Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you wanted to know the exact date and time a particular message was sent to you on Instagram? Or perhaps you want to find when you sent a message to someone else.
If we talk about WhatsApp, there is a timestamp mentioned on each message which tells the exact time when that message was sent. You can also see the date of a message at the top of your chat. Unfortunately, Instagram does not show timestamps in the same way WhatsApp does.
In this article, we will show you how to see the exact time of messages on Instagram, including how to check when your message was seen by someone else. Additionally, you will learn a simple trick to view the timestamp of a new message without the sender knowing. So let’s get into it!
Table of Contents
How to see a message time on Instagram mobile app
Instagram has a record of all timestamps when the messages in your chat are sent, however, they are hidden behind the main chat screen. This step-by-step guide will show you how to reveal messages time on Instagram:
- Open the Instagram app on your smartphone.
- Tap the Messenger icon in the top-right corner to access your Direct Messages.
- Open the chat where you want to see the timestamp of messages. You simply need to tap on the person’s name. It can be a group chat also.
- Scroll through your chat thread and locate the message whose exact time you want to see. If it’s one of the last few messages that are already visible on your screen, skip to the next step.
- Now tap on the empty space in the chat and swipe towards left quickly. If you do this on a message instead of an empty space, it will enable the reply mode. So choose an empty area on the left hand side of the screen and then swipe towards left.
- You will be able to see the timestamp next to each message — the exact time when the message was sent. Although, it does not have AM or PM mentioned on it. You have to keep your finger on the screen as long as you want see the time. Once you release the finger, the timestamp panel will go away.
How to see what date a message was sent on Instagram
Instagram does not show the date of a message when you swipe the chat screen towards left. If you want to see what date a message was sent on Instagram, you can find that by scrolling to the first message of that particular date. Here’s what you need to do:
Open the chat containing the message whose date you want to see. Locate the message and then scroll upwards until you find the first message of that date. You will see the date mentioned right above the first message along with the exact time.
All messages after this date are sent on the same day. If a new date appears as you scroll downwards, that indicates the end of the previous day.
The recent messages that are shared within a week will have the day mentioned on them like “YESTERDAY AT 11:00”. On the other hand, if the messages are older than a week, they will have the exact date mentioned like “25 JUL AT 1:20”.
How to see the date and time of messages on Instagram web
Unfortunately, Instagram web doesn’t have this functionality to view the timestamp of each message by swiping the chat screen towards left like on the mobile app. So it’s not possible to see at what time a message was sent from the Instagram website.
However, you can see the date and time of the first message sent on a particular day. As you scroll through your chat thread, you’ll notice certain messages have a date and time mentioned at the top. This indicates that all the messages under that date were sent on the same day.
How to see the time of a new message on Instagram without reading it
If someone has sent you a new message on Instagram and you want to find out the time when it was sent without letting the other person know that you have seen their message, follow these simple steps:
Open the Instagram app and go to your Direct Message page. Now look for the chat where you have received the message. You will see the preview of the message right under the person’s name. The time when it was sent is also mentioned right next to it as shown in the below picture.
Make sure you don’t tap on the chat to open it as it will make the recipient know that you have seen their message. Alternatively, you can also view the timestamp of a new message from the notification panel if you have not cleared that Instagram notification.
How to see what time a message was read on Instagram
Let’s suppose you have sent a message to someone and you want to know when it was read by the recipient. Although Instagram doesn’t show the exact time when a message was seen but you will be able to know the relative time, such as “1h ago” or “1d ago”.
Simply, open the chat where you have sent the message. If the message has been read by the recipient, Instagram will show “Seen” status under it. The relative time when the message was read is also mentioned there like “Seen 19 m ago“.
Please note that Instagram shows the “Seen” status only for the last message and that too until the recipient has not sent any reply from their side. It’s not possible to see the seen time for each message.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can see timestamps for messages in group chats on Instagram. The timestamps will be displayed next to each message when you swipe the blank screen towards left, just like in one-on-one conversations.
No, timestamps are a standard feature in Instagram Direct Messages, and they cannot be hidden from other users in the conversation. This means that anyone involved in the chat can see when messages were sent.
No, timestamps are fixed and do not change based on when you open the message. They indicate the time the message was sent by the sender.
Instagram does not provide a built-in feature to turn off message timestamps in Direct Messages. The timestamps, which show the date and time when a message was sent, are visible to all participants in a conversation or group chat by default.
Final words
With the simple steps outlined in this article, you can easily see the exact date and time of messages on both the Instagram mobile app and web version. Apart from that, you have also learned how to find at what time a message was sent to you on Instagram without letting the sender know. If you have any questions regarding this article, feel free to share them in the comments below.
Read related articles on Instagram:
- How to Backup Instagram Chats and Messages
- How to Search Messages on Instagram Chats
- How to Add Special Effects on Instagram Messages
- How to Delete All Messages on Instagram At Once
- How to Download Voice Messages on Instagram
- How to Send Disappearing Messages on Instagram
