How to view instagram stories without them knowing reddit

Life

Activate sleuth mode.

Charday Penn/E+/Getty Images

The ability to check out who has viewed your Instagram Story is a double edged sword — pretty satisfying when it’s your Story, and pretty exposing when you’re on the other side. Though you might enjoy being able to see who is watching your Stories, you’ve likely wondered how to watch other people’s Instagram Stories anonymously.

“I kept ignoring this one friends DMs just because I wasn’t in the mood to read and respond and I was trying to be careful to not watch their Stories, but I did accidentally,” Taylor, 24 tells Bustle. “I had to immediately reply and pretend that I hadn’t seen their messages — it was embarrassing, and it happens a lot,” she says.

Being seen in a Story audience is often reason enough to avoid watching it. While Instagram doesn’t offer any obvious way around having your name pop up, there are a few different ways you can peek at a Story without being seen, so long as it’s a public account or someone you already follow.

Turn On Airplane Mode

Instagram preloads a handful of Stories, so that when you log on you can instantly view them, regardless of your connection status. When you don’t have a WiFi or cellular connection, Stories can’t count your view —so if you pull up someone’s profile, and then duck into Airplane mode, turn off your cell signal and return to their page to view their Story, it will load, and the user won’t see you in their viewer’s log. Note that if this poster has a particularly long Story, or many slides, they likely won’t all preload, so you’ll only be able to see a few.

Use Your Finsta

If keeping your info private is important to you, and you want to be able to see what everyone’s up to without letting them know you’re online, you can use a secondary Instagram account to peep in secret. So long as the account you’re viewing is public, or you’ve been accepted as a follower of a private account, you’ll be able to view the Story without the person knowing it was *you*.

Use A Third-Party App

At your own, risk, if you’re *really* curious, you can use a third party app that will allow you to privately screen a Story of an account that is public, without logging in. Sites like Insta-Stories only require you to enter the user name to view their Stories anonymously. But if the account is private, you won’t be able to sneak your way in.

When someone posts an Instagram Story in 2021, Instagram tells them who has viewed and engaged with it. But sometimes you might want to view a Story without letting the user know.

Maybe you’re conducting market research and want to peek in on a competing brand’s Instagram strategy, and prefer to keep that information discreet. Whatever your reasons, here are two ways you can view someone’s Instagram Story without anyone knowing.

Method 1: Click the next Instagram Story and swipe back

This method takes advantage of the interface that allows you to swipe between different users’ Stories.

Here’s what to do:

1. Find the profile whose Story you want to view secretly on your feed, and click on the profile right next to it.
2. Tap on the Story to pause it, and then slowly and carefully swipe in the direction of the Story you want to view. It will appear as though on the adjacent side of a 3D box.
3. Be careful not to swipe all the way, because if you do, the user will see that you’ve viewed it.

The major disadvantage of this method is that you can only view the first Story on that profile’s feed, and that you won’t be able to view videos. Another problem is that it can be easy to accidentally swipe all the way — and then the whole exercise will have been futile. Also, it won’t even let you get to the stage of being able to screenshot an IG story.

Method 2: Use a third-party app or website

This method requires using a different website or app. Viewing Stories through these applications doesn’t get counted in the stats, so the user won’t know that you’ve seen them. Because these are 3rd party apps please use them at your own risk:

• Desktop: Go to storiesig.com and search for the user. If their profile is public, you’ll be able to view and download all of that user’s current stories.
• iPhone: Download the Story Reposter app and log in. Search for the user in the search bar, and then tap on the folder with their Instagram Stories.
• Android: Download the Story Saver app and log in. Search for the account using the search icon in the upper right corner. You’ll be able to view their Stories in a feed format.

This method requires a little more effort, but it’s also more foolproof, and makes it much easier to download and save the Stories you’re viewing.