Instagram Block vs Mute vs Hide: Common Terms Explained

Quick Tips

• Block disrupts all communication between the two accounts. They can’t see your profile, posts, stories, or message/call them, nor can you.
• Mute simply hides their posts, stories, and reels from your Instagram feed. But you can see each other’s profiles, posts, stories, and even message or call them.
• Hide allows you to hide your stories from the user. It doesn’t affect any other feature.

What Does Blocking on Instagram Mean

Similar to other social networks, blocking on Instagram completely restricts your profile from the other person. They can’t see your profile or contact you in any form. It’s like the two accounts (yours and theirs) kinda stop existing for each other.

How to Block Someone on Instagram

Open the Instagram profile you want to block and tap the three-dot icon from the top-right corner. Select Block from the pop-up menu. Tap Block again to confirm.

Note: If you only want to restrict someone from commenting on your posts, you can do that too. Open your profile → Three-line icon → Comments → Block comments from → Search for the person → tap Block.

What Does Mute Mean on Instagram

Blocking is an extreme step, thankfully, Instagram also has an interim option. When you mute someone, you are merely stopping their posts from showing up on your feed. You’re not severing all communication channels, i.e., you can see each other’s profile, message, and call each other.

Notably, Instagram offers multiple mute options. So you can mute someone’s posts, stories, reels, and lives individually or all of them together.

Note: The mute feature is for hiding their posts/stories, but if you want to hide your posts/stories from someone you’ll have to use the restrict feature. Check out our guide on Instagram restrict vs. block for better understanding.

What Does Hide Mean on Instagram

The hide feature on Instagram is mostly dedicated to stories. It helps you hide stories from someone. And while you can also hide your posts from someone, it is done via blocking or removing them from following (private profile).

You can hide your stories from any number of followers, in fact, you can also hide Instagram stories from everyone except one.

Since the feature does not affect anything else between you and the user, we’re keeping it out of the comparison below.

Instagram Block Vs. Mute: What Happens When

Can you –	Mute	Block
See their posts/stories – Via Feed – Via Profile	No Yes	No No
Comment on their posts	Yes	No
View their profile	Yes	No
Send them message	Yes	No
Tag or mention them	Yes	No

Can they –	Mute	Block
See your posts/stories – Via Feed – Via Profile	Yes Yes	No No
Comment on posts	Yes	No
View your profile	Yes	No
Message you	Yes	No
See Active status	Yes	No
Tag or mention you	Yes	No

Will They Know If You’ve Blocked or Muted Them

Technically no, Instagram doesn’t send notifications to the user when you block or mute them. However, since all interactions are blocked, someone can deduce if they are blocked on Instagram.

But that’s not the scene for mute. Unless the user guesses from your limited interactions with their content, they won’t know that you’ve muted them.

Can They See Your Profile

When you block someone, they will not be able to see or visit your profile (whether it’s a public or private profile); even if they search for it. And if they do, all they would see is the follower and the following count, no posts, and vice-versa.

However, a muted person can see your profile and all posts (if you have a private profile, they should follow you). The reverse is the same, you can see their profile and posts (as long as you follow their private profile).

Can You See Each Other’s New Posts and Stories

The blocked person and you can’t see each other’s posts and stories on their feed. And since your profile is locked, they can’t see it from theirs either.

As for a muted person, you will not see their posts or stories on your feed. But you can visit their profile and check out all the latest updates. However, they can see your posts and stories on their feed (if they follow you and have not muted you) or from your profile.

Who Can Comment or Interact With Posts or Stories

Since the blocked person can’t see your posts or stories and vice-versa, they can’t interact with it, and neither can you. However, the muted person can like, share, and comment on your post and you can do so as well.

Can You Message or Call Each Other

Blocking someone stops all forms of communication on Instagram. So, you can’t call/message them. And while the blocked person can message/call you, you won’t receive the message or any notifications.

There is no such restriction on muted persons. You can message/call each other to your heart’s content.

Can You See Each Other’s Active Status

Even after you mute someone, they can still see your active status (unless you’ve disabled it). But a blocked person won’t be able to check whether you’re online or not.

Instagram Block vs Mute vs Hide: Which One to Choose

In a nutshell, the block restricts both profiles from interacting with each other. Meaning, neither you can view their posts nor can they. In mute, both the users can view the profiles, the only limitation is that their posts won’t appear on your feed.

As for hide, you’re simply hiding your stories from someone else. They can still view your posts.