nocnt

Mute or block your ex on Instagram: what they’ll see

Mute, restrict, hide your story or block: what each option does, the steps from Instagram’s help pages, and what your ex will and won’t notice.

Updated 3 min readSources at the end

You don’t have to block them to stop seeing them. Here’s what each option on Instagram does, what they’ll notice, and how to do it. The steps come from Instagram’s own help pages, checked on 25 September 2026. Apps change, so if a button has moved, the linked page has the current steps.

Which one to pick

  • Mute if you want them out of your feed and nothing to change on their side.
  • Restrict if they still message or comment and you want that to go quiet without a block.
  • Hide your story if you don’t want them watching your life, but you’re not ready to block.
  • Block if you want a clean stop in both directions.

One thing to know first

If you watch their story, they can see that you did.1 Muting their story takes that temptation out of the row at the top of your feed.

Mute their posts and stories

From their profile:

  1. Open their profile.
  2. Tap Following.
  3. Tap Mute.
  4. Switch on Posts and Stories.

To mute their messages, tap Messages, open your chat, tap their name at the top, then tap Mute and switch on Mute messages and Mute calls.

Instagram doesn’t tell them.2 Their notes aren’t covered by a normal mute: tap Messages, press and hold their note, and tap Mute notes.3

Restrict them

  1. Open their profile.
  2. Tap Options in the top right.
  3. Tap Restrict.

Once they’re restricted, they can’t see when you’re online or whether you’ve read their messages. Your chat moves to Message Requests, where you can read their messages without them knowing. Their new comments on your posts are visible only to them unless you approve them.4

Hide your story from them

  1. Tap Profile, then Menu in the top right.
  2. Under Who can see your content, tap Story, live and location.
  3. Tap Hide your story and live videos from specific people (on Android: Hide story and live from).
  4. Select them and tap Done.

They won’t see anything you add to your story from then on. This isn’t a block: they can still see your profile and posts.5

Block them

  1. Open their profile.
  2. Tap Options in the top right, then Block.
  3. Tap Block to confirm.

They aren’t told. They can’t find your profile, posts or story, and they can’t mention or tag you. Their likes and comments disappear from your posts, and messages they send while blocked never reach you.6 7

Worth knowing:

  • Instagram may offer to block their other and future accounts too. Accounts of theirs that you already follow need blocking one by one.
  • In a group chat you share, you can stay or leave. If you stay, you both still see each other’s messages there.
  • If your Facebook account isn’t connected in Accounts Center, they can still reach you on Facebook unless you block them there too. See Facebook.

If you still want to look

That’s normal, and it doesn’t mean you failed. Research on checking an ex online is in why you keep checking your ex’s profile. When the urge comes, pop a sheet of bubble wrap first. In nocnt, checking their profile has its own button, and logging it doesn’t reset your count.

Sources

  1. Instagram Help Center: Who can tell that you’ve seen their Instagram story. ↩

  2. Instagram Help Center: Mute or unmute someone on Instagram. ↩

  3. Instagram Help Center: Mute or unmute notes from someone on Instagram. ↩

  4. Instagram Help Center: Restrict or unrestrict someone on Instagram. ↩

  5. Instagram Help Center: Hide your Instagram story from someone. ↩

  6. Instagram Help Center: Block or unblock someone on Instagram. ↩

  7. Instagram Help Center: What happens when you block someone on Instagram. ↩

Try it now