Anyone who has followed social networks knows that sometimes the most innocuous posts can provoke unpleasant reactions. Particularly on apps like Instagram, your content, including videos, images, and text, can be viewed by anyone. There are many reasons why you might want to set your account private, even temporarily. That way, only people you approve will be able to follow you and see what you post on your grid or stories.

This isn’t a perfect solution. For example, while your account is private, only your followers can see your posts, but some parts of your account, such as your profile, remain public.

To turn on your private Instagram account:

If you want to reduce your followers, you can do that as well.

If you also want to address issues with other meta apps like Facebook and Threads, or add other security features like two-factor authentication, you can also click the link to Account Center in Settings.