How to Unmute Someone on Instagram - The Complete Guide

Have you ever muted someone on Instagram, only to later regret your decision? With over 1 billion monthly active users, it‘s almost inevitable you‘ll want to hit that mute button occasionally. But unmuting someone on Instagram isn‘t as straightforward as muting them in the first place.

As your favorite tech geek, I‘m here to walk you through exactly how to unmute accounts on Instagram, even if you can‘t remember their username. Stick with me through this complete guide, and you‘ll be a pro at finding and unmuting muted accounts.

Why Would You Want to Unmute Someone on Instagram?

Before we dive in, let‘s discuss some reasons why unmuting someone on Instagram might make sense:

You muted the wrong person by accident. According to a 2021 survey by Statista, over 50% of Instagram users admitted to mindlessly scrolling feeds and tapping buttons. It‘s easy to accidentally mute someone you didn‘t intend to. Unmuting them fixes this slip-up.
You briefly muted someone during a heated argument. A report by the Pew Research Center revealed 72% of adults have witnessed toxic behavior on social media. Emotions can run high on Instagram. Muting someone in the heat of the moment can help cool things off. But later, unmuting can reopen communication.
The person you muted has changed, or your perspective of them has changed. People evolve over time. According to social science research, most people‘s personalities continue developing well into their 40s and 50s. Someone you once found annoying may now post content you love. Unmuting them gives them a second chance.
You want to give someone a second chance. Perhaps you muted someone because their previous content was negative or toxic. Unmuting demonstrates your willingness to forgive and forget if they have changed their ways.
You feel like you‘re missing out by having them muted. When you mute someone, you miss 100% of their posts and stories. If they start sharing great content, FOMO (fear of missing out) might kick in. Unmuting returns their content to your feed.
You muted them a long time ago and forgot why. Let‘s be honest – we‘ve all muted people on social media and forgotten why. Life gets busy! If it‘s been ages, unmuting can give you both a fresh start.

No matter what your reason for wanting to unmute someone, it is possible to do so on Instagram. You just have to know where to look. Let‘s dig in!

Where to Find the Unmute Option on Instagram

Now that we‘ve covered the reasons for unmuting, where do you actually go to unmute someone?

The unmute option on Instagram is sneakily hidden. You can‘t simply unmute directly from your feed or stories view. Instead, you have to go to the profile page of the account you want to unmute.

Here are the steps to unmute an account on Instagram:

Go to their profile page.
Tap the "Following" button.
Select "Mute" from the menu that appears.
Toggle the posts and/or stories switch to the off position.

And that‘s it! The profile page is the only place the unmute option exists on Instagram. Lots of people mistakenly think they can unmute from the options menu on posts or in their story view. But trust me, your favorite tech nerd – that‘s not the case!

Now let‘s discuss how to find muted accounts if you don‘t remember the usernames.

How to See Your Full Muted Accounts List on Instagram

What if you can‘t remember who exactly you muted on Instagram? Not to worry, you can see your full list of muted accounts. This shows you every single account that you have muted.

Here are the steps to access your muted accounts list on Instagram:

Go to your profile page.
Tap the menu icon (the three horizontal lines) in the top right corner.
Select "Settings" from the menu.
Tap "Privacy" on the next page.
Select "Muted Accounts" – this will display your complete list!

Checking your muted accounts list reveals the full roster of people you have muted on Instagram. You can tap on any account in this list to unmute them.

But with social media overload, you may have forgotten why you muted certain people. How do you identify the muted account you actually want to unmute?

Identifying a Muted Account You Want to Unmute

Let‘s say you discover you have 97 muted accounts on Instagram. Manually scanning through all of them to find the right person could take forever!

Here are 5 tips to quickly identify a muted account you want to unmute:

Search by name. If you vaguely remember their first name or handle, type it into the search bar. This filters your list.
View profile pictures. The small profile picture next to each @username can spur forgotten memories.
Read the status. Under each account, you‘ll see "posts muted", "story muted" or "posts and story muted." This reveals what content you hid.
Check the mute date. The date you muted them appears too. Think back to what was happening in your life at that time.
Unmute recent mutes first. Review the most recent mutes from the past few months. Chances are you‘ll remember why once you view their profiles.

Taking a few minutes to carefully examine your muted list makes finding the right account much easier.

Unmuting Someone‘s Posts vs Stories on Instagram

Once you‘ve located the muted account you want to unmute, you have an important choice to make: do you want to unmute just their posts? Just their stories? Or both?

