Instagram Stories are a fun way for users to share the recent happenings in their lives. You can watch a friend have fun on their birthday, be a part of a graduation ceremony, or anything at all. These little videos and photos are great for sparking up conversations with people on Instagram.
Businesses can also use Stories to showcase certain products and services, ensuring that their innovations get to a wider audience.
Usually, viewing a story makes you turn up on the viewer list, but there are times when you wouldn’t want that. You might want to gather information on a competitor or keep an eye on a friend without their knowledge.
At these times, it would be convenient if you mysteriously disappeared from the viewers list.
Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t offer an option to view Stories anonymously. It is also against their company policy and terms of service, so we don’t expect this feature officially anytime soon.
However, there are a few workarounds. We’ll take a few of them.
Create a new Instagram account
This is the most elegant solution. Simply create a new Instagram account that is unrelated to your primary one for all your sneaky business.
You might need to use a VPN to create the account, so Instagram doesn’t flag your new page. Once done, you can go ahead.
However, if the user has a private account, they’d still have to grant you access before you can view their Stories. But since this account isn’t connected to your primary one, it may not be a problem.
View from adjacent stories
This is an inefficient one, but here’s how to do it.
- Rather than clicking on the Story you want to view, click on one adjacent to it.
- Once there, tap and hold on to the Story to pause it.
- Now, swipe slowly to the Story you want to view without lifting your hand, but don’t complete the swipe.
- That will open the carousel view, so you can see the first story (if you’re swiping left) or the last (if you’re swiping right). You’ll only see a static picture if it is a video story, so you will only get a quick preview.
- Simply reverse your swipe to get back without the view being registered.
Use a third-party site or app
We don’t recommend this, but it is still a viable option. Some third-party apps claim to allow you to view Instagram Stories anonymously. However, they usually need access to your Instagram account to work.
This opens you up to a data breach if the app is fishy, so it’s best to stay safe and avoid those tools.
The only tool that will not require your credentials, and actually does exactly what it claims to do is the Buzzoid Instagram Story Downloader
How to See Instagram Stories Without an Account
You may have thought about trying to view an Instagram Story without logging into your account. Maybe through an anonymous tab or Incognito Mode on your browser.
Unfortunately, that won’t work.
Instagram only allows logged-in sessions to open Stories. This is done to protect the user’s privacy, ensuring that their content is only available to secure accounts.
These are all the ways to view Instagram stories anonymously. Try out the one that works for you and get your sleuthing on.
