Don’t like getting tagged in photos on Instagram? You’re not the only one! While someone tagging you in a picture may seem like a sweet gesture or cute way to share your group experience with others, you may not like the image. Once it has been done, however, and an unsavory image has gone live, there are ways to hide the pesky photo without hurting the person’s feelings. This tutorial shows how to hide tagged photos on Instagram.
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How to Hide a Tagged Photo on Instagram
The annoying thing about tagged photos and reels is that they show up on your profile in a dedicated tab. Everyone who visits your profile can potentially browse through these images and videos and see the ones you don’t want anyone seeing. The good news is that you can easily hide the less flattering photos and reels from your profile. Follow these steps:
- Open the Instagram app on your Android or iOS phone. For the purposes of this tutorial, we’re using the iOS app.
- Go to your profile.
- Tap on the last icon at the top of your photo grid.
- This will switch your view to the tagged photos and reels.
- Find the image or video you want to hide from your profile and tap on it.
- Tap on the image to reveal your tag and tap it.
- Select the “Hide from my profile” option from the menu that appears at the bottom. Alternatively, select “Remove me from post,” if that’s what you want. However, the original poster may notice that you’ve untagged yourself.
- Once you’ve hidden the tag, the photo will no longer show up in the “Tagged” section on your profile. All the other tags will remain visible. However, keep in mind that hiding a post from your profile does not remove you from the photo or reel.
- Note that both methods work if you’re trying to remove your tag from one of your own photos.
If you wish to hide a tag on Instagram on PC, note that it’s not possible. Instead, you can completely remove the tag from the image if you wish to do that.
Tip: learn how to find your contacts on Instagram and expand your Following list.
How to Hide Multiple Tagged Photos on Instagram
What if you want to hide multiple photos and videos from your profile? You can only do this on the mobile apps – it can not be done on PC.
- Open your Instagram profile, and tap on the hamburger menu in the upper-right corner.
- Select “Settings and privacy.”
- Scroll down to the “How others can interact with you” section and select “Tags and mentions.”
- Tap on “Manually Approve Tags.”
- You’ll see the list of your tagged photos. Tap “Edit.”
- Tap all the images and reels you don’t want visible on your profile anymore.
- Select “Hide” and you’re done.
FYI: check out these top Instagram alternatives that cater to photographers.
How to Unhide a Tagged Photo
If you changed your mind about a photo or reel you’ve recently hidden, you can bring back the photo to your profile by following these steps. Note that this solution applies only to photos or videos you hide from view using the “Hide from my profile” option.
- Go to the photo in question on the poster’s profile. It requires you to remember who posted the picture or video and tagged you.
- To avoid this, it may be a good idea to develop the practice of saving the images or reels you plan to hide. Open an image, and tap on the three dots in the upper-right corner.
- Select “Save” at the top of the pop-up menu that appears.
- The next time you want to unhide a photo or reel you’ve been tagged in, go to your profile, and tap on the hamburger menu in the upper-right corner.
- Select “Saved” to bring up your list of saved content.
- Browse the collection until you have found the image you hid, and tap it to open it.
- Tap on the three dots in the upper-right corner of the display.
- Select “Tag Options.”
- Select “Show on my profile” to have it visible once again.
Tip: did you know you can change fonts on Instagram?
How to Change Who Can Tag You on Instagram
To avoid scenarios where you end up being tagged in photos or reels by random people, Instagram allows you to control who tags you. This is especially useful if you have a public profile.
Mobile
- Go back to the “Settings & privacy -> Tags and mentions” window as shown above.
- In the “Who can tag you” section, select either “Allow tags from people you follow” or “Don’t allow tags.”
PC
- Open Instagram on your browser.
- Click on the “More” button on the lower-left side of the display.
- Select “Settings.”
- Click on “How others can interact with you” from the left side menu.
- Scroll down all the way to the “Who can tag you” section, and select either “People you follow” or “No one.”
How to Manually Approve Tags
The best solution to preventing any unwanted photos or reels from popping up on your profile is to enable the option to manually approve tags by carrying out these steps:
Mobile
- Go to “Settings & privacy -> Tags and mentions.”
- Tap on “Manually Approve Tags.”
- Toggle on the “Tag controls” option.
- Tap “Turn on” in the confirmation pop-up.
- Every time someone tags you, Instagram will send a notification asking you to approve or decline being tagged.
- You can also see your “Pending Tags” in the same window where you enabled the “Tag controls” feature.
PC
- Return to the “How others can interact with you from” section and scroll down until you reach the “Manually approve tags” section.
- Select “Manually approve posts when you’re tagged in them.”
Tip: if Instagram is not working for you, check out our list of fixes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I also hide mentions?
Mentions are like tags, but for Stories, live videos, captions, or comments. While it’s not possible to hide these tags from view on your end, you can ensure that your name does not appear on unwanted Stories or comments by going to “Settings & privacy -> Tags and mentions” and selecting “Don’t allow mentions” in the “Who can @mention you” section.
How can I make my Instagram account private?
If you want to make your Instagram account more secure and prevent just anyone from visiting your profile and potentially seeing your tagged images, switch to a Private account by going to “Settings & privacy -> Account privacy” and toggling on the “Private account” option.
What happened to my tagged photos that have disappeared that I didn't hide or remove?
It’s quite possible the person who posted the image or reel and tagged you has removed your tag or deleted the picture or video altogether. Check whether the image shows up on their profile. If that’s not the case, they might have decided to scrap it.
Image credit: Pexels. All screenshots by Alexandra Arici.
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