What’s the number of likes you received on your latest post?

If you’re like most businesses on Instagram, you might find yourself checking the number of likes more often than you'd like to admit.

But here's the thing: getting caught up in likes can distract you from what really matters—creating valuable content and building a genuine connection with your audience.

Instead, focusing on quality over quantity can make all the difference. Instagram’s feature to hide likes can help you do just that.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to hide likes on your posts and others, and explain why it might be the game-changer your business needs to focus on real engagement rather than vanity numbers. Let’s dive in!

What is hiding likes on Instagram?

In 2021, Instagram began rolling out the feature to hide likes, giving users more control over how they engage with the platform. This feature allows you to manage the visibility of like counts on your posts and the posts you view.

It helps reduce the pressure of public metrics and lets you focus on what really matters—creating quality content and authentic engagement.

When you choose to hide likes, the number of likes on your posts will no longer be visible to others. Instead, your post will display "Liked by [username] and others," keeping the exact count private.

Similarly, when you hide likes on posts you’re viewing, you'll see a generic message instead of the specific number of likes.

How to Hide Likes on Instagram

You can hide likes both on your own Instagram posts as well as on posts from accounts you follow.

How to Hide Likes on Your Instagram Posts Before Publishing

Step 1: Start creating your Instagram post. When you get to the section to write your caption, tag products, or add a location, tap More Options.

More Options will reveal advanced settings for your post.

Step 2: In Advanced Settings, toggle the option “Hide Like Counts on This Post” to ensure the like count is hidden.

Step 3: In Advanced Settings, you can also make other changes before you publish, such as adding alt text for accessibility or turning off commenting.

And done! Now, just publish your post, and it’ll go live with the like count hidden.

How to Hide Likes on Others’ Instagram Posts

If you want to hide likes on posts from other accounts in your feed, you can easily adjust this setting in your Instagram settings. This helps prevent unnecessary comparisons with personal or competitor accounts and encourages you to focus on more than just like counts.

Follow these steps to hide likes on others’ posts:

Step 1: Go to your profile, tap the three-line menu in the top right, and then open Settings.

Step 2: In the Settings menu, choose the ‘Like and share counts’.

Step 3: Toggle the Hide Like and View Counts option.

And it’s done! Now, you won’t see counts on posts from others in your feed.

How to Hide Likes on Your Instagram Posts After Publishing

If you’ve already published a post and forgot to hide the like count, don’t worry! You can easily update this setting after the post is live.

Step 1: Go to the post you want to update and tap the three dots menu icon for more settings.

Step 2: Tap Hide Like Count to ensure no one can see how many likes your post has received.

Step 3: This menu also gives you additional options, like turning off comments, pinning the post to the top of your profile, and more.

How to See Your Likes on Instagram Even If They’re Hidden

Your likes are hidden from everyone now, but don’t worry—you can still access them privately to monitor your account’s performance. While the public can no longer see your likes, you can track them behind the scenes as part of your social media metrics to measure growth and engagement.

If you have an Instagram Business Account, you can easily track your likes through Instagram Insights. Just go to your profile and tap the Insights button.

Instagram Insights gives you access to detailed data about your posts, including likes, comments, impressions, and reach. This allows you to measure your performance without the pressure of showing likes publicly, helping you focus on real engagement rather than vanity metrics.

Will Hiding Your Likes on Instagram Affect Post Performance?

So, should you hide your likes or leave them visible? Does it even make a difference?

Here’s the deal: hiding likes won’t impact the performance of your posts on Instagram. The app still tracks likes as part of its algorithm, and it’s using them to help decide what shows up in people’s feeds—whether or not you can see the count.

While hiding likes won’t change the way the algorithm works, it can give you a bit of freedom from those pesky vanity metrics. You won’t be constantly checking to see if a post is performing well based on the number of likes. Instead, you can focus on creating content that resonates with your audience, sparking new content ideas that prioritize engagement over superficial numbers.

Leverage Hiding Likes and Focus on What Matters

Hiding likes on Instagram is more than just a feature—it's a tool to help you shift your focus from vanity metrics to real engagement. Now that you know all the ways you can keep the like counts out of your strategy, start implementing them and see how they impact your content and community.

And if you’re looking to optimize your overall social media strategy across all platforms, check out our Social Media Marketing Strategy guide. Let us help you take your social media presence to new heights.

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