To hide your Instagram Story from selected accounts, add them to Instagram’s Hide Story and live from list in Story audience settings. This keeps those accounts from seeing your Stories, Highlights, and Lives, but does not hide your profile or posts from them.
Hide your story from specific people in the Instagram app
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Open Instagram and tap your profile picture to go to your profile.
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Tap the menu, then choose Story, live and location under Who can see your content.
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Tap Hide Story and live from.
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Select the accounts you want to exclude, then go back to save the setting.
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These mobile instructions are reproduced from Instagram Help Center guidance by Tech Safe BC’s Instagram safety guide. Instagram may change menu labels between app versions. If the names differ, look for the story audience or privacy controls in Instagram’s settings.
Hide your story from someone through a posted story
You can also use the options associated with a person’s account while viewing a posted story: open the options menu, choose Hide your story, and confirm Hide. This alternate route is described in Tech Safe BC’s guide.
Hide your story on Instagram’s desktop website
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Open Instagram and select More, then Settings.
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Choose Story, live and location.
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Open Hide Story and live from, select the accounts, and return from the setting.
The desktop route is also reproduced in Tech Safe BC’s Instagram safety guide. If a menu label has changed, use the story audience/privacy settings rather than a third-party app.
What hiding your story does—and does not do
The hide list is a story-level audience control. According to Tech Safe BC’s guide, it applies to Stories, Highlights, and Lives. The selected accounts can still view your profile and posts; hiding a story is not the same as making your account private or blocking someone.
Use Close Friends to share with selected people instead
If your goal is to show a story only to a chosen group, use Close Friends rather than excluding people one by one.
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Open your profile menu and choose Close Friends.
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Select the accounts you want on the list and save.
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When preparing a story, choose Close Friends as its audience before sharing.
This positive-list approach is documented by Tech Safe BC’s guide. It contrasts with Hide Story and live from, which removes selected accounts from the regular story audience.
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Hide Story vs. Close Friends vs. blocking
| Option | Audience logic | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Hide Story and live from | Exclude selected accounts from your regular story audience. | Stories, Highlights, and Lives; profile and post access remain, according to Tech Safe BC’s guide. |
| Close Friends | Share a story with the selected accounts on your list. | For a story, choose Close Friends before posting. |
| Blocking | Use when you want a broader restriction on access to your account or contact. | Broader than the story-only audience control; the secondary guide discusses this distinction. |
The first two options’ instructions and scope are described by Tech Safe BC. The broader blocking comparison is corroborated by ViewInsta’s August 18, 2026 guide.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Will Instagram tell someone you hid your story from them?
ViewInsta’s August 18, 2026 guide says Instagram does not notify a person when you hide your story from them. The directly accessible instructions from Instagram Help Center reproduced by Tech Safe BC do not establish this as an official guarantee, so treat it as secondary-source guidance rather than a promise about every app version or circumstance.
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