How To View Private Instagram Profiles 2024

There are two kinds of accounts available on Instagram for users. It’s a public account, accessible by the public. The other is the private account, which is highly restricted.

All Instagram accounts are public by default. This means images and videos can be accessed by anyone and they can be followed by users with no inhibition. Instagram users can also find public accounts with a username or phone number search.

Private accounts differ considerably. They are known for their restrictive nature. For instance, other users can only see videos and photos on a private account if their following requests have been accepted.

This implies that activities on private accounts are usually hidden from other Instagram users. It is quite difficult to find a private Instagram account via a phone number.

How do you view private Instagram profiles? By sending the follow request.

Another important question is “Is there a way to View Private Instagram accounts without following them?” Or, what if you want to see the follower list of a private Instagram account?

Maybe there’s someone you are enamoured about and you try searching for her on Instagram, only to find out that her account is private. It can be a frustrating enterprise.

Fortunately for you, there are several tools and software that can help you access private Instagram accounts without the need to follow them. Most of these tools are free to use.

In this article, we will reveal to you methods that you can use to access highlights, reels, stories, images and videos from private Instagram accounts without having to follow them.

Contents show

How to View a Private Instagram Profiles

1. Send a Follow Request

Sending a follow request is the approved and most efficient way of viewing a private Instagram profile. Just tap on the blue follow tab and give the user time to accept your follow request.

Whether they do know you personally or not is inconsequential.

Once you have sent a follow request, exercise a bit of patience and wait for them to react to your request. With a stroke of luck, your request would be approved instantly, even if they personally have no idea of who you are.

If you are sending a follow request to a friend, colleague or someone who’s familiar with your account, it is 2X likely to be approved.

As soon as your request has gotten accepted, you will have unfettered access to this “private” Instagram profile and will be able to browse through images, reels, videos etc.

Alternatively, you can try convincing the private Instagram account owner that you are trying to send a request. You can achieve this by sending a DM (direct message) stating your true intentions and why they should accept your request.

If you follow this route, make sure your profile is credible and your message is compelling enough that there’s no way the private user can ignore your request.

Make sure you urge them to explore your profile if you can engage them via direct message.

Interaction like this can be very advantageous although it works occasionally. But when it works you won’t have to use other complex techniques or tricks to access an Instagram private profile.

Most importantly, this is the approved method Instagram encourages users to use, in which they send requests to a private profile to access it.

2. Set Up a Fake Instagram Account

You don’t have to feel hopeless if your “DMs” or “follow requests” are unsuccessful. The next strategy is to create a fake Instagram account, but take note, that this is improper and violates Instagram’s terms of service, so use it at your own peril.

Tips on How to Set Up a Fake Account

Try setting up an Instagram account with a female name because it is more likely to get follow request approval. A study has shown that over 65% of fake profiles on social media have female usernames because people are more likely to approve them on time.
Another idea is to use an “attention-grabbing” username. If your preferred username is unavailable, then you can simply reclaim any inactive Instagram handle.

Try uploading images of real ladies and descriptions that reflect a typical woman’s interest. (Be careful not to impersonate a popular person).
Add no less than 8-10 photographs to keep your profile as appealing as feasible.
Consider setting up a private account to pique your target’s interest.

As soon as you have finished setting up your account, send a follower request to your intended target.
If your follower request gets denied, drop a direct message to the user who denied it and clarify your intentions.

3. Use Google to Lookup a Person’s Profile

Another great method you can use if you have waited patiently but have gotten no approval for the following request you have sent is to do a quick Google search on your target account.

To start, launch your web browser e.g., Firefox or Chrome, and then input the private account’s name into the search bar.

The fact that Google stores copies of most Instagram users before they turn their accounts private will help you retrieve a library of some of their old posts. You will be able to see old posts from your private account.

Then navigate to the image tab after loading the search page. A wide variety of the target’s account posts and images will be made available to you after completing the image search.

4. Search on Other Social Media Platforms

If the person whose profile you want to infiltrate has made the profile private, then know that Instagram is not the be-all and end-all of things today because we have got a whole number of different social media platforms operating today.

Hence, if the target’s Instagram profile is set to private, you can simply head to social media sites such as TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest to check out the same user across these platforms.

You can surely get them on any other social media platform if you find their profile private on Instagram. Reviewing their Instagram bio can help you find out their full name, which can help you in your search.

The approach is reviewing them on other social media sites to help you to find out every information that you need about the person.

5. Use Third-Party Tools

You can find plenty of third-party tools on the internet that claims to enable their users to view private Instagram accounts without sending a follow request.

We will analyse a few of them below:

Likecreeper

Likecreeper is a widely used online tool that enables the viewing of private Instagram accounts. One spectacular feature of this tool is that you don’t even need to log into your account. This tool can be simply used to access images and videos from any Instagram private account across multiple devices.

IGmods.com

IGmods.com is a highly effective tool that you can use to access the contents of private Instagram accounts. Here’s how to use the tool:

Navigate to “Settings” and head to “General”

As soon as you get in, look for the “Background App Refresh” tab and turn it on.
Then, in the “Battery” area, toggle off the low power option.
Launch the App Store and turn on the auto-download feature.

Select “VIEW PRIVATE ACCOUNT” from the drop-down menu that pops up.
You’ll see a tab titled “Target Instagram Username” upon accessing the website
In the search field, input the username of the Instagram profile you want to access.

Select “Connect” and patiently wait for a few seconds.
A message will be displayed asking you to authenticate your account. Ensure you double-check the Instagram username you’ve entered. Tap “Confirm” once you have finished.
The progress bar will appear after some seconds. The content of the account will influence the length of time it takes for the progress bar to load.

You will see a notification alert that says “Private data successfully unlocked for XYZ,”. Return to Instagram and check for the username.
You will find the content of the private Instagram profile you want.

IGLookup

IGLookup, which has been around since 2014, allows users to access pics and video clips from any Instagram private account.

They claim to follow the Instagram guidelines, and won’t cause you any hassle; it is 100% secure and trustworthy. The tool also enables anonymous viewing, meaning no login is required.

How to View Private Instagram Profiles FAQs

Is it legal for me to look at someone’s private Instagram account without their permission?

Regrettably, no. This is why you have to be careful when you use third-party tools to access private profiles. A lot of them are not unreliable. Don’t even think about patronising the services of hackers. We don’t advise that.

As we have stated above, the only legal way to access a private profile is by sending a follow request.

Are subpoenas needed to access a person’s Instagram profile?

This question should be directed to legal experts. Instagram has addressed this issue here.

A court-sanctioned subpoena will definitely give you access to any account on Instagram.

Conclusion

We hope you have gotten answers to all your enquiries and you now have an idea of how to view any private profile on Instagram.

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Harrison Acha

Harrison Acha is a Seasoned Blogger, Facebook Marketing Expert, Writer, SEO Expert, and Digital Content Creator. Have been in the IT industry for more than a decade, and helping both tech and non-tech professionals become more productive and less frustrated with technology.