Why can't I see someone's Instagram story?
Short answer
Most often the story has already expired or was shared only with Close Friends. It can also be because the account is private, the owner hid their story from you, you muted their stories, or they blocked you.
1. The story expired
Stories disappear 24 hours after they're posted. If someone mentioned a story that you can't find, it may simply be gone. The only way to see an old story is if the owner saved it as a highlight, which shows up as a circle under their bio.
2. It was for Close Friends only
Anyone can keep a Close Friends list and post stories that only those people see. Those stories have a green ring. If you're not on the list, you won't see them anywhere, and there's no sign they exist.
3. The account is private
On a private account, stories are shown only to approved followers. If you're not following them, or your request is still pending, you won't see their stories. What a private account still shows.
4. They hid their story from you
Instagram lets people hide their stories from specific accounts without blocking them. Everything else about the profile looks normal, but their stories never appear for you.
5. You muted their stories
Muting moves someone's stories to the far end of the row at the top of your feed and stops them playing automatically, so they're easy to miss. Tap their photo on their profile to watch, or unmute them from the menu on their profile page.
6. You've been blocked
If someone blocked you, their profile shows no posts or stories to your account, and searching for them may show nothing at all.
7. The app hasn't caught up
Sometimes a new story doesn't appear right away. Pull down to refresh the feed, check your connection, or update the app. If other stories load fine, this is rarely the reason.
Working out which one it is
| What you notice | Likely reason |
|---|---|
| No ring on their photo, and they have highlights | No story in the last 24 hours |
| Others mention a story you've never seen | Close Friends only, or hidden from you |
| Profile says it's private | You're not an approved follower |
| Their story sits at the end of your row and doesn't autoplay | You muted them |
| The profile shows no posts at all | Blocked, or the account was deactivated |
Checking a public account without the app
For a public account, you can enter the username in the Instagram story viewer to see whether a story is live right now, without signing in. If nothing shows up here either, the account hasn't posted a public story in the last 24 hours.