For example, you may decide to:

Unmute only their posts if you enjoy seeing their photos but find their Story chatter annoying.
Unmute only their stories if you like getting their daily life updates but could do without their posts.
Unmute both posts and stories if you feel ready to have their full content back in your feeds.

Having this level of control is the best thing about Instagram‘s mute function. You aren‘t forced into an all-or-nothing decision.

Here is how to unmute posts, stories or both on Instagram:

To Unmute Posts:

Go to their profile.
Tap the "Following" button.
Select "Mute".
Toggle the Posts switch to the off position.

To Unmute Stories:

Go to their profile.
Tap the "Following" button.
Select "Mute".
Toggle the Stories switch to the off position.

To Unmute Posts and Stories:

Go to their profile.
Tap the "Following" button.
Select "Mute".
Toggle BOTH the Posts and Stories switches to the off position.

See? Easy peasy. Now you can unmute people‘s posts, stories or both with just a few taps.

What Happens When You Unmute Someone on Instagram?

Once you hit "unmute" on someone’s Instagram profile using the steps above, here’s what happens next:

You’ll start seeing their posts in your main feed again (if you unmuted posts).
Their stories will begin appearing at the top of your story feed bar again (if you unmuted stories).
The person won‘t receive any type of notification that you unmuted them. The process is completely anonymous!
Any other accounts you have muted will stay muted. Only the profile you unmuted will be affected.
The account will remain unmuted indefinitely unless you decide to mute them again in the future.

Bottom line – unmuting gives someone a clean slate if their previous posts or stories bothered you. And they‘ll never know you muted them in the first place!

Can You Tell if You Have Muted Someone on Instagram?

What if you can‘t remember whether you muted someone? There are a couple ways to detect if an account is muted:

Check your feed. Scroll through your home feed. If you typically see someone but now don‘t, you may have hit mute.
Review your stories bar. Likewise, if someone frequently shares stories but has disappeared from your bar, a mute is likely in play.
Check their status. In your muted account list, the status under their handle indicates if posts, stories or both show as muted.
Tap their Following button. If the mute option is already toggled on when you check, you know you muted them.

Taking a quick peek at their profile and post/story activity can reveal whether they are muted.

Can You Unmute Someone Secretly on Instagram?

Here‘s an important question to address: when you unmute someone on Instagram, will they be notified?

The answer is nope – Instagram does not alert someone that you have unmuted their account. The entire process is 100% anonymous.

They will have no idea their posts and stories are suddenly visible to you again after you muted them. You can unmute people without any uncomfortable conversations or explanations needed.

In most cases, it‘s better to silently give someone a clean slate again vs. making a big announcement about the unmuting.

What Happens If You Mute, Unmute, Then Remute Someone on Instagram?

What if you play the mute/unmute game with someone – continuously muting and unmuting them? Is that allowed on Instagram?

The short answer is yes, you can mute, unmute and remute people as much as you want. Here‘s what happens:

When initially muted, their posts and stories disappear from your Instagram feeds.
When unmuted, their content reappears in your feeds per usual.
When muted again, their content again becomes hidden from your view.

The effects take place instantly as you toggle between mute and unmute on their profile page. There is no limit within Instagram on how many times you can mute or unmute an account.

Some users regularly mute and unmute frenemies – people with whom they have complicated relationships. Muting provides temporary relief when needed.

Pro Tip: How to Temporarily Unmute Someone on Instagram

Here‘s an advanced unmuting technique for you: unmuting someone temporarily before re-muting them.

For example, you could unmute someone for a 1 week trial to see if the content quality of their posts/stories has improved. If after 1 week their updates are still bothersome, simply re-mute them via their profile.

Temporary unmuting gives you a chance to reevaluate an account to see if you want to keep following them. Set a reminder on your phone‘s calendar to mute them again after your test period is over.

Can You Unmute Stories Only? Unmute Posts Only?

This question comes up a lot, so let‘s cover it: yes, Instagram allows you to separately unmute either just stories or just posts!

You may decide to:

Unmute only their stories if their daily life updates are fun but their posts are mundane.
Unmute only their posts if their photos are great but their stories are dull.

This level of control is handy – you can customize exactly the type of content you want to see from someone‘s account after muting them initially.

Unmuting Multiple Instagram Accounts at Once

What if you want to unmute a bunch of different Instagram accounts at the same time? Is there a way to mass unmute?

