Here’s a clear, up-to-date guide on how to make likes privat

Make Instagram Likes As Private As Possible

You can lower the visibility of likes by hiding like/view counts, limiting who can see your posts, and favoring private interactions like Saves. However, there’s no way to hide your identity when you like someone else’s public post. Below is exactly what is and isn’t possible, plus the best settings and habits to maximize privacy.

What You Can Do

• Hide counts: Turn off like/share counts across posts you view to reduce visibility of totals.
• Limit audience: Make your account private so only approved followers can see your posts and the likes on them.
• Use private interactions: Save posts instead of liking; Saves are visible only to you.



• Clean up history: Review and unlike old likes via Your activity.

What You Can’t Do

• Hide identity on public posts: Anyone who can see a public post you liked can open the liker list and see usernames (including yours).
• Equate counts with privacy: Hiding counts removes numbers, not the list of people who liked.

Important Nuance

• Hiding counts ≠ hiding the liker list: Viewers can still tap “others” to see who liked.



• Your privacy covers your content only: Making your account private limits who sees your posts and their likes; it does not hide your username on likes you leave on others’ public posts.
• Sampling still appears: Posts with hidden counts may show “Liked by [username] and others.” Your name can still appear there.

iOS/Android

• Hide counts on others’ posts you view:
• Profile > ☰ > Settings and privacy > What you see > Like and share counts (or Privacy > Posts on some versions) > toggle off Show like and share counts. Labels can vary by app version.
• Hide counts on an existing post (yours):



• Open your post > tap … > Hide like count. Repeat per post as needed.
• Hide counts when creating a new post:
• On the final Share screen > Advanced settings > toggle Hide like and view counts for this post.
• Make your account private:
• Profile > ☰ > Settings and privacy > Account privacy > toggle Private account. Only approved followers can see your posts and, by extension, who liked them. Note: Professional (Business/Creator) accounts can’t be private; switch to Personal first if needed.
• Close Friends for Stories:
• Story “likes” are only visible to the story’s creator. Using Close Friends restricts who can view and interact with your stories even further.
• Use Save instead of Like:
• Tap and hold the bookmark icon to save to a collection. Saves are private; creators see aggregate saves in Insights but not who saved.
• Review and remove past likes:
• Profile > ☰ > Your activity > Interactions > Likes. Select posts to Unlike in bulk to reduce where your username appears.

Web (instagram.com)

• Hide counts on your own posts:
• Open your post > … > Hide like count. When posting on web, use Advanced settings > Hide like and view counts for this post.
• Global hide for others’ counts:
• Generally not available on web; use the mobile app to hide counts across posts you view.
• Review/unlike old likes:
• More (left sidebar) > Your activity > Interactions > Likes > Unlike as needed.

Best Practices to Maximize Privacy

• Prefer Saves over Likes on public content you don’t want associated with your account.
• Keep your account private to control who sees your posts and their engagement.
• Use Close Friends for Stories to limit who can view—and like—your stories.
• Periodically audit Your activity > Likes to remove old or sensitive likes.
• Consider a separate, non‑identifying account for browsing/liking if anonymity is crucial.

Quick Answers

• Can I hide my likes on someone else’s public post? No. Anyone who can see that post can open the liker list and see usernames.
• Does hiding like counts hide who liked? No. It only removes the number, not the list of people who liked.
• Do Stories likes show publicly? No. Only the story creator sees story likes. Close Friends further narrows visibility.
• Are Saves private? Yes. Saves are only visible to you; creators see aggregate counts, not who saved.
• Will my name still show as “Liked by [you] and others” if counts are hidden? Potentially, yes—your name can still appear as the sampled liker.

Bottom line: Pair settings and habits. Hide counts for a lower‑pressure feed, keep your account private, use Close Friends for Stories, favor Saves over Likes, and routinely clean up past likes. This combination minimizes where your username appears while keeping your experience more private.