How to read Instagram messages from notification bar

Whenever you send a message on Instagram and the receiver reads it, you see a small ‘Seen’ written under it. Despite how helpful the Seen receipt on Instagram is, we have all secretly wished to find a way around this and read messages without letting the other person know. Super covert!

Now, the question is: how to read Instagram messages without being seen? There are no official ways to do it because, unlike WhatsApp, Instagram doesn’t provide a feature to turn off the read receipts. But there are some workarounds and tricks you can apply to pull this off.

Contents show

1 How to Read Instagram DMs Without Letting the Other Person Know on Instagram App

1.1 Method 1: Read the Message from the Notifications

1.2 Method 2: Turn Off Your Internet to Read the Instagram Direct Message

1.3 Method 3: Restrict the Sender on Your Instagram Account (Best Solution)

1.4 Method 4: Use Third-Party Apps on Your Phone

2 How To Read Instagram Messages Without Being Seen on PC

2.1 Method 1: Don’t Open Instagram Inbox and Read the DM Notification

2.2 Method 2: Disable the Internet to Read the Conversation

2.3 Method 3: Restrict the User Profile to Block the Messages, Comments, and Posts

2.4 Method 4: Find Individual Tools

3 Conclusion

How to Read Instagram DMs Without Letting the Other Person Know on Instagram App

1. Read the Message from the Notifications
2. Turn Off Your Internet to Read the Instagram Direct Message
3. Restrict the Sender on Your Instagram Account (Best Solution)
4. Use Third-Party Apps on Your Phone

Method 1: Read the Message from the Notifications

Most of us get countless notifications from different apps on our mobiles every day, but do you know the secret use of these notifications? You can read chats and messages without being seen.

Simply pull down the notification panel and read the message without tapping it.

As you didn’t go to the Instagram app’s inbox for reading the DM, it wouldn’t know that you’ve read it. So, it can’t show the Seen receipt to the sender. We can’t turn off read receipts on Instagram, but we can use notifications to pull this off.

However, you have to be careful when reading Instagram direct messages through notifications because if you mistakenly tap the message, it will open the DM on Instagram and then Instagram will show the dreaded Seen receipt to the sender.

Another bummer is that notifications have a character limit. So, longer messages might not be shown in full on the notification.

Method 2: Turn Off Your Internet to Read the Instagram Direct Message

This is a bit of an elaborate method but it works. If you’re searching for how to check Instagram messages without seen, turn off your internet connection and then go to their message to read it.

But the method doesn’t end here. Because if you leave it there, the person will know that you have read their message the moment you connect to the internet. You need to log out of the IG app as well. Follow these steps:

1. When you receive the message, you want to read without notifying the sender, swipe down from the top and tap the airplane button to activate airplane mode.
2. Now open your Instagram app, tap the messages icon at the top-right corner of the screen.

• Go to the conversation you want to read secretly and read the DM.
• After reading the message, go back to the News Feed. (Keep the internet off).
• Tap your profile picture at the bottom-right corner.

• Select the three horizontal lines (hamburger icon) and go to ‘Settings’.

• Swipe down and choose ‘Log out’.

• Close the Instagram app.
• Now you can reconnect to the internet and the sender won’t know that you have read the message.

Method 3: Restrict the Sender on Your Instagram Account (Best Solution)

Want to know the best method for how to open IG message without seen? Restrict the sender’s profile on Instagram and read their Instagram direct messages as many times as you want without being Seen.

But what is the Restrict feature on Instagram and what happens when you restrict people? The Restrict option was not made for reading messages without letting the sender know.

It is a privacy feature that is for people who want to make someone invisible from their Instagram account. It’s pretty similar to blocking people, but the other person won’t know about this at all.

When you restrict someone’s profile, their posts and stories don’t appear in your News Feed. They can like your posts (photos and content) and it will be public.

However, their comments on your posts are visible for the restricted person and you only. You get the option to approve the comment for it to appear for everyone.

