How to Hide Number of Followers on Instagram

You can hide the identities of your Instagram followers but not their number. Your Instagram profile always displays how many followers you have, and anyone who taps or clicks on your Instagram name can view it. However, you can control who may view your Instagram profile and in-depth follower details.

Privacy Setting

Setting your account to private limits your posts and full profile visibility to approved Instagram followers only. To achieve this, tap the “Instagram” app followed by its Profile tab on the lower right. Next, tap “Edit Profile” and either check the “Posts are Private” box or toggle its switch to the on position. Henceforth, only your current followers will be privy to your profile details, including followers’ identities. Other people wishing to follow you would have to send you a follow request, which you can either approve or disregard.

Comments and Likes

Even as a private user, your comments or likes on a public user’s posts will display your name on her posts for anyone to tap and learn how many followers you have. So, to keep your Instagram visibility to a minimum, like or comment on private-user posts only. Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t give you a quick way to know which posts in your news feed have been publicly or privately shared. Either abstain from liking or commenting on posts altogether, or contact users to confirm their privacy settings before interacting with their posts.

Block Followers

As mentioned earlier, only approved followers can access your Instagram profile’s detailed information. If you have followers to whom you prefer to deny such in-depth access and information, remove them from your followers list. To do so, tap the star-like Explore icon on the bottom-left half of the Instagram screen and type the undesired follower’s username in the Search box. Alternatively, tap the “Profile” tab on the lower right, followed by your "Followers" tab, then scroll to find and select the follower’s name. Touch the curved-arrow icon on an iOS device or three-dot icon on an Android device, followed by “Block User.”

Social Media Broadcasts

When you or a follower shares one of your posts on another social media platform -- such as Facebook or Twitter -- you lose quite a bit of control over who can view your profile. The social media site publishes a link to the post, giving those who see it the option to view it on Instagram and tap or click your username to examine your Instagram profile. If you’re a private user, Instagram will inform non-followers accordingly, but they will still see how many followers you have. To curtail this, avoid sharing your Instagram posts on other social media networks, and ask your Instagram followers do the same. Alternatively, share your posts with only select followers via Instagram Direct, which renders the posts un-shareable on social media, as well as un-taggable and unsearchable. To share an uploaded and edited photo using Instagram Direct, tap “Direct” on the Share To screen, choose your recipients and then touch “Send.”