The Instagram platform allows users to set their profiles/accounts to private to restrict access to their stories, photos, and videos.
If you are unable to view an Instagram account, maybe you were blocked, or you sent a follow request that has been ignored, or someone just made their account private.
But if you really want to know what is going on, there is a way.
There are two ways to view private Instagram accounts; use private Instagram viewer apps or third party websites or simply send a follow request so that the user can allow you to view their profile, stories, or photos.
What makes a private account?
Instagram private accounts can not be followed without the owner’s approval.
You can tell if someone has set their account to private if:
- You are not able to see public accounts followed by the user
- You can not see, share or download their photos or videos
- You can not see their profile information
- You can not interact with them for example through liking, commenting or direct messaging.
How to see private Instagram account for free
If you want to view posts from private profiles, you can try one of the following ways:
1. Send a follow request
This would be the go-to option if you are looking to view a private account that you are willing to follow. It is also a straight way; call it a ‘white hat’.
You just send a request and wait for a response which will depend on how often the account is monitored.
You could also DM the person to help them see the request quicker or share information.
A positive response should give you access to the account profile, stories and photos.
Alternatively, if for example, there’s just one instagram story or post you’re dying to check out but the person’s account is private, you could try to use a friend’s account to do so. Provided it’s a mutual friend who follows the person.
However, you may not be willing to send a follow request, or you may want to remain anonymous, or even worse, the target may ignore your follow request.
But you badly want to view the account. You can try other ways…
2. Use an Instagram private account viewer website
There are several Instagram private account viewer apps and websites, both free and paid that CLAIM to provide real-time updates and enable viewing of private Instagram posts and stories.
These however require some verifications that seem not to break through.
In simple terms, they have not worked on my side, but here are some of them, you might want to try them out and see if they work for you.
1. Private insta
Private insta is a popular Instagram private account viewer that should allow you to view someone’s photos without following them or having to get their approval first.
If you want to try this out, go to the private insta page.
Type the username of the target account you wish to view in the search bar and search. See how it goes.
2. Private Instagram viewer
To give this option a try, open the private viewer web page, enter the username of the account you would like to ‘stalk’ or spy on and hit enter or search.
The search should bring you a page with a short profile of the user, to continue and view private account photos, you can tap the “unlock private photos” and go through the verification.
This is how far I got with this, no breakthrough verifications!
3. iGrom Viewer
This is an online app that claims to allow you to view private Instagram profiles without following them.
To try this app;
- Type iGromViewer.com in your search engine to access the igrom website.
- Enter the target user name. Type the Instagram user name of the account you would like to view in the bar.
- Make a choice; below the username bar is the unlock choice bar, tap the drop-down arrow to see options; choose what you would like to view.
- Proceed; now you can tap the Proceed button. You will see a notification for successful unlock, then one final step.
- Verify; tap the button. This didn’t work for me either…
4. Profile-Viewer.com
This private account viewer website also should work for Android, iOS, and Windows. Go to the website through your search engine
Enter the target Instagram account username in the search bar and tap the connect button
Below the username bar is another bar, you can tap the dropdown arrow for options, choose what you would like to view, either photos, profile or stories
Tap the Start Now button and see if it works for you
5. IMGLookup
Lastly, you can also try this website
On the imglookup website page, click the Start Now button, enter the Instagram username in the search bar and search, then wait for results.
AGAIN, these seem not to have any breakthrough, but I put them here just for you to be aware, or in case you come through with any of them…who knows?
FAQS
Q. How can you view Instagram without an account?
To view Instagram without an account;
You can try viewer websites like https://instanavigation.com/ and those discussed in this article.
Q. How can I make my account private on Instagram?
Making an Instagram account private is very easy. If you want to make your account private, follow the following steps
Open your profile; you can do this by tapping your profile picture at the bottom right of your screen.
Tap at the three-line icon in the top right corner to access a menu
Tap the settings and privacy option to get another menu with various categorization
Scroll down to find the “who can see your content” section, then tap the account privacy option, this should be the first option under that categorization
Tap the switch to turn the private account mode on, make sure the switch turns blue.
You will get a pop-up prompting you to review followers, when you tap it, it should lead you to a list of all your Instagram followers.
You can now go ahead and check the list, and tap remove to restrict account viewing for the followers as needed.
There will be some confirmations required to remove the contact.
To reverse this decision and action, follow the same steps, but this time swipe the switch to turn it back to grey. Then your account will be public again.
Conclusion
Restriction options offered by Instagram help a great deal to limit access to accounts and guarantee your safety as well.
There are however provisions that can allow users to bypass these restrictions and get access to private Instagram photos and stories as seen above.
