How to See Someone's Activity on Instagram? [2024 Updated]

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms where everyone can share everything. Not only that, we can also view someone's activity, including our friends and someone we follow. In this post, we have a guide on how to see someone's activity on Instagram. Let's dive in.

Can You See Someone's Activity from Instagram Notifications

Yes. You can see someone's activity on Instagram, but it's limited.

Before August 2019, Instagram had a 'Following' tab in the Notifications section. This tab allowed you to see the activity of those you follow, including their interactions on other accounts.

However, after removing the 'Following' tab, you cannot see interactions from people you follow with other accounts in Notifications, only photos or videos they shared by themselves, or their interactions with your posts.

What Activity of Others Can You See on Instagram?

What You Can See:

✅Latest activity on your feed from people you follow.

✅Their activity status in DM (if they've turned it on).

✅Your friends' activity history on you (Shared activity).

What You Cannot See:

❌Someone you follow's activity status (if they turned it off).

❌Activity from private accounts you don't follow.

❌Likes or comments from someone on another account you don't follow.

How to See Someone's Activity on Instagram?

We mentioned above what you can and can't see about someone's activity on Instagram. Now, follow the steps on how to view these available activities.

1See Someone's Recent Posts

• To see someone you follow's latest posts, reels, or stories, the easiest way is to refresh your home feed. Their most recent content will ultimately display on your home page.

• Instagram Notifications will also notify you that your following shared their photos or videos. Simply click the heart icon at the top of your homepage to get to the Notifications page.

• You can also search for their username and directly visit their profile page.

Note: If they share posts with close friends and you're not on their list of close friends, you won't be able to see those posts.

2See Someone's Online Status

The direct way to see someone's online status is through the DM section. This is only possible if its active state is turned on. You'll see a green badge on their profile picture, and you'll also be able to see the time and date of their last visit.

Tap the messages icon on the top of your home page. You can see who is online, or when they were last active. If the person you want to check doesn't appear here, it means they are offline or have turned off their online status.

Note: Activity status is only shown to accounts you follow each other. So if someone you follow but they don't follow you back, you won't be able to view their status.

3See Someone's Followers/Following

If you want to see someone's followers or following, you can easily see them by navigating to their profile and checking the list.

Although you can see who they've followed or who has followed them, the account list isn't in chronological order. So, for accounts that follow many others or have many followers, it can be hard to spot their new followers or followings.

3See Someone's Interactions with an Account

Interactions with Your Account

1. From Notifications

Instagram notifications show who has interacted with your posts and videos, whether you follow them or not, or whether they follow you. Their follow requests, likes, and comments about you will appear here.

1. Open your Instagram on your phone and tap the 'Heart' icon.

2. Here you can see your friends likes or comments on your post. Also, their shared photos' notifications will display here.

2. From Shared Activity

Note: Before we jump into the steps, here's one thing you should know. You can only see the shared activity of users whom you've followed and who've also followed you back.

In Shared Activity, both of you would be able to see each others' interaction history, including likes, comments, and tags on posts. Here's how you can see the shared activity of someone;

1. Open your Instagram account on a mobile device. (You can't see shared activity on the desktop.)

2. Open the profile of the user whose 'shared activity' you want to see. (Keep in mind that this user should be on your following list, plus you should've followed him/her).

3. Tap the three-line icon > 'See shared activity.'

4. You can select one of the three tabs to view activity history. For example, tap 'Comments' & 'Comments by them,' and you can see their comments history on your posts.

Interactions with Other Accounts (Mutual Follow)

There's a certain limitation to seeing someone's likes or comments on other accounts. If the account they left their comments or likes is also your following, which is a mutual follow, you can see their comments or likes on the post.

Bonus: View Your Child's Activity on Instagram

Many third-party tools on the market offer the feature of tracking all activities of the person you want to monitor. However, many of these fall into gray areas regarding privacy invasions.

For parents who are concerned about their child's activity on Instagram, we suggest using AirDroid Parental Control, which is made for parents to protect their kids from social media harms on Instagram and others.

AirDroid Parental Control & Instagram Monitor
Sync Instagram notifications
Live mirroring of what your child is browsing on Instagram
Set keywords to monitor your child's Instagram activity
Detect if your child's searched or browsed texts, or sent DMs are age-appropriate

How to Hide Your User Activity on Instagram?

Firstly, simply switch your account to private. When your account is private, no one can browse your post and see your followers and following list unless they follow you.
Secondly, you can simply restrict or block accounts that you don't want to show your content. This way, they won't be able to interact with your account or see your activity.
Thirdly, you can turn off your active status. Here are the steps to do so;

1. Open the Instagram app and then click on your profile.

2. Tap the three-line icon and go to 'Settings and privacy.'

3. Scroll down to 'Messages and story replies.'

4. Under 'Who can see you're online,' tap 'Show activity status.'

5. Turn off 'Show Activity Status' and 'Show When You're Active Together.'

FAQs about Viewing Someone's Activity on Instagram

Can I see someone's activity on Instagram without being friends?

Elsa

Yes, you can see someone's activity on Instagram without being friends if they've got a public account. You can directly head over to their profile through search or from tags to check their posts.

Can I hide my activity on Instagram from being seen by others?

Elsa

Yes, you can. All you need to do is make your account private, block all the users you don't want to see your profile or activity, and turn your activity status off. By doing this, no one can see when you are online or offline.

How can you see what someone likes on Instagram?

Elsa

If the person liked your post, you can see it in your Instagram notifications. If the person liked another post and the person who posted it is also your following, you can see the person's profile image in likes.

How can I check the activity of someone I followed in real-time?

Elsa

All you have to do is visit their profile and turn on the notifications icon, and you'll be automatically notified whenever they post any form of content. Other than that, you'll be notified whenever they interact with your account.