General Instagram hacks

1. Stop seeing posts and/or Stories from specific accounts you follow

Mute annoying users without the risk of offending them with an unfollow.

How to do it:

1. Tap the … icon in the corner of a post from the account you want to mute
2. Click mute
3. From there, you can choose whether to mute posts, or mute posts and Stories from the account
4. You can also mute posts and Stories by pressing and holding on a Story in your tray, or from a profile

2. Rearrange the order of your filters

Put your most-used filters up front for faster posting.

How to do it:

1. When posting a photo or video, go to Filter
2. Scroll to the end of your filters and tap Manage
3. Press and hold the three line icon next to each filter on the left-hand side of the screen to rearrange the order of your filters
4. Check or uncheck the circles next to each filter on the right-hand side of the screen to hide or unhide filters
5. Click Done to save your settings

3. See all the posts you’ve liked

Looking for inspiration? Why not review what’s already inspired you.

How to do it:

1. Go to your profile
2. Open the hamburger menu in the top right corner
3. Tap Settings
4. Tap Account
5. Tap Posts You’ve Liked

4. Clear your search history

Don’t let anyone who has access to your phone know how obsessed you are with your frenemies.

How to do it:

1. Go to your profile
2. Open the hamburger menu in the top right corner
3. Tap Settings
4. Scroll to the bottom, then tap Clear Search History

5. Hide specific search queries

Permanently remove specific searches (accounts, hashtags, places, etc.) from appearing in the search bar.

How to do it:

1. Tap the magnifying glass icon to visit the search page
2. Tap the search bar at the top of the screen
3. Tap the X to delete
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6. Get notifications when your favorite users post new content

Never miss a post from your favorite people and brands!

How to do it:

1. Visit the the profile page of the account you’d like to get notifications for
2. Tap the three dots icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen
3. Select Turn on Post Notifications

Note: If you’ve changed your mind, the option to turn off notifications lives in the same spot.

7. Add and manage multiple accounts

You can add up to 5 accounts under the same email address on Instagram. And you don’t need to log in and out to switch between accounts.

How to do it:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Add Account.
4. Enter the username and password of the account you’d like to add.

To switch between accounts you’ve added:

1. Go to your profile.
2. Tap your username at the top of the screen.
3. Tap the account you’d like to switch to.
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8. Pin your Instagram post to Pinterest

Pinterest isn’t listed as one of the network choices when sharing a post from Instagram, but there are workarounds for both Instagram mobile and desktop.

How to do it on mobile:

1. Go to the post you’d like to Pin
2. Tap the three dots icon located above your post to the right
3. Select Copy Share URL to copy the post link to your clipboard
4. Open the Pinterest app on your mobile device
5. Tap on your profile image icon to visit your profile
6. Tap the plus sign icon at the top right of the screen to add a new Pin
7. An “Add a board or Pin” menu will appear, select Copied link
8. Pinterest will automatically open the link saved to your clipboard
9. Choose the image you’d like to Pin and finish posting as usual

How to do it on desktop:

1. Visit Instagram.com and find the post you’d like to Pin
2. Right click on the post and select Open Link in New Window
3. Use the Pinterest browser button to choose the image you’d like to Pin and finish posting as usual

9. Delete comments

Whether you need to hide an offensive comment or erase a typo, deleting comments is easy.

How to delete your own comment:

1. Tap the speech bubble icon beneath the post you commented on
2. Find the comment you’d like to delete
3. Swipe to the left over the comment
4. Tap the trash can icon

How to delete another user’s comment on your post:

1. Tap the speech bubble icon beneath the post containing the comment you’d like to delete
2. Swipe to the left over the comment
3. A partial swipe will bring up a trio of options, allowing you to reply, flag, or delete a comment
4. Tap the trash can icon—or continue swiping to the left—to delete the comment

10. Filter and block comments based on keywords

Dealing with a social media troll? Comment controls allow you to filter and block comments containing specific keywords.

How to do it:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Privacy and Security.
4. Tap Comment Controls.
5. Make sure that Hide Offensive Comments is turned on.
6. Tap next to Manual Filter to turn it on.
7. Enter specific words, phrases, numbers or emoji in the text box to filter out comments.

When you turn on comment filtering, it’s applied to both new and existing comments on your posts. When you turn off comment filtering, filtered comments on your posts will be restored.

11. Turn off comments on a particular post

How to do it:

1. Begin posting a photo or video as usual
2. When you reach the screen where you add a caption, location, and other tags, select Advanced Settings
3. Toggle the Turn Off Commenting option on

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Note: you can change this setting even after a post has been published by going to the post, tapping the three dot icon above it, and selecting Turn On Commenting. You can also turn off comments on a previously published post by following these same steps.

12. Reply to comments faster

Do your followers ask a lot of the same questions? For example: “When will this be back in stock?” or “What are your holiday hours?”

A handy hack exists for iOS users that will help you reply to these types of questions quickly and efficiently.

How to do it:

1. On your Instagram profile, tap the hamburger menu and then Settings.
2. Tap General and then Keyboard.
3. Tap Text Replacement.
4. Here, you’ll see a list of pre-populated keyboard shortcuts. Click the + sign in the upper right corner.
5. In the Phrase section, type the generic response you would like to create (e.g., “Hi! We’re open from 9 am to 3 pm on Memorial Day.).
6. In the Shortcut section, type a word or abbreviation that will represent that full phrase, like “MemorialDay”.
7. Anytime you want to use that specific comment, type out your shortcut and your phone will automatically populate the full phrase.

13. Save and organize posts where only you can see them

The perfect hack for squirrelling away bits of inspiration. Or use this feature to keep tabs on your competitors.

How to do it:

1. Go to a post you’d like to save
2. Tap the bookmark icon underneath the post you want to save
3. Add the post to an existing collection or tap the + icon to create and name a new one
4. To see your saved posts and collections, visit your profile and tap the hamburger menu. Then tap Saved.

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14. Remove old posts from your profile without deleting them

This is possible thanks to Instagram’s archive feature.

How to do it:

1. Tap … at the top of the post you want to remove
2. Select Archive
3. Tap the Archive icon in the top right corner of your profile to review all archived posts
4. If you want to restore content to your public profile, simply tap Show on Profile at any time and it’ll show up in its original spot

15. Zoom in on a post

How to do it:

1. Go to the post you’d like to zoom in on
2. Pinch using two fingers and slowing the pull them farther apart
3. Enjoy the details

16. View how much time you’ve spent on Instagram

How to do it:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Your Activity

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17. Set a reminder to limit your time on Instagram

Only want to spend a certain amount of time on Instagram per day? Set a reminder to let you know when your time is up.

How to do it:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Account > Your Activity > Set Daily Reminder.
4. Choose an amount of time and tap Set Reminder.

18. Customize which notifications you receive

Want to only receive certain types of notifications? Or pause them all together. It’s easy to do that.

How to do it:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Your Activity.
3. Tap Notification Settings.
4. Click into each notification category to opt out of specific notifications. Go to Pause All and toggle on to pause all notifications.