je kunt dit doen door op hun gebruikersnaam te klikken vanuit een bericht in je feed of verhalen. Je kunt ook op het pictogram van de zoekbalk tikken en hun Instagram handle invoeren.
  2. Vanaf hier tikt u op het pictogram met de drie puntjes in de rechterbovenhoek van het scherm. Selecteer blok.

Instagram also gives you the option to block someone through direct messages. This is a quick and easy way to remove any potentially disturbing users that you hear from.

  1. U krijgt toegang tot uw rechtstreekse berichten door te klikken op het berichtpictogram in de rechterbovenhoek van het scherm. U kunt ook gewoon naar links vegen vanaf elke plek in uw startscherm.
  2. Selecteer de chat van de persoon die u wilt blokkeren.
  3. Tik vervolgens op hun naam bovenaan het scherm.
  4. Scroll naar beneden en selecteer blokkeren. U moet uw keuze bevestigen voordat het proces is voltooid.

Change your mind and want to unblock the user? No problem. You’ll want to simply go through the exact steps outlined above. However, instead of selecting block, you’ll now want to select unblock. Just like that, the process of how to hide who you follow on Instagram has been reversed.

 Man learning how to hide who you follow on Instagram.

How to Hide Who You Follow Without Blocking Them on Instagram

Perhaps blocking followers seems a little extreme for you. Or perhaps you don’t want to run the risk of a person figuring out that you’ve blocked them. Either way, maybe you’re not quite ready to take that step and are looking for a different option. Are you wondering how to hide who you follow without blocking them on Instagram? If so, you are in the right place. We’ve got the answers and, as it turns out, there are a few options. The two most popular options? Restricting them with Instagram’s restrict mode as well as simply unfollowing them. 

Read on below, where we’ve outlined the easy steps you can follow to try out both of these options. Make sure you have your phone handy as you scroll through. This way, you can give these methods a try in real time – and to your real followers. Let’s get right into it. Up first? Using Instagram’s restrict feature.

Man figuring out how to hide who you follow on Instagram

How to Use the Restrict Feature on Instagram

One option for learning how to hide who you follow on Instagram? Pacing the user in restrict mode. By doing this, you are essentially restricting their access to you as well as your content on Instagram. An added bonus? Restrict mode gives your social experience enhanced safety and privacy. You have better control of many things, including what comments appear on your posts and who can see that you are online.

Women using phone to learn how to hide who you follow on Instagram.

Placing someone in restrict mode will automatically turn their direct messages into message requests. This will let you view them before accepting them, a great way to read your Instagram messages without being seen. Additionally, any comments they leave on your feed posts will only be visible to them – and not your other followers. You can manually approve others to have visibility on the comment if you so choose. When you place someone in restrict mode, you also won’t receive any notifications from that person.

Below, you’ll find a step-by-step guide for how to hide who you follow on Instagram using restrict mode. These steps apply to both iPhone and Android users.

  1. First, open your Instagram account and go to the profile feed of the user in question.
  2. Tik vervolgens op het pictogram met de drie puntjes in de rechterbovenhoek. Dit staat net tegenover hun profielfoto.
  3. Selecteer hier de optie beperken.
  4. Je moet bevestigen dat je je wilt verzetten tegen deze Instagram gebruiker met een extra tik op de knop.
  5. De gebruiker is officieel op uw beperkte lijst geplaatst.

Je moet zeker weten dat je deze gebruiker in de beperkingsmodus hebt gezet. Het kan invloed hebben op andere functies die beschikbaar zijn tussen jullie beiden in de app. Om de beperkte modus te verwijderen, volgt u gewoon de bovenstaande stappen opnieuw. U selecteert echter unrestrict om hem terug te zetten naar een gewone volger.

Person holding phone while opened to Instagram login page

How to Unfollow Users on Instagram

Of course, you can always unfollow a user – perhaps the most permanent way to learn how to hide who you follow on Instagram. This means that you will no longer be following them in any way. They will not show up on your follower list and their content will not appear in your feed. However, unfollowing a user as a follower does not remove you as their follower. Keep in mind that if you choose to follow them again in the future, a notification will be sent. If they keep their profile set to private mode, they will need to approve your new follow request.

Ready to learn how to unfollow someone on Instagram? The easy steps are outlined below. These apply to both Android and iPhone devices.

  1. Open your Instagram app and go to the profile feed of the person you wish to unfollow.
  2. Kijk net onder hun profielfoto en bio naar het vakje dat zegt volgen.
  3. Tik op volgen en vervolgens op ontvolgen om te bevestigen. Nu zal het vakje op hun profiel zeggen volgen in plaats van volgen.

See? We told you it was easy. Now their shared content and activity status will not show up on your feed. As a reminder, rest assured that Instagram will not notify them that you’ve unfollowed them.

Women trying to figure out how to hide who you follow on Instagram.

Bij Path Social hebben we de afgelopen tien jaar een intern platform van Instagram influencers en een AI-targetingalgoritme opgebouwd. Zo bereiken we organische gebruikers die doelgericht, geïnteresseerd en betrokken zijn. En daarom kan niemand onze resultaten evenaren, wat betekent dat je een Instagram community opbouwt die blijft bestaan! Begin vandaag nog met groeien en Instagram volgers te krijgen.