To hide your Instagram story from someone without them knowing, you must use the "Hide Story From" feature within your Instagram settings. The user you select will not receive a notification that you have hidden your story from them [1].
And the answer is no. They cannot. We're going to respect that privacy setting for the story even if it's made into a permanent highlight. So you can rest assured make that a highlight and feel perfectly safe doing so.
You can tell if someone hid their Instagram Story by checking their profile for missing Highlights, seeing a sudden drop in their Story frequency (while others see them), or (most reliably) checking from a second account, where you can see their stories, confirming they're hidden from your main account, as there's no direct notification.
To check if someone restricted you on Instagram, the activity status can help. After being restricted, you will not be able to see their online activity status (e.g., "green dot" or "Active 1h ago"). Exception: There is also a possibility that someone has hidden their online status, so you cannot view it.
Practical signs someone may have muted you
Messages remain “sent” or “delivered” but never get quick replies: If your messages consistently show delivered but the person doesn't reply for long stretches while they remain active elsewhere, muting could be the reason.
You can also choose people to hide your story from as you're looking at who's seen your story. Tap Options to the right of their name and select Hide your story, then tap Hide. Keep in mind that hiding your story from someone is different from blocking them, and doesn't prevent them from seeing your profile and posts.
Whereas blocking a user hides your entire feed and stories from them, the restrict feature simply hides their comments and messages from you while still allowing them to view your posts. “It's a more subtle way to limit unwanted interactions without completely removing them from seeing your content,” says Day.
Note: When you hide Instagram Stories from certain people, they won't be able to see anything you post to your story in the future. Hiding Instagram Stories from someone is also different from blocking them and doesn't prevent them from seeing your profile and posts.
Restricting is a private action: The account will not be notified if you restrict them on Instagram.
If they're not showing up as viewers anymore while other mutual friends are still engaging with them, this could indicate they've muted story notifications from you. Direct Conversations: Have conversations about recent posts or trends casually; gauge their responses about things you've shared recently on Instagram.
Soft blocking on Instagram is a subtle way to remove someone from your followers without them knowing, achieved by briefly blocking and then unblocking a user; this forces them to unfollow you, stopping their content from appearing in your feed and yours in theirs, but allows them to still find your profile and interact if they try, acting as a low-drama way to set boundaries. It's different from Instagram's built-in "Restrict" feature, which hides their comments and messages without unfollowing them, though both offer discreet ways to manage unwanted interactions.
You can tell if someone hid their Instagram Story by checking their profile for missing Highlights, seeing a sudden drop in their Story frequency (while others see them), or (most reliably) checking from a second account, where you can see their stories, confirming they're hidden from your main account, as there's no direct notification.
If you want to control what you see on your Stories and Feed without cutting off someone entirely, Mute is your go-to option. This allows you to hide someone's posts, stories, or messages while still following the account. You can mute an account in a variety of ways in order to limit your interactions with them.
Also, Instagram won't let them know you hid them from seeing your Stories. That's it! To unhide a story from a user, just go to the user's profile and tap on the three dots icon, then select “Unhide your story” from the options.
Muting helps you ignore someone without preventing them from doing anything. Blocking someone prevents them from messaging you, commenting on your observations, identifying your observations, and otherwise interacting with you on iNaturalist.
If you mute someone's stories, you won't see their story at the top of your feed. Muting someone's story is different from unfollowing them and from muting their profile. You'll still see their posts in feed and notes they share on Instagram.