Sometimes DM slides aren't always welcome, especially if the message contains harmful content or unkind words. Thankfully, though, there are some privacy hacks on Instagram that can keep trolls away from your DMs forever, so you can spend less time sorting out negative Nancy and more time connecting with you Flirting with the person you like. For a more user-friendly experience, here's what you need to know about how to filter Instagram messages.
IYDK, Instagram is packed with safety features to ensure users can be their most authentic selves on the platform. For example, hidden words and advanced comment filtering tools allow users to set boundaries with others by creating custom lists of words, phrases, numbers and even emojis they want excluded from the comments section. Meanwhile, the Hide Message Requests option helps avoid thieves by filtering unwanted private messages out of your main inbox and into a hidden message requests folder. But while all these features are available to users, that doesn't always stop haters from spreading negativity. When this happens, it's time to kick things up a notch and set some limits on your messages.
If you're prone to being abused in private messages, the first thing you should do is use the same hidden words tool you use for comments to filter out any offensive words, names, or phrases from your messages. To do this, navigate to your profile and click on the three-line icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Next, scroll down to the "How others interact with you" section and click "Hide words." Here, not only can you choose to hide certain comments in your posts or choose advanced comment filtering, but you can also turn on the "Hide Message Requests" option to move offensive messages to a hidden requests folder in DMs, like this: Excellent land.
To further protect your privacy, you can add any words, terms, or emojis you don't want to see by clicking the "Manage custom words and phrases" option on the same page. To add a word, enter it in the text box and click the blue Add button when you're done. You can also add multiple words at once, separating each word with a comma. Once you've done this, you can also turn on the Hide Comments and Hide Message Requests options to filter your custom words out of replies and private messages.
If you want to keep trolls out of your inbox entirely, there's one last thing you can do. Navigate to the three-line icon on your profile and click "Settings & Privacy." Next, scroll down again to "How others interact with you" and tap "Reply to Messages and Stories." Then, select "Message Controls" and then "Your Followers on Instagram." From here, you can decide if you want new message requests to go into the Message Requests folder. But keep in mind that if you choose "Do not receive requests" you will not receive any requests even if an account follows you.
Not all DMs are friendly, but once you filter out the negativity thoroughly, your messages will definitely become a safe space to flirt with your many situations and send memes to your friends again.
