How to Turn Off DMs on Instagram: 8 Effective Ways in 2024

Have you ever been overwhelmed by the amount of new information you receive with every Instagram DM? Have you ever been too preoccupied with your job or studies or simply wished for some privacy? Let’s learn how to turn off DMs on Instagram, then!

How to Turn Off DMs on Instagram

We’ve all been there. The days in which we crave a little bit of quality time with ourselves, yet get pulled out of the world of our thoughts with the ding ding of every DM notification we receive. Managing Instagram DM notifications can be challenging to follow when you need privacy. At that moment, we feel the need to turn off DMs on Instagram.

As the most popular social networking app, Instagram provides many features for its users. Yet, there is no official way to turn off direct messages altogether. Nonetheless, there are some tricks and indirect ways you can use that work. Here’s how to turn off messages on Instagram both on Android/IOS and desktop:

#1 Restrict Account

You wanna know how to turn off Instagram DMs? Well Restricting the account is one way to do so. Of course, this only works if you intend to stop receiving DMs from certain people. When you restrict an account, their messages will automatically go to your ‘Message requests.’

What’s even more interesting is that they won’t have the slightest clue that you have restricted them! 

Let’s see how you can restrict an Instagram account on your cellphone. There are two ways you can restrict a user on Instagram. To do so, follow the steps below: 

1. Open your DMs and select the chat with the person you wish to restrict. 
2. Tap the “i” icon in the upper right corner of the screen (or simply tap on the user’s name if you don’t see the icon). 
3. Finally, tap on ‘Restrict’

The second method: 

1. Go to the user’s profile, 
2. Tap on the ‘Following’ option,
3. Select ‘Restrict,’

How to Turn The DMs Off on Instagram on The Desktop by Restricting Them?

1. Go to their profile and click on the three dots.
2. Select ‘Restrict,’
3. Click on ‘Restrict Account’ to confirm your request.

#2 Block Users  

Another option you can consider when pondering how to turn DMs off on Instagram is to block your chat buddy. This will prevent the person you block from finding your profile and seeing your posts or stories. Users that have been blocked won’t be able to send DMs to the blocker either. 

A word of advice: try not to block your close friends or the people you will have a conversation with later on if this is only a temporary withdrawal since they might realize it.

Here’s how to block DMs on Instagram (and the user, of course) on your phone:

1. Open the user’s profile 
2. Tap on the three dots in the upper-right corner 
3. Select Block  
4. Here, you’ll have two options: either simply block them or block that account and all the new accounts they may create

When it comes to blocking someone on your desktop, follow the steps below:

1. First, open your direct messages and select the chat 
2. Then, tap on the “i’ icon in the right corner on the top
3. Next, tap on ‘Block’
4. Finally, confirm by clicking on ‘Block’

Suggested Post: How To Know If Someone Blocked You on Instagram?

#3 Block Notification 

So what if you don’t want to close all the doors? What if you just want a break from Instagram DMs and then come back to where you left off? Turning off your Instagram notifications is the answer!

To turn off your notifications on Instagram:

1. Go to your profile 
2. Tap on the three lines in the upper-right corner
3. Tap on ‘Your activity’ and select ‘Time spent’ 
4. Then, tap on ‘Notification Settings’ 
5. Tap ‘Messages and Calls’ 
6. Finally, you can choose what type of message you wish not to receive notifications for

Here’s how to turn off DMs on Instagram by blocking the notifications on your desktop:

1. Open your profile,
2. Then Navigate to ‘Settings.’ 
3. Click on ‘Push Notifications,’
4. Select ‘Instagram Direct Requests’ and turn it off.

#4 Change Your Account to Private 

If you wish to stop receiving messages from strangers, consider changing your profile to private. This way, users will need your approval to be able to send you a DM. 

If you want to know how to turn off DMs on Instagram by changing your account to private:

1. First, go to your profile and tap on the three lines 
2. Then, tap on ‘Settings.’ 
3. Next, select ‘Privacy.’
4. Finally, switch to ‘Private Account.’

To switch your account to private on your desktop, first go to Instagram’s website and log in. Then, follow the above-mentioned steps. 

#5 Disable Story Replies 

Sometimes, you have to announce something in your stories, but you don’t like dealing with many new story replies. Don’t worry, though! You can easily disable your story replies in an instant.

Here’s how to turn off your DMs on Instagram by disabling your story replies:

1. Start it off by going to your profile
2. Tap on the three lines first, and then go to the ‘Settings’
3. Select ‘Privacy’
4. Tap on ‘Story’
5. And finally, tap on ‘off’ in the ‘Allow Replies and Reactions’ 

#6 Turn off DMs from Unknown Instagram Users

If someone who is not a following of yours attempts to send you a DM, you won’t see the message in your inbox. It will automatically land in the ‘Message Requests’ section, and you’ll be notified instantly, of course. 

At this point, you have two choices: either accept the message or decline it. If you accept the DM, it will move to your DM inbox. Yet if you decline it, it will be gone for good. And that’s how to disable DMs on Instagram’s DM requests.

Interestingly enough, you may delete all the requests waiting in your ‘Message Requests’ at once if you don’t wish to have a lot of unanswered messages there. 

#7 How to Block Someone From Messaging You on Instagram

In the previous part, we explained how you can decline messages in your request box. In this part, we’re going to teach you how to turn off DMs on Instagram altogether. 

Here’s how you can stop receiving those requests:

1. First, go to your profile and tap on the three lines at the top of your screen
2. Then, tap on ‘Settings.’ 
3. Next, tap on ‘Privacy’ and select ‘Messages.’
4. Here, you have two options: ‘Your followers on Instagram’ and ‘Others on Instagram’. If you click on any of them, you’ll see two options: choose ‘Don’t receive requests’ to stop receiving messages instantly.

Pro tip: This could also function like an Insta DMs enabler, as you can follow the same steps to switch it back on. 

#8 Mute Contact 

Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t want to encounter a certain person, but they kept DMing you on Instagram? You don’t want to turn off your DMs because you’re having fun conversations with your other friends. But you don’t want to deal with that person (it could be your ex, for instance). 

In this case, you can easily mute that user. This way, the notifications of that annoying person will not disturb your fun!

So how to turn off DMs on Instagram by muting them? To mute someone on Instagram, navigate to your DMs. Then tap and hold the chat with that person and tap on ‘Mute messages’ and ‘Mute call notifications.’ You may also open their chat, navigate to the settings, and select ‘Mute messages’. 

Final Words on How to Turn Off DMs on Instagram 

In a world of information and communication driven by social media, we sometimes lack our private moments with ourselves—the quality times that help us contemplate our lives and life decisions. In this article, we attempted to teach you how to turn off DMs on Instagram and presented the 8 most effective ways to do so.

FAQs on How to Turn Off DMs on Instagram

Now that we have covered all the aspects and ways to disable DMs on Instagram let’s delve into some of your most frequently asked questions!