What Does It Mean to Mute Someone on Instagram? (Complete Guide)

Instagram is a platform that gives everyone a chance to show their emotions. But sometimes we do not like the content of a particular person and don’t want to hurt their feelings by unfollowing them. If you are dealing with such a situation, you must take the benefit of the mute button. To mute someone means putting their content on silent mode. Want to learn more about it? Let’s dive in and explore how does feature works.

What Does It Mean to Mute Someone on Instagram?

The Mute feature on Instagram helps you to hide the posts and stories of people you don’t want to watch. It means you can now remove the posts and stories from your feed without removing them from your friends list. So, you won’t see anything in your feed related to them and also don’t need to remove them from your followers list. If you want to get rid of some content from unwanted people without unfollowing them, just use this feature. 

Also, read What Does Archive Mean on Instagram and How to Use It?

How to Mute on Instagram?

You can mute anything of others without letting them know. To do so, you must know what you want to mute. Below I have discussed the steps of muting the posts or Direct messages separately.

1. Mute Posts and Stories on Instagram

Below are the instructions to mute the posts and stories from your profile:

• The first step is to open the app and visit the profile of the person you want to mute the posts and stories. 
• You will see the following option under the bio of that person.
• There will be a drop-down list of options including a mute button. Tap on it and you will get options to mute posts, stories, and even notes. 
• If you want to mute one of them, select the option. On the other hand, if you want to mute all of them, you can do it too.
• Unfortunately, you will not be able to mute someone’s direct messages or calls through this process. Therefore, I have further discussed the steps to mute someone’s messages or calls on Instagram.

2. Mute Direct Messages and Call Someone on Instagram

If you want to mute someone’s direct messages and calls, the process is slightly different. Below are the steps you must follow to mute direct messages and calls from someone on Instagram: 

• The first step is to open the message inbox and choose the chat of the person you want to mute.
• Select the name of the user at the top of the chat and there will be options to mute the messages and calls both. 
• Select the option you want to mute and also the duration of how long you want to mute them. 
• When done, a mute icon will be there on your screen appearing next to the chat.
• It indicates that the chats and calls are muted by that specific person.

Also, read What Does WTW Mean on Instagram? (Complete Guide)

What Happens When You Mute Someone on Instagram? 

Although, we have discussed the process of muting others, do you wonder what next? What will happen if you mute others? Well, the point to mute someone is that you will no longer get their content on your feet. However, it will not stop you from seeing their post or interacting with them. You can visit their profile to check them up. Below I have shared what will happen when you mute posts, stories, notes, and direct messages one by one:

Posts

When you mute someone’s posts, they will disappear from your main feed. But, what if you want to see them again? To do so, you will need to visit their profile directly by searching them. 

Stories

Once you mute someone’s stories, they will disappear from the top of your screen. However, if you want to look at their stories again, do it directly by visiting their profiles.

Notes

Notes are a special feature added by Instagram to depict how a person is feeling or in the current mood. You might not want them to appear in your inbox. In such a case, you might have muted someone’s notes. Of course, it will not appear at the top of your direct messages list. However, if you want to see them, you will have to unmute them first. Don’t worry, I will cover the process to unmute someone on Instagram in the upper sections.

Direct messages

One of the best uses of the mute feature is to mute the direct messages. Everyone has a friend who keeps on sharing multiple reels and posts on Instagram. Due to this, there are several notifications that appear on our screens. When we mute someone’s direct messages, you will stop receiving the notifications. This is the best way to reduce your notifications without blocking someone. 

Calls 

Muting the calls works similarly to direct messages. If someone is calling you again and again, muting up their calls will cut off the notification from your mobile. However, if you want to get the calling notification again, you will have to do it by unmuting that person through direct messages. 

Also, read What is Quiet Mode on Instagram? (Complete Guide)

How to Unmute Someone on Instagram? 

If you want to unmute someone or watch the notes of the person you muted earlier, you will have to follow a similar process of muting them. Further, I have again discussed the steps to unmute posts, stories, messages, and calls of the person.

1. Unmute Posts, Stories, and Notes

To unmute the content of the, you must follow the instructions mentioned below: 

• Start by searching for the person on your account and visit their profile. 
• Now again click on the following button and get a dropdown menu.
• Select a mute option and turn off it for notes, stories, and posts.

2. Unmute the Direct Messages or Calls 

If you have muted the direct messages or calls of a person, there are chances that you want to unmute them again. To do so, follow the instructions mentioned below: 

• Open the chat of the person you want to unmute. 
• Click the user’s name present at the top of the chat.
• Again go to the mute option and toggle off muted calls and messages. 

How to Tell If Someone Has Muted You on Instagram? 

Unfortunately, there is no way to find out if someone has muted you on Instagram. However, with some clues and signs, you can guess if you have been muted by someone else: 

• Less Engagement: Many times, you may have noticed that the person who regularly or always gets engaged with the content you post, is now getting less engaged with your content. Although, it might not be a way to confirm, but a sign that you may be muted by that person. 
• A drop in Story View Count: One of the major ways to check if someone has muted you is by a constant drop in the story views by a particular user. If this happens, the person may have muted your stories. 
• No comments from a particular person: Again when a person who used to comment or like on your post regularly, has stopped doing that, it is quite possible that they have muted you.

Also, read What does Inquire Mean on Instagram?

Difference Between Mute, Restrict, and Block

Many of us get confused between mute, block, and restrict options. This is because we don’t know the basic meaning of all three of them. Thus in the next section, I have covered the differences between each of them:

Mute	Restrict	Block
When you mute someone, it hides posts and stories from your feed. You also do not get any notification for the messages and calls from them.	When you restrict someone, their comments are only visible to them unless you approve them. In addition to that, when they message you, the messages directly go to the message request inbox. They also do not get to see if you have seen their messages.	Blocking someone means totally cutting off from that person. They cannot see your posts, stories, and even your whole profile.
The user you mute doesn’t get a notification from Instagram.	The restricted user again does not get any notification about being restricted. Even they cannot see if you are online or not.	To user, who you blocked on Instagram will get to know that you have blocked them if they directly search your profile.

Now that you know the difference between the three of them, you must think before choosing the action you want to take. 

Conclusion 

The mute feature on Instagram helps hide the posts and stories of the muted person from your feed. You can also mute direct message notifications or call notifications from a person. To mute content notifications, you will need to go to the person’s profile and tap on the “Following” option. There will be a dropdown menu; select the “Mute” option and choose the things you want to mute. However, if you want to mute messages or call notifications, go to your inbox and select the chat with that person. Tap on the name of the person and click the “Mute” button. Toggle the button to mute the notifications.

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