Everyone’s experienced posting to social media and then immediately regretting it. No matter how cute your cat is, there is such a thing as sharing too many pet videos. We’ve also all posted a Story we’re particularly proud of, such as the announcement of a major achievement or milestone.

Even if you’re not regretting a post, you’ve probably wondered if you can see who viewed your Instagram Story. It’s only natural to wonder which of your friends and followers has seen your latest news or #fail.

There’s a relatively simple way to access a list of Story viewers to satisfy your curiosity. We’ll show you how to track who’s watched your IG Stories and equip you with other essential knowledge to help you succeed on the ‘Gram.

How to see who viewed your Instagram Story

Did your boss see that rowdy night out? Did your mom see that you just got published in a prestigious literary magazine? You don’t have to wonder anymore – it’s easy to see which Instagram users have viewed your Stories with the following steps:  

1. Log onto Instagram on your iPhone or Android device.
2. Tap on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the IG homepage or your profile page while your Story is live.
3. At the bottom of the screen, just above the word Activity, you’ll see up to three small, circular profile photos of followers who’ve viewed your Story. Click on that set of circular images.
4. The list of people who’ve viewed your Story will pop up, and you can scroll through it to learn who’s watched. Any likes the Story has received will appear at the top of the list with a tiny heart next to the viewer’s profile picture, and above the list of names, you can see the view count (the total number of people who’ve viewed your Story). You may be wondering if you can see non-followers who’ve viewed your Instagram Story, and once again, the answer is yes. Any person who views your Story, follower or not, will appear on this list.

Can someone see your Instagram Story anonymously?

Let’s get the bad news out of the way: You may never know exactly who’s viewed your Instagram Story. Why? There are several methods viewers can use to watch a Story anonymously. If your Instagram is public, you can see who viewed your Story, so long as no one viewed it in an incognito way.

There’s some good news hidden within that bad news, though. If you need to watch a Story anonymously, that option is available to you. Some people watch IG Stories from an account that doesn’t reveal their name, but creating fake accounts could be deceptive, so we don’t recommend it. Others check out content using a third-party app that allows anyone on the internet to view Stories posted on open Instagram accounts. Keep in mind that these apps only work for public Stories, not private ones.

Can I see who viewed my deleted Instagram Story?

Instagram Stories aren’t designed to last forever. Even if you don’t take the steps to manually delete yours, all Stories expire after 24 hours. But don’t worry if a Story passed before you had a chance to take a final look at who saw it. You have another 24 hours before this information is lost to time.

1. Open your Instagram account and tap on the three lines in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
2. Select Archive.
3. You can now scroll through your Stories archive.
4. Tap on a recently posted Story (anything posted within the last 48 hours) and follow the same steps given in the previous section to see all your Story views.

Your next question may be whether you can see who’s viewed your Instagram Story highlights. If the 48-hour period has expired, you will no longer be able to see the list of viewers for these Stories, even if you saved them as highlights.

Want to keep your Stories private?

If you know you’ve got a piece of Story-worthy content, but you’re not keen on putting it out there for the whole world to see, Instagram makes it easy to limit Story visibility to specific audiences, and there are a few ways to do so. Here’s how:  

• Make your Instagram profile private: Only your followers can see your Stories if you set your account private. You can find this option in Settings under Privacy.
• Create a close friends group: Create a select group of Close Friends to share certain content. Only a chosen few can see the content designated for this audience, even if you have thousands of other followers. This is an excellent option for businesses since they can filter out a segment of their most loyal customers to receive premium content or promotions. One method of creating this list is through the Close Friends tool, which will appear in the pop-up menu when you tap on the three little lines in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Then you just have to search for the accounts you want to add. Alternatively, you can add a person to the list by going directly to their account and holding down the Following button. When the Close Friends designation pops up, click it to add that friend to the list.
• Hide Stories from specific people: If you want to show off the great gift you just bought your best friend for their birthday but don’t want them to see the post, remove them from the list of people who can see your Stories. You can do so by going to the Story you wish to hide and clicking on the three little dots in the screen’s lower right-hand corner. Tap on Story Settings in the pop-up menu, then choose the Hide story from option. Remember that the people you add won’t see any future Stories until you remove them from this list.