How to See Who Views Your Instagram Profile

Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms these days, with over a billion monthly active users logging on daily to check out images/videos posted by the friends, family or their favorite celebrities. While there is a large population of Instagram users who post stuff on the daily, there are quite a few who just lurk around without posting all that much or use the platform as a means to stalk other users. If you’re an avid Instagrammer with a public profile, it’s quite likely that you’ve wondered ‘Can I see who views my Instagram profile?’ more often than you’d like to admit. So, how does one track who views their Instagram profile? Can you keep a tab on your Insta stalker? Lets find out.

How to See Who Views Your Instagram Profile

Well, to be precise, there isn’t any straightforward way for you to check who views your Instagram profile. Instagram doesn’t have an in-built feature to let users check who’s viewed their profile and there’s a very good reason behind that – user privacy. Facebook-owned Instagram has all the data you’d need to check who viewed your profile, but it won’t share it with you because that could lead to a significant drop in user engagement on the platform.

Why, you ask? Well, since a significant number of Instagram users spend their time just checking out other profiles without posting anything on their own profile, if Instagram releases data regarding their activity, there’s a very high chance that they’ll stop using the app as much, which is definitely bad for business. Even though these users don’t engage with other people on Instagram, they still consume the same number of ads as everyone else and if they’re called out for their activity they might stop using the platform altogether.

Using Third-Party Apps to See Who Viewed Your Instagram Profile

So are there any third-party apps you could use to see who viewed your Instagram profile? Yes, there are an absolute ton of apps, both on the App Store and the Play Store, that will have you believe that you can see who views your Instagram profile and find your Insta stalkers by giving them access to your Instagram account. But, do they work? Definitely not. Apps like ‘Who Viewed My Profile?’ and ‘SocialView for Instagram’ have very poor ratings and there are several good reasons behind them. The first, and probably the most obvious one, is that the apps don’t work.

The apps just pretend to work and show a list of random Instagram usernames which keep changing every time you open the apps to make users feel that they’re doing something. Secondly, and most importantly, these apps run the risk of being a major privacy threat as they collect all your account data as soon as you log in with your Instagram account and give them access to the data. On top of that, the apps usually charge a subscription fee for their fake services and are also chock full of ads, which doesn’t really make for a pleasant user experience.

The most damning reason behind why these apps don’t work is quite straightforward. Instagram’s data policy clearly states that it only shares a user’s name, Instagram username and bio, profile photo and email address with third-party apps that have not been vetted by the company. Additionally, Instagram’s Graph API, which was introduced earlier this year, is much more restrictive than the older Instagram API platform, which means that apps that haven’t been approved by Instagram to use the API lose the ability to access the API altogether. So, now that third-party apps are out of the question, how can you see who viewed your Instagram profile?

Using Instagram Stories/Highlights to See Who Views Your Instagram Profile

Even though Instagram doesn’t give users access to a feature with which they can check who’s visiting their profiles, it does have one that allows users to see who all viewed their Stories and Highlights. The feature can, therefore, be used to check who all have recently visited your profile. In order to make use of this feature to reveal your Insta stalkers all you need to do is tap on the profile picture icons lined up in the bottom left corner of your recent Instagram Stories. This will bring up a list of all the users who’ve checked out your story, including users who don’t follow you.

This feature will also let you block any users who you don’t want to share your Stories with by tapping on the menu button to the right of the user’s name and selecting the ‘Hide Story’ option, so you can easily block any Instagram stalkers you may have.

Since Instagram Stories expire after 24 hours, you’ll have to check the list on a daily basis (in case you upload that often). But if you want to get a long term overview of who’s been visiting your Instagram profile, you can check the same list on your Highlights, which also displays a list of all the users who’ve visited your profile (provided they played the Highlights). Currently, this is the only sure shot way of finding out who’s visited your Instagram profile.

Using Instagram Business Accounts to See Who Views You Instagram Profile

You can also see who viewed your Instagram profile by making use of an Instagram business account. Having an Instagram business account will give you access to important information about who’s been visiting your Instagram profile, but there’s a catch.

With a business account you’ll be able to access valuable insights about the users visiting your profile, including their location, age range, gender, and the time that they’re online. However, the insights won’t reveal the names of all the individual users who’ve visited your profile.

If that’s the kind of data you’re interested in, you can easily convert your personal Instagram account into a business account. To do so, you’ll have to navigate to the Instagram Settings and tap on the ‘Switch to Business Profile’ option, then connect your Instagram account to a Facebook Page that you administrate.

Instagram will then prompt you to choose which contact information you wish to pull from your Facebook page as Instagram business accounts require users to have at least one contact info. Your new Instagram business account is now good to go. It’s worth noting that Instagram Insights don’t pull historical data and starts collecting data only after the Instagram business account is set up.

How to Make Your Instagram Account Private

Now that we’ve explored all the ways in which you can see who views your Instagram profile, lets talk about how you can prevent someone from viewing your profile. The answer is quite simple. You can prevent unknown users from checking out your Instagram profile by making your profile private.

To convert your Instagram profile from public to private, you’ll need to navigate to the settings menu in the Instagram app and toggle the ‘Private Account’ option. It’s as easy as that. Do note that switching to a private account won’t have any affect on your existing followers, so you’ll need to weed out unwanted followers or Insta stalkers individually after converting to a private account.

So Can You See Who Views Your Instagram Profile?

So, if you’ve been wondering whether you can see who viewed your Instagram profile, well, you can’t. The only workaround, which involves checking who’s viewed your Instagram Stories and Highlights, isn’t accurate as it only shows all the users who viewed your Stories or Highlights and doesn’t account for all the users who went through the posts on your timeline. Third-party apps, as I’ve already explained, are no good and using them is definitely a waste of your time and money. In case you want more information about the users visiting your profile and can do without getting their names, then you can also convert your personal account to a business account. And finally, if not knowing who’s visiting your Instagram profile bothers you all that much, you can switch to a private account.