How To Hide Former Usernames On Instagram? Trust The Answer

By default, the images you share on your Instagram profile can be viewed by virtually anyone using the app. If you prefer to stay under the radar instead, there are a few things you can do to hide your Instagram account and prevent your contacts and others from finding you on the social network.

For example, if you remove certain information, even if someone has your phone number, they won’t be able to find you on Instagram. Follow this guide as we detail additional options to help you hide from prying eyes.

Also Read: How to Add Links to Your Instagram Stories

Remove your Facebook account from Instagram

To make sharing easier, Instagram allows you to link your Facebook account to the app. If you want to hide your Instagram account, we don’t recommend it. Once you’ve connected the two accounts, you’ll appear in the Discover People tab of the people you’ve added on Facebook. If you have already linked the two, remove your Facebook connection from Instagram.

1. Open the Instagram app on your Android device.

2. Tap your circular profile icon in the bottom right.

Also Read: How to Link or Disconnect Your Instagram Account from Facebook

3. Go to the hamburger menu in the top right corner of your profile.

4. Choose Settings.

5. Below you will see a section that says “Accounts Center”. click it

6. Tap “Accounts & Profiles”.

7. Select your Facebook profile.

8. Tap on the “Remove from Account Center” option to delete the account.

9. Instagram will ask you to confirm if you want to “disable connected experiences for your account”. Tap the blue Next button.

Once you’ve unlinked your Facebook account, you won’t appear in the Discover People tab if your Facebook friends decide to sync their contacts.

Also Read: How to See All Your Comments on Instagram

Make your account private

Making your account private is one of the easiest ways to make your profile less visible. Even if someone eventually finds you, they won’t be able to see your posts unless you give them explicit permission to do so.

You can enable privacy mode by going to Settings -> Privacy and checking the Private Account option at the top.

Also Read: How to Block Someone on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Other Apps

Remove your phone number from Instagram

Before proceeding to remove your phone number from Instagram, remember that you cannot enable the two-factor authentication feature. You must also have a verified email address for this to work, as Instagram requires at least one verified way to contact you.

You can turn off two-factor authentication by going to Settings -> Security -> Two-factor authentication and turning it off from there.

To remove your phone number, tap the profile icon and select Edit Profile. Swipe down to “Personal Information Settings,” and your phone number is second down.

Once your phone number is removed, people who have your digits on their phone won’t be able to find you once they turn on Connect Contacts.

Also Read: How to Use Instagram on a Computer

Turn off contact syncing

Speaking of which, you’ve probably used the option yourself when you first set up your Instagram account.

However, if you want to remain hidden, you should give up this functionality. Go to “Settings -> Account -> Contacts sync” and uncheck “Connect contacts”.

Also Read: Use Instagram Collab to Create a Collaborative Post or Reel

Prevent your friends from finding you in similar accounts

The person you want to hide from can easily find you if they follow an account similar to yours. To disable this feature, go to Instagram on your desktop browser. Oddly enough, you can’t disable this option from your phone or tablet.

Once you access Instagram on the web, click on your profile icon at the top right of the screen and then click on the “Edit Profile” button. Below is a box that you can uncheck to prevent your account from appearing in similar account results. Don’t forget to click the blue Submit button.

From here it’s also possible to add or remove your phone number if you haven’t followed the steps outlined above.

Also Read: How to Delete a Photo from a Carousel Post or Stories on Instagram

Turn off your online status

If you want even more privacy, disabling your online status is a step in the right direction. To hide your online status from others, go to Settings again and swipe down to Privacy.

Tap on “Activity Status” and turn off the “Show Activity Status” button. If the button is blue, it means it’s on, and if it’s gray, it’s off.

Also Read: Why Isn’t Activity Status Showing on Instagram?

Ban specific accounts

Do you want to be absolutely sure that no one can find you no matter what? Block their account if you know their username.

Just navigate to their profile and tap the three-dot menu in the corner of the screen. A pop-up menu will appear at the bottom of the display. From there, select Block.

