1. Private Account You Follow
Frankly, if the user has a private account, it makes it difficult to find out whether the story is hidden from you or not. It’s a security feature and not a bug. The only option you have is to ask another follower who can see it. Currently, there are no third-party apps that allow you to view a private story. So, this is the only possible way, provided you have the same friend circle.
2. Public Account
Unlike the first one, if the user has a public account, you’re in luck. You can simply ask a friend which is the first method or borrow one of your family member’s phones. Since it’s a public account, the user’s story will be visible to any Instagram user. There are other methods as well such as making a new account or using one of the few anonymous Instagram story viewer apps easily. For those of you who are in a hurry, use the Mystalk website regardless of the platform you’re on. All you have to do is type in the username and view the story just as you do on the Instagram app.
3. Close Friends
There are three ways in Instagram settings that a user can hide stories from you. The first being the Closed Friends option. This allows a user to add followers to the Close Friends List. So the story they upload will only be visible to a chosen few. If you can find a friend then follow steps in the first step, else there isn’t an option.
4. Hide Story
This is personally the trick I use to hide stories from a few friends (caught red-handed). It allows a user to hide stories from other Instagram users. Moreover, it’s not necessary to follow the user’s profile in order to be on the hidden users’ list. So, this can be a reason why you’re not able to see the stories. Like I said in the previous points, you can only rely on apps and websites like Mystalk if it’s a public account and the story is hidden from you.
5. Reply and Reactions
This is a lesser-known Instagram setting and most of the users might not even know about it. The Reply and Reaction setting allows a user to disable users from replying to the story. So the interaction advantage we were talking about goes for a spin. A user can allow the reply to stores for Everyone. People You Follow or completely turn off reactions.
Closing Remarks
So here’s how to know if someone hides their story from you on Instagram. If you ask me the best method is to use the Mystalk app or any other app that allows you to view Instagram stories anonymously. If you want to check for a private account, the best possible way is to ask a mutual friend. Also Read: 5 Ways to Download Instagram Highlights
