How to View Private Instagram Profiles

There is no doubt that Instagram is currently one of the biggest social media platforms for sharing photos and videos, and its audience is climbing every day, reaching 1 billion monthly active users.

More impressively, Instagram has more than 500 million active people every day which share 100 million photos and videos every day. (can you guess how many of them visit the best site to buy Instagram followers instantly weekly?)

Instagram is also popular among businesses reaching more than 25 million businesses on this platform. The majority of the people that use Instagram are female (56.3%), and more than 72% of all teenagers use Instagram every day.

This is why I am often covering important Instagram queries. So far, I did two great posts on how to untag yourself on Instagram, as well as how to edit an Instagram comment.

Both posts had a fair share of success and views, so if you are interested in those topics, make sure you check them out.

Let’s head back to the topic of today’s post. As we can see from these incredible statistics, we are talking about the most impressive platform for sharing photos and videos.

Instagram has many features, and among them, there is a feature that can make your profile private.

In today’s article, we decided to cover some of the ways you can view private Instagram accounts.

The Difference between Public and Private Instagram Account

Instagram is taking another step forward in people’s privacy by allowing them to choose who can view the content they share on the platform.

The truth is, if you want to hide your social life from employees or other people, it is probably best if you avoid using social media platforms like Instagram. However, if you are not concerned with privacy, you can make your profile visible to everyone.

When you decide to make your IG account private, whenever other user wants to see your photos and videos, it needs to submit a follow request which needs to be approved by you.

If you don’t approve of the request, the user cannot access the media you shared on Instagram.

How to Make your Profile Private

To hide media from random people, you don’t know you can make your profile private by taking these simple steps:

  1. Open the app.
  2. Go to your profile placed in the right corner of your screen.
  3. Tap on the 3-horizontal-line icon on the top right of your Instagram profile.
  4. Navigate to the gear icon (settings) at the bottom right corner.
  5. Scroll down until you see ‘Private account’ and switch it on.

How to View Private Instagram Profiles

If you like to connect with someone on this social media platform, but their profile is set to private, you need to follow some of the steps mentioned below.

Send a Follow Request

Well, one of the obvious first steps for viewing a private profile is by sending them a follow request. By simply asking the owner directly is a legitimate way of accessing their media, it doesn’t matter if you know the person or not.

Obviously, not everyone responds to follow requests, especially people you don’t know. That is the whole point they decided to make their IG account private.

However, here are some pointers that might help you with this process.

Be patient

After sending a follow request, you need to be patient. If you spend most of the time of the day on Instagram, other people don’t do the same thing. Give them time, and it might pay off. This depends entirely on personal preferences.

Ask nicely – If there is no answer to your follow request, but you want to follow that particular person, you should ask them politely.  People respond differently when you engage with them in a friendly manner.

Send a Direct Message

Remember, all people have different rules about their social media activity. Some people simply do not approve people that they don’t know, so your chances for your follow request to be approved are very low. That is why you need to send them a direct message and express how you feel about the connection and what your intentions are. Be as genuine as possible, and it will work.

Search Their Usernames

If the first option didn’t cut the cheese, it is time to take it up a notch. If you desperately want to see these person’s media, you can search their IG username on Google. Be aware since their profile is set to private, this option would probably not work, but it still worth a try.

By logging into your account and find the people you are looking for. You will be able to see their usernames even when the account is set to private.

After you know their username, you should copy/paste it on Google search box. There is a high probability that the person you are looking for left some trails on the digital space before they’ve switched their account to private.

This option might not look like it will get the job done, but if you are looking for additional photos or videos, this is a legitimate way to find a solution.

Reach Them Through Fake Accounts

In some cases, both of the methods mentioned above will not pay off. At this time, you probably think that you’d never get access to that person’s account, but don’t give up.

There is still plenty of hope, and your next step is to try to interact with them with a fake Instagram account.

Remember: Instagram does not support this practice, and you might get in trouble for stealing someone’s identity if they find out.

However, it is a strategy that can work. This is also a commonly used way of accessing people’s accounts without them knowing that is you.  So, it might work for tracking people (like your ex) without them knowing about it.

It is essential to point out that this method is overtly unethical, and if you don’t have an important reason to connect with that person, it is best if you reconsider your option. We do not support such action, and you will be DOING IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

How to Create a Trustworthy Fake Account?

  • First of all, your photos should look decent. Make it a fun profile but still down to earth. Don’t go for famous people or models that might seem obvious it is not you.
  • We recommend that you create a female persona, no matter the person you want to connect with. They have a better chance of approving a follow request. When you are choosing a person, go for someone that can reflect with the person you want to connect with.
  • Make the Instagram profile private, just to show others that you are not on the platform only to gather followers.
  • Follow a few people and let them follow you back. It will be suspicious if you send them a support request with 0 following and followers.
  • Send them a follow request, and if they don’t hit you back, try direct messages.

Go With Instagram profile Viewer Tools

The internet is a place where you can find anything you like. Jonathon Spire refers to some websites that might offer you to view non-public Instagram profiles by following their guidelines.

Most of the websites are scams that can lead you to several suspicious websites and possibly harm your device.

If the method sounds too good to be true, you should run away in a different direction!

They operate in a strange way:

  • Most of them will ask for upfront payment;
  • They might ask you for your Instagram username and other personal information;
  • And they will take you to the private account you wish to view;

This is not recommended since they can use abuse your personal information or hack your Instagram profile, so do it at your own risk.

Final Words

Instagram has a rigorous privacy policy that is very hard to overcome. You should try your best to follow some of the legitimate ways for accessing a private account unless you absolutely have a good explanation about your intentions, but still, if it is a serious thing and you explain the situation to the user, they will probably approve your follow request.

In case you are interested in more of my social media content, make sure you check this page out. The post I am getting most positive and raving reviews is in relation to a different platform that’s leading in video sharing. YouTube! So check this post that covers the difference between private and unlisted videos.