The only way to be 100% sure no one will find you is to delete your account. But since you might not want that, it’s best to hide your Instagram account. If you’re interested in learning more useful Instagram tricks, you might be interested in learning how to determine the best time of day to post on Instagram, add music to your story, and auto-caption Instagram stories .

Also Read: 13 Best People Search and Phone Number Lookup Websites

The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine can be used for more than just wondering what juicy tweets might have been deleted by your favorite public figures. The archive works equally well for other social media sites such as Instagram.

Can you use Wayback Machine for Instagram?

A frequently asked question is: “Does the Wayback Machine work for Instagram?” While the archive is not foolproof, it can sometimes be used for the Instagram social media platform.

The search archive isn’t perfect, and sometimes the Instagram login page prevents the Wayback Machine from showing you the recorded historical screenshots. This often depends on the latest Instagram platform updates and whether the archiving software updates give permission.

Using the Wayback Machine for Instagram can help you discover lost posts from years past and reconcile any content that may be hurting your reputation.

Are there Wayback Machine alternatives for Instagram?

Since this program does not always work for Instagram, an alternative archive is available. Archive.ph is a website designed to replicate the Internet Archive and may be a better alternative depending on your web browser. Also, it has a Chrome extension if you need to use historical web archives frequently.

If you can’t use the archive for your favorite Instagram account, you might be able to use the Wayback Machine for Twitter instead.

How to use Wayback Machine for Instagram:

The program relies on users to enter some criteria before results are displayed. To use the Wayback Machine for Instagram, follow these three steps:

Step 1: Find the Instagram profile

You need to provide the URL of the Instagram page you want to see screenshots of. This helps the Wayback Machine narrow your results and show you the best screenshots of that user’s page.

It is best to use Instagram profiles with the blue dot next to their handle – this means that it is a verified account. Verified accounts are used as official accounts by public figures.

Step 2: Choose a date range

Once the program finds the profile you want to archive, the next step is to enter a specific date. This allows you to find archives recorded at a specific point in time.

Step 3: See Results

If the correct date range is selected, you will have access to all historical archives of this Instagram page at that time.

Wayback machine not working for Instagram

Unfortunately, the program doesn’t always work when it comes to Instagram content. The good news is that there are other free archive alternatives that you can use, like Archive.ph.

It’s always a good idea to google yourself and see what kind of content others can find about you when searching for yourself online, especially if you’re looking to make a career change.

You may have found something archived that you believe is not an accurate reflection of yourself – get help from a professional reputation management company. A reputation company can help with personal reputation monitoring and get you or your business on the road to success.

On Instagram, you can change your display name or username at any time and as often as you like. Follow the instructions below to change your Instagram name and/or handle.

Your Instagram display name and your username are two different things. Your display name appears under your profile icon and doesn’t have to be unique. You can even add emojis or special characters to spice it up.

Your Instagram handle or username, on the other hand, appears at the top of your Instagram profile. This is your unique identifier. It must not be longer than 30 characters, special characters are not allowed here. You can only use letters, periods, numbers or underscores.

How to change your Instagram display name

You can change both your name and handle on your Instagram profile.

To change your display name, open Instagram on your iPhone or Android device. Tap your profile icon in the bottom right.

Then tap Edit Profile.

Tap the text box next to Name, then tap the delete (x) icon to remove your current display name.

Now enter your new name. When you’re done, tap Done.

Instagram will take you back to your profile where you will see your new display name.

How to change your Instagram username

It’s just as easy to change your Instagram handle, as long as the username you want isn’t already being used by someone else.

You start the process the same way you would change your display name. Open Instagram, go to your profile, then tap Edit Profile.

Tap the text box next to “Username.”

Now tap on the delete icon (x) to delete your current username.

Enter your new username, then tap Done.

If that username isn’t available, the app will let you know. If it’s not available, try adding a period or underscore, or choose a different username. Tap Done again to submit the new username.

Once your new username has been accepted, return to the Edit Profile section. Tap Done.

You will now see your updated username at the top of your Instagram profile.

