Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps on the planet right now. Despite rival apps competing with all they’ve got, the platform comfortably sits near the top. 

The app constantly gets new features and filters to keep the audience engaged. With the introduction of reels, Instagram has also started to eat into TikTok’s userbase. However, it’s not a one-stop solution that does everything. 

You see, a lot of people have major privacy issues when using the platform. Ever since its acquisition by Facebook in 2012, these concerns have grown even more. So to what extent are you protected on Instagram, and how would you know if someone screenshots a post or story from your profile?

Also read: How to untag yourself on Instagram?

Screenshots and stories

Unlike some other social media platforms and messaging apps, Snapchat, most notably, Instagram doesn’t notify users when their profile or stories get screenshotted. 

If you want to protect your stories and posts in general from unwanted eyes, you can make your Instagram account private, but even that will leave your stories open to screenshots from the people who follow you. This protection can be taken one step further with the Close Friends feature. 

The feature allows you to post a story that only a predetermined group of people (decided by you, of course) can see. You can tell whether or not you’re in this group by taking a look at the green badge in the top right corner of a story. 

Even then, people in the close friends’ list can take story screenshots without the poster ever knowing. So basically, if you can see it, you can screenshot it, and the person who posted the story won’t get a hint. 

DMs work the same way. You won’t know if someone has taken a screenshot of your chats, that is, unless you’re in Vanish Mode. This is a recent feature added by the platform, which, when enabled, will notify users of screenshots and delete messages sent within the mode as soon as it is disabled. 

Also read: How to turn off read receipts on Instagram?