Can You Turn Off Instagram Notes? It’s Complicated

Instagram has been causing quite a stir with its latest feature that's in everyone’s DMs, whether you like it or not. The new Instagram Notes that are giving major AIM Away Message vibes are supposed to be a space to “share thoughts, ask questions, or post a status,” according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Notes slid into your DMs on Dec. 13, but if you’re already over seeing little status bubbles, you’re probably wondering if you can turn off Instagram Notes. It’s not as easy as tapping a button, but you can customize your experience so your DMs aren’t so cluttered.

With the social media platform’s latest update, when you go to your IG inbox, a row of profile icons appear, much like IG Stories, but these icons are attached to a short 60-character status called Notes. You’ve probably seen friends throw some moody song lyrics in their notes or fill them with emojis. When you see a note from someone, that means you follow each other or you’re on their Close Friends list. No matter the reason, you’ll see the status update, and it appears at firs that there’s no way to get rid of it.

There’s no magic setting where you can turn off Instagram Notes entirely, but that doesn’t mean you’re totally stuck with them. For anyone who feels like the endless stream of status updates is keeping you away from your inbox zero dream, there is a way to reduce the number of Instagram Notes you see floating above the profile pictures at the top of your DMs.

How To Turn Off Notes By Muting Them:

When you click on a note in your DMs, it gives you the option to send a response that will appear in their DMs, but if you long-press on that person’s profile icon, you’ll get more options. A dropdown menu will appear on the bottom of your screen. You’ll have the option to “Report,” “Mute notes,” or “View profile.” To get closer to your goal of feeling like you’ve turned off Notes, click on “Mute notes,” and Instagram will hide their Notes from your DMs. The only catch is that you’ll have do this for every account that has Notes appearing on it to really make it seem like Instagram Notes are “off.” You can also rest assured they won’t be notified that you’ve muted their Notes.

If you decide you’re ready to join the Notes game again, you can unmute accounts at any time by going to their profile. Their Notes will then pop up in your DMs again, which could lead to more conversations. According to Instagram data from December 2022 shared with Elite Daily, one out of five Instagram conversations in the United States starts with people sharing a piece of content with someone else via DMs.

To provide some content your followers can engage with, you can always test out the waters by posting your own Note. There’s little to no commitment, as you can delete your Note anytime after sharing it, or it’ll vanish on its own in 24 hours.