You May Already Be Able to Turn Off Read Receipts for Your Direct Messages on Instagram.
I hate read receipts, especially when they’re forced. There’s no need to talk about me every time I open a message. And while some platforms, like iMessage, offer optional read receipts, others, like Meta products, are always on. Luckily, things are about to change on Instagram.
Instagram is currently testing the ability to turn off read receipts in private messages. Both Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, shared the news on their Instagram broadcast channels. Mosseri notably included a screenshot of what the feature looks like: There are no profile pictures in the bottom right corner, which typically indicate who opened and read the last message in a thread.
Why such a simple feature requires extensive testing is beyond me – you’d think it was a simple on/off switch – but I guess there’s more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye. Either way, it’s not widely adopted yet: Instead, Instagram is only allowing a limited number of testers to try out the switch for now. If you participate in this test, you can turn off read receipts today.
How to turn off read receipts on Instagram
Open Instagram, then go to private messages. Select a chat, then tap the contact’s name at the top. Click Privacy & Security , then under Who can see your activity , turn off the switch next to Read Receipts .
The announcement screenshot shows how this feature works in a group chat, but group chats don’t have this Privacy & Security option, so it’s unclear exactly how it will work.