If you decide to go back to your old username, you can try resetting it. Instagram saves your previous username for 14 days. After that, however, it is released into the wild. Even then, however, you can still switch back to it as long as no one else has claimed it.

New to Instagram? Learn how to use some of the fun features such as B. Instagram Effects. You might also want to trim or edit boomerangs or set up the Close Friends feature.

RELATED: How to Use Instagram Effects on iPhone and Android

Hey! I think I’ve seen this person on Instagram before.

Could this person have a different account than the account they told me about earlier?

Well, if you’re so curious if that friend of yours has another account (or more) on Instagram, read on below.

How to see if someone has multiple Instagram accounts

There is no one-click method to determine if someone has multiple Instagram accounts. However, you can type the username in Instagram’s search bar and check the accounts that appear. Or you can search Google with a special filter. Another method is to use (paid) search tools like Social Catfish or BeenVerified.

How to see if someone has multiple Instagram accounts – possible or not?

Checking if a person has multiple Instagram accounts is a difficult task if you don’t know where to start looking.

But you don’t have to worry as we’ve already narrowed down your possible search points to 4 – you just have to choose which one you think suits your tastes.

1.Instagram

Since we’re on Instagram, it’s the first place to look for another account that person has.

But before that, let me tell you that checking if a given user has multiple accounts is not a one-click scheme.

You have to quickly put two and two together to conclude that this particular account belongs to the same person.

So, to start with, you should do the following:

Step 1: After a successful login to your Instagram account, locate the search bar and type the Instagram username of the person you are looking for.

If you access Instagram from your desktop, you can find the search bar above the Stories section.

However, if you’re on your mobile phone, before you can access the search bar, you need to tap the search icon on the bottom left of your screen.

Step 2: After clicking on the search option, you will now see a drop-down menu that lists all the accounts that match the said username.

Step 3: Now, among the accounts registered by Instagram, check which of them have similar faces as the “basic” account.

Step 4: If you want to be sure that the account is the user’s second (or third) account, click or press on it so that you will be taken to that account’s profile page.

Step 5: On the profile page, check the following details to see if it’s the same Instagram account or a different one:

Profile picture (again, don’t expect both accounts to have a similar profile picture)

Photo and video gallery

role gallery

Location (but you can only add your location to your Instagram bio if you have a business account)

Account link in the person’s Instagram bio with their other account

And once you are sure that the person has multiple Instagram accounts, you can choose to follow them.

However, if the person’s second Instagram account is private, you can send a friend request or DM them along with sending a friend request.

If you want your tracking tour to remain unknown, just make a note of his username and check his activity on this account from time to time.

2. Search on Google

If manually searching through Instagram’s vast library of accounts isn’t your thing, you can do a quick search on Google instead.

However, like searching Instagram for that specific person, you need to make some adjustments to the search terms you use.

Why is that? This is because Google returns different results depending on the keywords in the search bar.

So if you search for a specific “William Evans”, Google will give you a broad list of all people with that name.

However, if you add William’s middle name “Wonka” to the search term, you’ve narrowed the list even further.

And there’s a good chance you’ll come across William Wonka Evans’ social media accounts in the search results – including his other Instagram account.

However, if you want to see all the possible names that this particular William could use for his IG accounts, you can use a filter instead.

Here’s how you can filter out your search results in Google:

Step 1: Open your Google by typing “google.com” or “google” in the browser address bar.

Step 2: Once on Google, type this filter in the search bar.

1st possible person name OR 2nd possible person name OR 3rd possible person name site:instagram.com

This filter will then show you the search results, which are the account names on Instagram.

You can add the person’s last name or numbers to further narrow the search.

Just make sure the website domain and filter used stay the same.

Step 3: You can now click on each of the search results to see if any of them have a similar profile picture with the basic Instagram account.

And once you’ve done that, compile all the details you can find to see if it’s that person’s other Instagram account or not.

3. Visit other social media search engines

If you’re new to Instagram, this is probably the first time you’d know that it’s from the same company that owns Facebook.

And since these two social media platforms belong to the same company, you can link either your Facebook or Instagram accounts together.

