5 Ways to Hide Following List on Instagram in 2025

Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms for connecting, sharing, and exploring. Even though it’s a space, an open digital space, not everyone wants to make their digital life available to the entire world. Numerous people prefer to hide who they follow. 

Many users wonder and search for an answer, “How to hide the following list on Instagram?” either for privacy or just for personal comfort.  

Let me break the news to you: Instagram doesn’t give you complete freedom to hide your following list. That doesn’t mean you can leave your privacy at the mercy of the Instagram algorithm. With smart and easy workarounds, you can decide who sees your following list. 

This blog contains 5 effective methods to hide your following list on Instagram in 2025, including options for public account holders. 

What is the Following List on Instagram?

Instagram following list shows the list of users you have willingly decided to follow. Whenever anybody visits your Instagram profile, they can see your followers and following lists. They just have to tap on the numbers to view the lists. However, you can restrict access view. 

Why Hide Your Following List on Instagram:

1. Privacy Protection: You don’t want anyone to know about your following preferences. People might get judgmental about your following choices. 
2. Secure Boundaries: You want to keep your personal and professional lives separate while you are professionally available on Instagram. 
3. Online Safety: You want to prevent unwanted attention on your following list from stalkers and acquaintances. Such precautions are essential for females, marginalized groups, public figures, and professional account users. 
4. Peace of Mind: Lack of information on social media platforms allows you to freely explore the platform without worrying about unwanted judgment and drama. 

It’s important to stay conscious about your digital presence and make wise choices because almost everyone is online in 2025.

Can You Hide Your Following List On Instagram?

The short answer is NO. Instagram doesn’t have any built-in feature that allows you to fully hide your following list. 

So, how to hide the following list on Instagram? Also, how to hide your following list on Instagram from friends? And the biggest question is how to hide your following list on Instagram without a private account?

You have to be creative, as you can take the help of privacy tools, settings, and follower management strategies to limit access to your following list.

How to Hide Following List on Instagram?

The following are some of the actionable options to hide your following list. You can take convenient steps according to your preference. 

Method 1: Make Your Instagram Account Private

This is the easiest way possible. It is also the most reliable way to control access to your following list. Once your account is private, you immediately eliminate non-followers, preventing strangers and unapproved accounts from getting access to your Instagram activities. 

What changes when you make your account private? 

• Only your followers can see your posts, stories, followers, and following list. 
• Non-followers can only see your profile image, name, and bio. 
• Your content no longer appears on the explore page or in search results. 

Steps to Make Your Instagram Handle Private:

Open the Instagram app > Go to your profile > Tap on the three dots in the top-right corner > Settings & Privacy > Account Privacy > Toggle Private Account On  

Ideal Users of the Option:

• Instagram users who want to prevent random strangers from visiting their profiles. 
• Instagram users who are concerned about online and offline safety. 
• Instagram influencers who have a different public account. 
• Anybody who is taking a break from the public eye or digital presence. 

Method 2: Limit Who Can Follow You

You don’t want to make your Instagram account private? You can still control who sees your following list. You can easily limit the visibility access.

Instagram often suggests accounts to its users based on mutual interest, contacts, locality, etc. Numerous people hate appearing on such a list to avoid getting unwanted attention on the platform.

Steps to Prevent Listing in Suggested Accounts:

Visit instagram.com in your browser > Edit Profile > Toggle off “Show account suggestions on profiles”

This setting won’t hide your following list, but will reduce the chances of anybody finding you on Instagram.   

Ideal Users of the Option:

• Instagram users who want to have limited visibility on the platform. 
• Professional or creator account holders who want to manage their branding without going fully private. 
• Instagram account holders who are trying to get rid of stalkers or body acquaintances. 
• Instagram users who want to have control over who gets to have access to their online presence. 
• Users who want to have a low profile without cutting off complete discoverability. 

Additional Tips: 

• Stop putting your Instagram handle on public forums and bios. 
• Be thoughtful while participating in public conversations through hashtags. 
• Be mindful while approving follower requests. 
• Don’t sync your phone contacts with Instagram to avoid catching the attention of contacts on the platform. 

