To turn off read receipts on Instagram, follow these steps:
- Open the Instagram app and go to your profile by tapping the profile icon at the bottom right.
- Tap the three-line menu icon (hamburger menu) in the top right corner.
- Select Settings and privacy.
- Scroll down to the section titled How others can interact with you and tap Messages and story replies.
- Find the option Show read receipts and toggle it off.
When you turn off read receipts, others will no longer see if you have read their messages, and you also won't see if they have read yours. Messages will just show as "sent" without the "seen" indicator
. If you want to disable read receipts for only a specific person:
- Open the chat with that person.
- Tap their name at the top of the chat.
- Select Privacy & safety.
- Toggle off Read receipts for that conversation only
This allows you to control read receipts globally or on a per-chat basis according to your privacy preferences.
