How Can You Hide Your Likes on Instagram?

Quick answer

Instagram has a built-in "Hide like and view counts" setting. Turning it on removes the visible like number from your posts and Reels for other people — they'll just see "Liked by [someone] and others" instead of a count — but you, the poster, can always see your exact like count and the full list of who liked it.

Key takeaways

• This is a real, native Instagram setting — no third-party app needed
• It hides the count from others, not the fact that a post has likes, and not your own view of who liked it
• You can apply it globally to all future posts or toggle it per individual post
• It does not hide your activity — people you follow can still see that you liked their posts if they check likers directly (though Instagram removed the separate public "Following" activity feed years ago)

Where to find the setting

Two ways to turn it on:

1. Globally, for all new posts: Settings and privacy > Posts (sometimes labeled "Likes" on older app versions) > toggle "Hide like and view counts on this post" to apply as your default for future feed posts and Reels.
2. Per post, after publishing: Open the post > tap the ••• (more options) menu > "Hide like count" (or "Unhide like count" to reverse it). This only affects that one post and doesn't change your global default.

On the web (instagram.com), the same toggle exists under Settings > Privacy > Posts.

What it does and doesn't change

• Hides: the numeric like/view count shown publicly under a post or Reel to other users.
• Does not hide: the count from you — as the account owner you always see your real numbers in the post and in Insights.
• Does not hide: comments, who specifically liked the post (anyone can still tap into the likes list unless you've hidden it — Instagram removed the ability to fully block viewing the likers list for standard posts), or your engagement in Insights (Professional accounts).
• Does not stop other people's likes on posts you comment on, or affect DM read receipts, which are a separate setting.

Common mistakes

• Expecting it to hide likes from close friends/family specifically — it's an all-or-nothing public toggle, not audience-based
• Confusing it with hiding your own follower count, which is a different setting entirely
• Downloading a "like hider" app — Instagram's version is native and free; any third-party app asking for your login to "hide likes" is a credential-phishing risk

Why creators use this

Many creators and brands hide like counts to reduce social comparison pressure and stop viewers from judging content purely by number, while still being able to track real performance privately through their own post view and Insights data.