Method 3: Remove or Block Specific Followers

Sometimes the answer isn’t to hide from everyone, but to get rid of just a few. In some cases, making your Instagram account private isn’t enough because someone you know might already follow you. The only options left are to either remove or block them. 

The account holder in question won’t get any notification about it. But they will be removed from your follower list and won’t get your content on their feed. Additionally, if your account is private, unwanted users will not be able to see or discover your content. 

Steps to Remove a Follower from the List:

Go to your profile > Locate the follower account you want to remove > Tap on the three dots in the top-right corner > Remove Follower

Steps to Block a Follower from the List:

Go to your profile > Locate the follower account you want to remove > Tap on three dots in the top-right corner > Block

You can unblock the blocked accounts whenever you wish. However, they won’t become part of your follower list. 

The Aftermath of Blocking Someone:

• The users won’t be able to find your content and profile. 
• Blocked account users will be removed from your Instagram follower list. 
• They won’t have access to your Instagram account follower and following lists. 
• They won’t be able to tag or search your Instagram profile

Ideal Users of the Option:

• Instagram users who want to avert problematic situation by somebody from past. 
• Instagram account users who want to draw a line between personal and professional lives. 
• Instagram users who want to get rid of cyberbullying. 
• Instagram users who want to share their online details with a selected group of people. 

Method 4: Mute Instead of Unfollow

Muting someone will not prevent them from checking your following list. Yet, this option is helpful to make peaceful exits and cut the ties without any drama.

Putting someone on mute gives you complete control of what you want to watch and what you don’t want to watch. It is helpful when you want to be polite by following somebody, but you still get to avoid their content. 

Steps to Mute Someone from the List:

Locate the Instagram user account > Tap “Following” > Toggle Posts/Stories/Notes/Activity bubbles on content (You can choose selected content or everything)

This option doesn’t hide your content from the account you mute, but it gives you the choice to have limited access to their curated content. It’s a silence method to create emotional and social boundaries. The best part is, you can unmute accounts with the same steps.

Ideal Users of the Option:

• Instagram users who want to avoid the conflict due to unfollowing
• Users who want to maintain a safe distance from certain people without offending. 
• Instagram account holders who want to maintain a relationship and still keep distance from distasteful content. 

Method 5: Hide Activity Related to Following

Instagram tracks your online activities, including when you are online and offline. Turning off visibility setting helps you keep your online and offline presence from other users. 

Steps to Turn Off Activity Status:

Go to Setting & Privacy > Message and Story replies > Show Activity Status > Toggle Off

This setting prevents others from knowing when you are active and your last seen. 

Steps to Turn Off Account Suggestions:

Access your Instagram account on desktop > Edit Profile > Toggle off “Show account suggestions on profiles”

Instagram will stop suggestion your Instagram profile to other users and reduce your discoverability. These settings will help you reduce highlighting your Instagram presence and bring lesser people to check your following list. 

Additional Tips:

• Avoid mentioning your Instagram handle on other social media platforms. 
• Reduce getting tagged on posts and in high engagement comment sections. 
• Ignore consuming controversial or distasteful content to avoid getting in your feed. 

What About Close Friends and Story Privacy?

Instagram gives you a few choices to share your stories with your followers. These features give you total control of who and how much people can see your content. 

Method 1: Close Friends Feature

Instagram’s Close Friends feature allows you to add a layer of control to your profile. While posting a story, you will always get a choice to share with your close friend list or everyone.

This option gives you the freedom to post certain types of content to your choice of people. Those who made it to this list will be able to see the content you share to Close Friends setting. 

Method 2: Story Privacy Feature

Instagram gives you the option to hide your story from specific users. You can even restrict story replies and reactions. You can add your stories to highlight to keep it for a longer time and curate them. 

Conclusion

The answer to the rising question, “can you hide your following list on Instagram?” is not 100%. However, you can make your choice and limit their access to your curate content, especially if they are too curious about your online activities. 

Now, You can easily control who follows you, interact with your profile, and visibility even with the public Instagram account. Instagram is certainly a public space, yet how much and what you want to share is totally up to you. In 2025, privacy is the new power, and it’s easier to reclaim than you think.