One of the most interesting features of all the messaging apps is the ability to know whether the sent messages are read by the receiver or not. As soon as you open the chat and see the messages, the message is marked as Seen to the sender.
The feature is quite useful to track the sent messages. But, sometimes you may also want to read the messages but without being caught by the sender.
So, you might be wondering whether it is possible to see someone’s Instagram messages without being seen. The answer is YES.
Although there is no direct way to read Instagram messages without being caught by the sender, you can still follow some workarounds which are discussed below.
How to Read Messages On Instagram Without Being Seen
There are several tricks that you can try out to read someone’s message without marking as seen on their chat.
Read Messages from the Notification Bar
If you have turned ON notifications on Instagram for direct messages, you will receive a notification if someone sends you a message. This way you can read the messages from the notification bar without directly visiting the Instagram DM. This also won’t mark the messages as seen.
However, you need to make sure the notification is turned ON. Here’s how to turn notifications ON.
- Go to your profile and tap the 3 horizontal bars in the top-right corner.
- Select Settings and then Notifications.
- Tap Messages and select the option From Primary and General under the Messages section.
Restrict the Account to See Messages
This is the most recommended method to read someone’s messages without being seen. After you have received messages, you just need to restrict them for a while, read the messages and unrestrict them.
Once you have the message in your chat that hasn’t been opened, you are ready to go ahead with this method.
Step 1: Go to the person’s profile whose messages you want to read. You can use the search option to find them.
Step 2: Tap the three dots in the top right corner and select Restrict.
Step 3: Now go to the chat. The message will now disappear from the primary tab and move to the Request tab as shown below in the screenshot. Tap Request.
Step 4: You will now be taken to the Message Requests page. Tap and open the chat.
Step 5: Read the messages. This will not mark the message as seen.
Step 5: Now, move back from the chat and go to the person’s profile, and unrestrict them.
After un-restricting the profile, the message will appear in the primary tab in your chat.
This way you’ve read messages without marking as seen.
Turn ON Airplane Mode
One of the easiest ways to see Instagram messages without being seen is to turn OFF the internet connection or turn ON airplane mode.
Step 1: Open your Instagram DM and turn off your internet connection.
Step 2: Now, open the chat and read the messages.
Step 3: After you’re done, close the app completely and remove it from your recent apps section too. The messages won’t be marked as seen until you re-open the app.
What’s the drawback of this method:
- It doesn’t work if the message includes images, videos, or voice messages.
- As soon as you re-open the Instagram app, the messages will be marked as seen.
Using 3rd Party Online Servives
There are third-party tools available on the internet which allow you to read all your messages without notifying the sender. AiGrow is one of such online tools.
However, it is not recommended to use third-party services as they may require your Instagram login credentials to use them which may risk your privacy.
Out of all the methods mentioned above, you can try any one of them to read someone’s messages without being seen. The second method is the most recommended as there is no chance of being caught.