How To Unmute an Instagram Story

Every time you scroll through your Instagram news feed, you will see updates from friends, family, acquaintances, and even businesses that you follow. At times, another person’s Instagram Story may be a little too much. Fortunately, the app’s developers programmed the “mute” option.

Muting someone’s story is great because it doesn’t notify them that their content is hidden. There aren’t any hurt feelings with this feature. It’s also a simple way to take a break from another person’s content for a while without unfriending or blocking them.

Instagram Stories are unique because they’re posted right at the top of your screen. This is a great way to stay up-to-date with content, but if you’re following a lot of accounts or someone is oversharing, this can get in the way of your Instagram fun. If this is the case, you can mute them.

But what if you want to undo this change? How can you reverse the process? What should you do if you mute someone by mistake?

Muting an Instagram Story

If you’re not sure how you muted someone’s story in the first place, it’s actually quite simple. From the top of the application, you will see your friends’ profile icons. Scrolling to the right will reveal more of these; each one is a story.

1. Long-Press the Instagram Story icon and tap Mute.
   
   Note: Android users will see this menu:
   
2. Tap on Mute Story or Mute Story and Posts.
   
3. Verify that you’ve muted the story by scrolling to the right.
   
   

Note: If you tap on one of the profile images, their story will begin to play. Long pressing one of these icons will bring up a menu. Mute and View Profile are listed here, along with their account username.

Choosing to mute your friend’s story means you’ll still see their posts on your Instagram feed, but if you decide to mute the story and their posts, both will disappear from your Instagram feed.

If you’ve done this accidentally or want to reinstate your friend’s content on your Instagram feed, unmuting is easy.

How Do You Unmute a Story on Instagram?

There are a few ways to unmute an Instagram story. Both Android and iOS users can follow the steps listed below to reinstate Instagram stories.

Option 1 – Quick and Simple

If you’ve muted a story but don’t remember the username, or if you’re not sure that you’ve even muted a story, this is the simplest option:

1. Scroll to the right on the story feed at the top of the screen and locate any greyed-out profile icons.
   
2. Long press the profile picture in question.
   
3. Tap Unmute.
   

That’s it. Once you’ve done this, your friend’s content will instantly come back to your Instagram news feed.

Option 2 – Going to Their Profile

If you know who you muted, you can unmute them by visiting their profile. To unmute someone from their profile, follow these instructions:

Go to the profile in question by tapping the magnifying glass at the bottom of the screen and typing in their username. Once located, follow these steps:

1. Locate Following and tap it.
   
2. Tap Mute.
   
3. Toggle the switches from blue to grey.
   

That’s all you need to do to unmute someone from their profile.

Reporting an Instagram Story

If the story you are thinking of muting violates Instagram’s terms of use, you can report it to the developers. This is an anonymous way to have the content removed. Whether it’s illicit, violent, threatening, or spam, reporting a story is another option at your disposal.

Follow these instructions to alert Instagram of any published content that you think is inappropriate:

1. Open the story (or image if it’s a post)
   
2. Tap on the three dots, vertical in the comment box for Android users and horizontal to the right of the comment box for iOS.
   
3. Tap Report.
   

Be prepared to fill out a small questionnaire about the content you’re reporting. Instagram’s terms of use are designed to provide everyone with a seamless and positive experience. If the content is related to bullying or harassment, reporting a post or story will alert Instagram so that it will be removed or the user banned.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to more of your questions about Instagram Stories.

Is there any way to tell if I’ve been muted by someone else?

Not particularly. Unless you post something while you’re sitting right next to your friend, you probably won’t ever know that you are on mute. You can, of course, ask your friend what they thought of your latest story to determine whether they’re paying attention or not.

Can I hide my story from someone without unfollowing them?

Absolutely. You can hide your story from others on Instagram. If you’d like to perform a little reverse-mute, you can.

1.) Before creating your story, head over to your profile and click on the three horizontal lines in the upper right-hand corner.

2.) Tap on ‘Settings,’ then tap on ‘Story.’

3.) Here, add the people who you don’t want to see your story.

Upon making your selections, post your story as you usually would. The hidden users will be none the wiser that you’ve posted any content. Unless, of course, someone shows them.

How do I pause a story?

Instagram Stories can be a little tricky, and some creators pack a lot of information into short snippets. If you need to pause an Instagram Story, tap and hold the screen. The story will remain paused until you release the screen.