How To Half Swipe on Instagram: See DMs and Stories Sneakily

Instagram has many features that let people know if you’ve viewed something they’ve sent or posted. These include the viewer list on Instagram Stories and read receipts on DMs. 

But what if you don’t want another person to know you’ve seen their text or Story post? Is there a way to get around these features? Yes, there is. You may know it as the sneaky “half-swipe.” And today, we’ll teach you the ins and outs of how to half-swipe on Instagram.

What Is Half Swipe on Instagram?

A half-swipe on Instagram refers to only partially swiping your screen to open specific content. By not fully opening it on your mobile device, the app doesn’t mark it as read or viewed. So the person doesn’t find out that you’ve already seen their direct message or Story post.

Read receipts and viewer lists are terrific features that let people know if someone looked at their content and texts. These features are useful in many cases. However, a lot of people aren’t comfortable with technology keeping tabs on their online activity.

There’s a lot of pressure that comes with opening messages and the other person seeing that you’ve already done so. Maybe they expect you to respond to them right away. The same goes for viewing other people’s content. Some friends may expect you to immediately react and reply to their content and get upset when you don’t.

The anxiety goes both ways, though. A behavioral scientist told Business Insider that seeing that someone read and ignored your messages can evoke strong feelings of rejection.

So, while read receipts and viewer lists are amazing for transparency, they can cause anxiety and dread, too. These features push some people to avoid opening texts and Stories until they’re ready. That’s why other sly users have devised a sneaky way to view DMs and Stories without triggering read receipts: the half-swipe trick.

The half-swipe is extremely helpful for discreetly viewing messages and Stories without the pressure of reacting to them immediately. It buys you more time to come up with a response without making other people anxious. Overall, it’s an awesome way to manage how you engage with others on Instagram.

How To Do a Half Swipe on Instagram Stories

Are you itching to see someone’s Instagram Stories but don’t want them to find out? Now that you know what a half swipe is on Instagram, here’s how to do one so that you don’t show up on their Story views list after seeing their content:

1. Open the Instagram app.

2. On the top of your home page, you’ll see all the Stories of people you follow. Swipe through the icons until you find the one you want to view.

3. Instead of clicking on that Story, tap the one right after it.

4. Long-press the Story that opens on your screen. Then, carefully swipe to the right without letting go. The screen will start showing the previous Story, which is the one you want to view.

5. When done, swipe to the left to go back to the first Story. Don’t let go until the previous Story is gone from the screen. If you do, it will count as a view.

This method has its fair share of caveats. First, it only works with static Story content. You won’t be able to watch video Stories with this technique. Second, you’ll need to be following the person whose Instagram Stories you want to see. If not, their Story won’t show up on your home page.

How To Half Swipe on Instagram Messages

Do you want to buy time to think of a reply before replying to someone’s direct messages? View them with a half-swipe so they don’t see you’ve already opened their texts. Here’s how to half-swipe on Instagram messages:

1. Open the Instagram app and head to your DM inbox.

2. Find the chat with unread messages you want to take a peek at.

3. Click on the chat to open it and immediately scroll up. The goal is to scroll up to older messages before the newer ones load. That way, it doesn’t register that you’ve seen their latest, current message.

4. Scroll down until you can read most of the new message. Don’t scroll down so far that you reach the end of the message bubble, as that triggers read receipts.

5. When done reading the message, tap the arrow that leads you back to your inbox. That’s it! 

How To Half Swipe on Snapchat Messages

The half-swipe isn’t exactly exclusive to Instagram. You can also do it on other social media platforms, like Snapchat. Here’s how to half swipe on Snapchat messages, step by step:

1. Open the Snapchat app.

2. Click the message bubble icon at the bottom of the screen to go to your unseen messages.

3. Tap on the Bitmoji of someone who has sent you an unread message, and don’t let go.

4. Slowly swipe to the right to reveal as much of the chat as possible without letting go. From there, you can read the messages they sent.

5. When done, swipe back to the left and release when your screen is back to the message inbox. If you let go too early, you risk Snapchat sending read receipts to that person.

How To Half Swipe on Instagram on Android

According to some half-swipe tutorials online, this method may not work on Snapchat if you’re using an Android device. So, many users might be wondering how to half swipe on Instagram on Android, if it’s possible at all.

Thankfully, Android users can do the half-swipe tricks on Instagram the same way an iOS user would. Just remember to swipe fast for DMs and slowly and carefully for Stories.

Please note that the half-swipe technique may stop working at any time on these apps, regardless of your device. New app updates might cause old half-swipe tricks to stop working, so watch out for those changes!

Other Ways To Open DMs and Stories Discreetly

Do you need more tips on how to open texts and Stories in secret? Here are other ways to do that aside from the half-swipe:

• Turn on your DM notifications. That way, new messages will pop up on your phone without you having to open them on the app.
• Go on airplane mode before opening an unread message or unopened Story post. Because there’s no internet connection, Instagram won’t count it as viewed.
• Use third-party apps and sites to view Stories. The Path Social Story Viewer is reputable and free to use.

Another Cool IG Trick: Use Path Social To Grow Your Page!

Hate the feeling of accidentally opening a text or Story someone has tagged you in because of the pressure to reply ASAP? Mastering the handy half swipe is exactly what you need to avoid that awkwardness. With a clean, sneaky half-swipe, you can easily bypass read receipts and get on someone’s Story viewer list.

Do you want your page to succeed on Instagram? If so, you’ll need more tricks than just knowing how to half swipe on Instagram. Here’s another cool trick we’d like to impart: Use Path Social to get more followers and grow your page fast.

At Path Social, we use a proprietary targeting tool to promote your page to the right people. You tell us who your target market is, and we push out your content to show up on their feeds. This boosts brand awareness and discoverability, leading to new followers and higher engagement on your posts. Ready to build an active community of fans on Instagram? Work with Path Social to get more followers today!