Unfortunately, Instagram does not allow you to unmute multiple accounts simultaneously in bulk. The unmuting has to be done one profile at a time.

While unmuting accounts individually takes longer, it has a benefit. You‘re forced to re-evaluate each account and thoughtfully decide whether to reinstate their posts or stories.

It‘s better to carefully curate your feed one account at a time vs. a careless mass reversal of all mutes. Take your time building the optimal Instagram experience.

Can You Unmute Accounts You Don‘t Follow on Instagram?

Here‘s another common unmuting question: can you unmute someone you don‘t even follow on Instagram?

The answer is no. You are only able to mute – and in turn unmute – accounts that you follow on Instagram.

For accounts you don‘t follow, their posts never show up in your feeds at all. So there‘s no need to ever mute or unmute them – you simply won‘t see their content since you don‘t follow them.

Muting is intended to temporarily hide posts and stories of accounts you follow but find irritating. It‘s like a temporary unfollow that preserves the connection.

Is It Possible to Unmute a Deleted Instagram Account?

What happens if you muted someone on Instagram, and later they delete their account? Can you still unmute a deleted account?

Unfortunately, no. When someone deletes their Instagram account, it is removed from your muted list automatically. A deleted account no longer exists on the platform at all.

However, if they create a brand new Instagram account, you would have to search for and follow their new handle to see their posts again.

Muting and unmuting work on a per-account basis. If the original handle vanishes, you need to follow their new one to reconnect.

Can I Appeal if Someone Muted Me on Instagram?

This scenario comes up now and then: someone realizes a friend has muted them on Instagram. Can they appeal to that person asking to be unmuted?

The short answer is no. There is no formal appeals process if another user mutes you on Instagram. Muting is considered standard practice for curating one‘s own feed.

If someone chose to mute you, it‘s usually best to let it be and continue posting as normal. If your content improves over time, they may be willing to unmute you in the future.

But pressuring someone to unmute or harassing them about being muted will likely backfire. Just relax and focus on upping your Instagram game!

What to Do If You Are Muted on Instagram

If you discover someone has muted you on Instagram, how should you respond? Here are some positive ways to handle it:

Reflect on why it may have happened. Did you post something thoughtless or annoying? Learn from the experience.
Give the person space. Don‘t beg to be unmuted right away. Let some time pass first.
Keep your content positive. Take the mute as constructive feedback. Stick to posting content that is upbeat and engaging.
Don‘t vent about the mute. Publicly complaining about being muted just looks bad.
Consider an apology if warranted. If you were in the wrong, a sincere private apology may help.
Have patience. If you take the high road, the person may be willing to unmute you down the line.

With time and effort, you can earn your way back into someone‘s Instagram feed after being muted. Onward and upward!

Top FAQs About Unmuting on Instagram

Let‘s round things out by answering some frequently asked questions about how to unmute accounts on Instagram:

How do I unmute someone I muted a long time ago? Scroll back through all your mutes on the muted accounts list until you find them. Tap to unmute.

Where is the unmute button on Instagram? The only unmute button is on an account‘s profile, under the Following tab. Not in your main feed.

Can you unmute on Instagram without the other person knowing? Yes, Instagram never sends a notification when you unmute someone. It‘s 100% anonymous.

Why can‘t I find someone to unmute them? Double check you‘re looking at your muted accounts list in settings. Also search by exact username if you don‘t know their name.

I keep muting and unmuting the same person. Is this normal? It indicates you likely have a love/hate "frenemy" relationship. Consider longer mute periods for your own peace of mind.

Is there a time limit for muting someone on Instagram? There is no time limit – you can mute accounts indefinitely if needed. But inactive ones may be deleted eventually.

Can I mass unmute a bunch of Instagram accounts? Unfortunately no. Accounts have to be unmuted one by one. But it helps ensure you review each unmute.

The Final Word on Unmuting Instagram Accounts

And there you have it, folks – everything you need to know about how to unmute someone on Instagram, even if you don‘t remember their username or why you muted them.

While the steps may seem complicated at first glance, this guide breaks it down into simple actions:

Access your muted account list.
Identify the account you want to unmute.
Visit their profile.
Toggle the mute button for posts and/or stories to the "off" position.
Enjoy having their content back in your Instagram feed!

Now you can easily manage mutes and un-mutes on Instagram to curate the optimal feed. Here‘s to quality content from accounts you love seeing. Happy Instagramming!