While such a feature helps reduce the problem of remembering multiple usernames and passwords, it allows users to create multiple accounts, especially on Instagram.

With this in mind, you can try to search in Facebook that particular person’s other account (if they have one) with their Instagram username – and vice versa.

But of course you need to use one of the following user details to search the social media search bar:

Mobile number (if it is the detail used for searching, especially on Facebook)

The user’s full name

email address used

Home address (if provided in profile or bio)

VIN or license plan number (again if you can search with that detail)

Just make sure the details you enter into the search bar are correct – otherwise, you’ll be searching someone else’s account instead.

And the good news is that you can use the same details when you search on other social media platforms — Twitter and Tiktok included.

Chances are, if you search for their profile on these social media platforms, you will find that person’s other account.

4. Use of third-party search tools

If you find manually searching for the person’s other Instagram accounts on other social media platforms too cumbersome, you can always use a third-party search tool.

There are various search tools on the web, but there are 3 that stand out the most: Social Catfish, BeenVerified, and Spokeo.

social catfish

Like Google search, Social Catfish not only bases its search results on people’s names, but also includes images.

Therefore, in a single search on Social Catfish, the tool uses the details you encode to scan other social media sites, including any images they are tagged in.

Step 1: Go to the Social Catfish website.

Step 2: In the search bar, enter the details you currently have of the person you are looking for. This detail can be one of the following:

phone number

address

username

Full name

picture

Email-address

After entering the mentioned detail, select the Search button. Then wait for Social Catfish to generate the report for you.

Step 3: Once Social Catfish is done collecting data, select the View Report button to check the results.

been verified

Unlike Social Catfish, BeenVerified is a paid search tool that does the same job.

But while both search tools use similar details to search for the other IG accounts, BeenVerified has a slightly different way of narrowing down the results.

Step 1: Go to the BeenVerified website.

Step 2: Depending on the details you currently know about the person you are looking for, click on a search engine that you wish to use.

BeenVerified has a total of 6 search engines: people search, phone search, vehicle search, e-mail search, address search and B2B.

Step 3: Code the detail in the provided search bar before selecting the green “Search” button on the right side.

Step 4: After waiting a few seconds, BeenVerified then creates a full report.

However, since it is a paid search tool, you have to pay a dollar for the 7-day trial period they offer.

speaker

If you don’t think of paying for a search report, you can opt for another free search tool – Spokeo.

And just like the first two, you can use various details about this person to look up his other accounts on Instagram (if he certainly has one).

To do this, you should do the following:

Step 1: Open your browser and go to Spokeo official website.

Step 2: Similar to how BeenVerified works, choose a search engine depending on the details you have about the person.

There are 4 choices available: address, phone, email and name.

Step 3: After choosing a search engine, enter the details in the search bar and select the Search Now button.

Spokeo then creates a report based on the details you used to lookup other social media accounts.

Now that you know these 4 ways to uncover a specific user’s multiple Instagram accounts, which of them will you use?

Frequently asked questions on how to see if someone has multiple Instagram accounts

Can you open different Instagram accounts with the same email address?

Although you can definitely open 2 or more Instagram accounts, you cannot do it using the same email address. You need to create a new account to open a new Instagram account.

Is it possible to open another Instagram account with just one mobile number?

Just like the one email one Instagram account rule, you can only use a phone number once to create an IG account. You cannot use the same number to create more than one IG account.

Can you link your 2 or more Instagram accounts together?

If you have 2 or more Instagram accounts, you cannot link them together. Nobody will find out that these Instagram accounts belong to the same user unless you tell your followers and potential followers about it.

Can I merge my multiple Instagram accounts into one account instead?

Currently Instagram does not allow merging 2 or more Instagram accounts. However, if you want to move your multiple Instagram accounts into one master account, disable the other accounts by making them private and don’t accept new follow requests.

The social media platform Instagram has come a long way since its launch in 2010 and Facebook’s acquisition in 2012, and some people have been active on the app since its inception. You may have been using it for so long now that you can’t remember when you created your account.

