How to Read Instagram Messages Without Seen: 2 Ways

Does it ever happen that you want to read someone’s message on Instagram without letting them know? This usually happens when you are ignoring someone or you don’t want to reply at that moment.

Read Instagram messages without seen


Whenever you get a new message, Instagram will send it to you via push notification. You can read the message from your phone’s notification tab, however, sometimes you may delete that notification in hurry.

You can also read the message in your DM (Direct Message or Inbox), but if there are more than one messages or if the message is longer in length, you won’t be able to read it completely.

Now if we talk about WhatsApp, there is a feature named Read Receipts which when turned off allows you to read messages without showing blue ticks to the sender. Unluckily, Instagram doesn’t have any such feature.

Here we have shared two simple workarounds that can help you to read messages on Instagram without letting the sender know that you have read their messages.

Read Instagram messages without seen

In this method, first you have to disconnect your phone from the internet and then you can read the messages. After that, you just have to logout from your Instagram account. It’s quite simple and there is no need to use any third-party app also.

Follow this step-by-step guide to read messages on Instagram without seen –

  1. If mobile data or Wi-Fi is turned on, then turn it off from the notification tab. You can also switch on the flight (or airplane) mode to disconnect your phone from the internet.
    Enable flight mode
  2. Now open Instagram app and go to your DM (or Inbox). Here open the chat of the user whose messages you want to read.
    Read Instagram message
  3. Once you have read the messages, go to your Instagram profile and tap the menu button (three-parallel lines at the top-right corner of the screen).
  4. After this, go to Settings and click “Logout” option.
    Logout Instagram account
  5. Now you can connect your phone to the internet and login to your account again. Once you login, you will find that the message is still unread.

Note: Please don’t connect your phone to the internet before logging out of your account. If you do so, the sender will get to know that you have read their messages.

Use an app to read Instagram messages

There is an app available named Notification History that can help you to save notifications on your Android phone. With this app, you can read your Instagram message notifications that you have removed accidentally. Here’s a step-by-step guide for this method –

  1. Download and install Notification History app from Google Play Store.
  2. As you open the app, you will be asked to allow two permissions on your phone. One is for the Accessibility Service and the other is for the Notification access.
    Enable system settings for app

    You only need to enable Notification access as it allows the app to record notifications on your phone. Simply, tap on the option and it will take you to the phone settings where you can enable access to the app.

  3. You have completed the setup process. Now when you will receive a new message on Instagram, it will be saved by the app automatically and you can read it anytime without letting the sender know.
    Read Instagram message using Notification History

Limitations of the app

There are a few limitations of this method which are mentioned below –

  • You can only read those messages that have come up after installing the app i.e. you can’t retrieve old messages.
  • The app will not work even if you have muted the chat notifications. So make sure to unmute all chat notifications.
  • There is a character limit of 100 words in Instagram message notification. So if the message is longer than this limit, you will be able to read only the first 100 words.
  • You can’t view image and video messages. Apart from this, you can’t listen to voice notes also.
  • Related tutorial: How to read unsend messages on Instagram

So these are two simple methods that can help you to read messages on Instagram without letting them know. We hope you liked this tutorial. If you want to ask something, feel free to share it in the comment section below.

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Vivek Chaudhary Author
Tech Writer & Founder
Vivek Chaudhary is an experienced tech blogger who has been writing about technology for more than ten years. He's written over 1500 articles covering various tech topics. Vivek is passionate about sharing his expertise to help others. Beyond the digital realm, he enjoys traveling and creating videos on YouTube. Feel free to contact here: vivek@geekinstructor.com

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