Moreover, the direct messages of the restricted profile are moved to the message requests section of your inbox. This means that you can read their Instagram DMs without letting them know.

On top of that, all the notifications regarding the restricted profile are muted so you won’t be bothered if they message you.

You can, however, go to the requests section of your inbox and read their messages whenever you want. The best thing is that Instagram doesn’t notify the person that you have restricted their profile.

Here’s how to restrict people on Instagram and read the messages without letting them know on iOS and Android devices.

• Open your Instagram app.
• Go to the profile of the profile you want to restrict from their story or post or go to your following list.
• On their profile, tap the ‘Following’ button.

• Select ‘Restrict’.

• The next screen will show you what happens when you restrict a profile. Tap ‘Restrict account’.

• Now tap the ‘Message’ button next to ‘Following’ and go see their messages without any worry. They won’t know that you have seen them.

• If you ever decide to reply to the person, simply tap ‘Unrestrict’ and send the message. They will be unresticted with this.

Method 4: Use Third-Party Apps on Your Phone

You can experiment with third-party apps on your iPhone, iPad, and Android phone to find an app that lets you open IG messages without worrying about read receipts on Instagram. Go to Apple App Store or Google Play Store and search: hide Instagram seen or search anything similar.

How To Read Instagram Messages Without Being Seen on PC

1. Don’t Open Instagram Inbox and Read the DM Notification
2. Disable the Internet to Read the Conversation
3. Restrict the User Profile to Block the Messages, Comments, and Posts
4. Find Individual Tools

Method 1: Don’t Open Instagram Inbox and Read the DM Notification

If you’re searching, can you turn off read receipts on Instagram? You can’t. But there is a simple method to accomplish this without doing anything with Instagram on your computer.

Read the message from notifications. For this to work, you should have enabled desktop notifications for Instagram on your web browser.

Method 2: Disable the Internet to Read the Conversation

You can read someone’s Instagram direct messages without getting Seen by turning off the internet connection and reading the message. After this log out of Instagram from your web browser. Too confusing? Follow these steps:

• Turn off your internet (Disconnect your Wi-Fi or turn on Airplane Mode).
• Go to the IG DM by clicking the messages icon on the Instagram web.

• Navigate to the conversation you want to read.
• After reading the message, click your profile photo at the top-right corner.
• Click ‘Log Out’.

• Close your browser.
• Disable the airplane mode and log in to Instagram.

Method 3: Restrict the User Profile to Block the Messages, Comments, and Posts

Although the Restrict feature isn’t made for reading IG messages without letting them know, it can accomplish that. 

When you restrict someone, their posts, stories, and comments are invisible. You can see their comments on your posts and decide if they should be public or not.

The juicy part is that their conversation is moved to message requests where you can freely read their messages whenever you feel like and they won’t know.

However, you need to unrestrict them to reply. But you can restrict them back after replying (savage feature, right?). So, this is the best option if you need a simple and easier method of consistently reading someone’s messages without worrying about the Seen receipts.

• Go to their profile and click the three dots.

• Choose ‘Restrict’ from the menu.

• You will see the features of the Restrict option. Click ‘Restrict Account’.

• Now go to your Instagram DM and read their message.
• If you want to reply to them, go to the conversation, click ‘Unrestrict’ and message them.

Method 4: Find Individual Tools

Instagram is a popular photo-sharing and instant messaging platform on par with other social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube. That’s why you can find third-party applications for your Windows or Mac PC to read messages without being Seen.

Simply, open your web browser, go to Google, and type ‘Hide seen receipts on Instagram tools’. You have to skim through the searches to find some tools that do what you need. Some are reported to send your Instagram messages to your email address. However, this search for the right tool will take some time.

Conclusion

This guide gives you step-by-step methods if you want to know how to read Instagram messages without being seen. If you need the best method, we recommend the Restrict option.

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