Some people can remember the year and maybe even the month, but many would draw a blank if they had to remember exactly when they entered the world of Instagram. If you’ve been using Instagram every day for years, it might be difficult to recall a time when your daily life was without Instagram.

So by remembering the exact date you created your Instagram account, you might get better insight into how long you’ve had your account, when certain events took place, and how your account has grown. You can check the date you started using an Instagram account on your smartphone or web browser.

How to view when your Instagram account was created using the mobile app

Most people use Instagram on their smartphones because it is more convenient. Also, it has more features than the desktop version of the platform. However, the app no ​​longer contains the creation date. You must use a browser on Android or iPhone to view your “Date Joined” information. Regardless, the app shows the creation date for other profiles, which will be explained later.

How to show when your Instagram account was created using a PC

If you are used to checking Instagram on your laptop or desktop computer, you can use it to check the date you joined. All you have to do is:

Go to the Instagram web using any browser and log in to your account.

Click on your profile picture and select Profile from the drop-down menu.

Now click on the gear icon and select Privacy & Security in a pop-up window.

Scroll down and under the Data Download section and click Request Download.

Make sure the correct email address is listed in the text bar and select the file format you would like your information delivered in (we use HTML). Then click Next.

Enter your password and click Request Download.

You will receive an email with a link to download your file. Click the button labeled Download Information.

You will be asked to enter your password, do it. Then you should see a link offering to download the file. Click on it and a .zip file will download. Open the ZIP file and then open the new folder that appears (It should have the same name as the ZIP file). Scroll down where you will see another folder labeled login_and_account_creation. Open it

Look for a file called Signup_information.html. When you open it, you should see information about when your account was created, including the date it was created.

The file gives you more than just join date information. You can review all privacy change and password change data.

Users can also go through all the phone numbers and emails associated with their accounts. If you scroll a little further, you will also find the Profile Information section.

There you can view all previous usernames and full names you have used in your account, as well as previous bio text and links in bio.

How to see the age of an Instagram account started by someone else?

There are a few reasons why someone would be curious when another user created their account.

Maybe you’ve been following a celebrity for a long time and want to see when they opened their account. Maybe you want to check the authenticity?

People create fake accounts on Instagram all the time, mainly to leave anonymous comments that are often offensive. If you’re noticing strange activity from an account, one of the first steps is to check the date it joined and see if it’s very recent.

There are two ways you can use to check the age of someone else’s Instagram account.

Check the Instagram About This Account section to find the creation date

In 2018, Instagram took two important steps towards verifying and authenticating accounts with large numbers of followers.

Once an Instagram account exceeds a certain threshold in the number of followers (the number is not specified), it gets an “About this account” section, which contains all relevant information about the account, including its age.

This section ensures that even though an account has a lot of followers, its audience can check whether they have acquired them recently or not. To find out the age of someone’s Instagram account, you need to use the mobile app. Instagram website does not offer “About this account” option, as confirmed on February 15, 2022, on Android 11 and Windows 10.

Open the Instagram app on Android or iPhone. Navigate to the account you want to review, then tap the horizontal ellipsis (three dots) in the top-right corner.

A menu will appear at the bottom of the screen. Tap on the “About this account” option.

Under Account Information, you will see Join Date.

Based on the date the account was created, you can judge the authenticity of the account. The concept is “kinda” similar to searching for posts on a questionable Facebook profile. If it’s relatively new, it may not be genuine. The section also indicates which country the account is in, lists former usernames, and shows the followers you share with them.

Check the posts to estimate Instagram joined date

By default, Instagram does not make the “About this account” section available to all profiles. Even profiles with significant following counts may not have it. Older accounts with fewer followers might not have it either. However, all verified accounts will have it. But what should you do if the section is missing from the account you want to verify?

There isn’t much you can do. The best way is to go to a specific Instagram account and scroll down to the first post. If it resembles a reasonably new profile, there isn’t much to scroll through, which may mean the account is a copy or fake. In any case, the date of the first post could be around the time the person or company joined the platform, provided they haven’t deleted older posts or accessed them months later to use them. This method won’t be very accurate, but it can at least give you an idea of ​​how long they’ve had their account.

