Since it was launched in 2010, Instagram has become one of the world’s most popular mobile applications. Every day, millions of people around the world flock to the photo-sharing app to find out what their favourite celebs have been up to or to catch up on their friends’ latest antics.
Now owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta, Instagram boasts almost 1.5bn users worldwide each month, according to market and consumer data company Statista. It has become the perfect way to show off your recent endeavors to friends and family, whether that means sharing photos of last night’s party, or posting cute snaps of your furry friends.
But with so many users on the app, some people may worry about privacy, and be concerned about where your photos or videos could end up if someone saves them to their own device. If this happens, does Instagram notify you in any way?
In most cases, there is no way of knowing if another user has taken a screenshot while viewing your Instagram. If someone takes a screenshot while viewing your Instagram profile, posts or direct messages, you will get no notification informing you as such, so you will have no way of knowing it has happened unless the other user tells you.
Likewise, if someone takes a screenshot of an image or video posted to your Instagram Stories, you will get no notification to let you know. Instagram did introduce a feature in February 2018 which notified users when someone took a screenshot of their Story, but it was removed less than six months later.
One occasion when you would get a screenshot notification is if a user takes a screenshot of an image or video sent in a direct message that is set to only be viewed once. These ‘disappearing messages’ are designed to be inaccessible after being viewed, and when a recipient screenshots one, you will get a notification information you as such.
According to Instagram’s Help section, you cannot view a disappearing photo or video after it has been sent, but you can see if it was delivered, opened, replayed or if someone took a screenshot. After you have sent a disappearing photo or video via a direct message, you will see the status of the message – in other words, if it has been delivered, opened, or if the recipient has taken a screenshot.
Anything else sent in a direct message – such as text or posts forwarded from other profiles – would not result in a notification if screenshotted. Instagram is constantly being updated to allow new features, so there is nothing to say it will not reintroduce screenshot notifications again in future.
Here, we explain whether Instagram users can find out who has viewed their profile.
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