You may be surprised when you think how long it has been since the day you created your Instagram account, or you may have opened a few accounts and can’t remember which was the first or the second.

When it comes to other users’ accounts, knowing how long they’ve been on Instagram has several benefits. There are many fake celebrity accounts out there. So if you’re looking for the “About this account” section, it can help determine authenticity. If an Instagram profile doesn’t have this section, the best way to find out the age of the account is to search for the first post they have, although this is never a guarantee it was the first or when they were opened the account.

I want to provide an update on three key steps we’re taking to keep Instagram — and our community of one billion people — safe. First, we’re announcing a new feature that will allow you to rate the authenticity of accounts with large numbers of followers on Instagram. We are also introducing a global verification form for notable public figures; and finally, we’re announcing an improved form of two-factor authentication that makes it easier and more secure for you to securely log into Instagram.

Our mission is to bring you closer to the people and things you love. This closeness can only arise if Instagram is a safe place. As Instagram’s CTO, it’s incredibly important to me to keep people with bad intentions off our platform. That means making sure the people you follow and the accounts you interact with are who they say they are, and stopping bad actors before they do any harm.

“About this account”

In the coming weeks you will be able to see more information about accounts on Instagram that are reaching large audiences so that you can assess the authenticity of the account. To learn more about an account, go to its profile, tap the menu… then select “About this account”. There you will see the date the account joined Instagram, the country the account is in, accounts with common followers, any username changes in the last year, and any ads the account is currently running.

Our community has told us that it’s important for them to have a deeper understanding of accounts that reach a lot of people on Instagram, especially if those accounts share information about current events, political issues, or social issues, for example. If you see an account on Instagram that you think violates our Community Guidelines, you can report it.

In September, people with accounts that reach large audiences will be able to see information about their accounts, which will soon be publicly available. After that, the About This Account tool will be available to the global community.

Increasing access to verification

In addition to the About This Account feature, the blue verified badge is an important way to know that the account you are interacting with is the authentic presence of a notable public figure, celebrity, global brand or business . Today, we’re enabling accounts that reach large audiences and meet our criteria, a new way to request verification through a form in the Instagram app.

To be verified, an account must comply with Instagram’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. We will review verification requests to certify the authenticity, uniqueness, completeness, and notoriety of each account. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Instagram’s verification criteria.

To access the verification request form, go to your profile, tap the menu icon, select “Settings” at the bottom, then “Request verification”. You must provide your account username, full name, and a copy of your government or business ID. This information will not be shared publicly.

Submitting a verification request does not guarantee that your account will be verified. Once your request has been reviewed, you will receive a notification on the Notifications tab confirming or denying your request. Instagram will never require payment for verification or ask you to confirm your verification.

Support for third-party authentication apps

Finally, you will soon be able to use third-party authentication apps to log into your Instagram account. This form of two-factor authentication makes it easier and more secure for you to securely log into Instagram.

To log into your Instagram account using a third-party app, go to your profile, tap the menu icon, select “Settings” at the bottom, then select “Two-Factor Authentication”. Select “Authenticator App” as your preferred form of authentication. If you already have an authenticator app installed, we will automatically find the app and send you a login code. Go to the app, get the code and enter it on Instagram and two-factor authentication will be activated automatically. If you don’t already have one installed, we will direct you to the App Store or Google Play Store to download the authenticator app of your choice. Once installed, return to Instagram to continue setting up your two-factor authentication.

Support for third party authentication apps has started and will be available to the global community in the coming weeks.

I founded Instagram with Kevin almost eight years ago and we care deeply about this community and the people who are part of it. We’ve focused on the security of our platform from the start, and today’s updates build on our existing tools, such as: B. Our spam and abusive content filters and the ability to report or suspend accounts. We know we still need to do more to keep bad actors off Instagram, and we’re committed to continuing to build more tools to do just that.

Mike Krieger, Co-Founder and CTO