How to stop checking your ex's Instagram: mute them in the app, lock them here for 7 days.
To stop checking your ex's Instagram, mute their stories and posts in the app (Instagram does not tell them), restrict or block them if you also want less contact, and close the way around the mute: Detox Lock hides that handle's stories, highlights and reposts from you on StoriesFly for 7 days, free with a StoriesFly account. A mute leaves their profile one search away, and an anonymous viewer like this one is the easy place to keep looking. If you are signed out, pressing lock asks you to sign in; the urge timer, quiz and 7-day challenge below need no account.
Lock their profile
Free for 7 days with a StoriesFly account. Their stories, highlights and reposts stop showing for you on StoriesFly.
Their username: @handle, handle, or an instagram.com profile or story link@handleinstagram.com/handleinstagram.com/stories/handle
7 days per lock, freefree StoriesFly account neededhides them on StoriesFly only
Past day 7Locking the same handle again is free and never shortens a running lock: the end moves to 7 days from that moment only if that is later, and the day count keeps going. Once a lock has ended, locking again starts a new 7 days from day 0. The extensions in our Telegram bot, 30 days for 149 Stars or 90 days for 299 Stars, are added to the lock's end date and leave the count running.
Give it five minutes before you open anything
Press the button and a 5:00 countdown starts in this tab. A circle paces your breathing, 4 seconds in and 6 seconds out, and the line of text under it changes once a minute. At zero it offers the lock; closing the tab is just as good an ending.
It needs no account and saves nothing. Starting it sends one analytics event, and nothing about the person you were about to look up.
Why stopping can be worth it: in a 2012 study of 464 people (Marshall, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking), keeping an eye on an ex's Facebook page went together with more distress over the breakup, more longing for the ex and less personal growth. It studied Facebook, not Instagram, and it shows a link, not proof that checking causes the distress.
The 5-minute urge timer
Thumb already hovering? Start the timer and wait five minutes before you decide.
Mute, restrict, block: what each one does
Menu names as Instagram's Help Center gives them for the iPhone and Android apps; they can move between app versions.
- 01Mute their storyTap and hold their profile photo in the row of stories at the top of your feed, tap Mute, then Mute stories. Their story drops out of that row, and you still follow them.
- 02Mute their posts as wellOn their profile, tap Following, then Mute, and switch on Posts and Stories. Instagram does not notify people you mute.
- 03Restrict themFrom the menu on their profile, tap Restrict. Their new comments on your posts are visible only to them, their messages move to message requests, and they cannot see when you are online or have read a message.
- 04Block themFrom the menu on their profile, tap Block. They are not notified, cannot tag or mention you, and Instagram lets you block other accounts they have or create later.
- 05Then lock the handle hereMute and restrict change your feed and their access to you; neither stops you from searching their name or opening them in an anonymous viewer. If StoriesFly is where you look, enter the handle at the top of this page.
From Instagram's Help Center: muting a story, muting someone, restricting, blocking, and whether people can tell you viewed their story.
Three routes to the same story, and the one the lock closes
The lock changes what StoriesFly shows your account and nothing else. Instagram, other viewers and a signed-out browser still show everything, so pair it with a mute in the app.
Instagram shows the author who watched. A mute takes them out of your feed; their profile stays one search away.
Your Instagram account is not used, so your name is not added to their viewer list. That is what makes it easy to keep checking.
While you are signed in, their page shows a day count where the stories would be, and hides the highlights, reposts and the notify and track buttons.
Seven free days, and what a longer lock costs
The lock is saved to your StoriesFly account on our server, so it applies on any device where you are signed in to that account. There is no limit on how many handles you lock, and no paid plan is needed.
The lock lapses without a message when its end date passes, and the stories show again on your next visit. Before that, locking the handle again is free and keeps the count; it moves the end to 7 days from then if that is later. For longer, extend it in the bot through the Extend link on their locked page; that keeps the count and needs your StoriesFly account linked to Telegram. The bot lists only active locks, at most three, and the Google Play version of the app does not show the link. After a lock has lapsed, locking the handle again starts a new free 7 days and a new count.
You can end a lock early from their page on StoriesFly: tap Unlock early and confirm, and it ends at once.
- Length of every free lock, from the moment you press lock
- 7 d
- Day count shown for the first 24 hours
- 0
- Add 30 days in our Telegram bot, in Telegram Stars (XTR)
- 149 XTR
- Add 90 days, the same way
- 299 XTR
- Locks the bot offers to extend at once
- 3
- Characters the username field accepts
- 1-30
A viewer that can stop showing you one handle
An anonymous story viewer makes it easy to keep checking someone, so this one can be set to stop showing you a handle's stories, highlights and reposts.
Detox Lock, for your StoriesFly account, for as long as the lock runs.
Eight questions about how often you look
Written by our team to help you see the pattern. It is not a clinical test, and the three score bands are not a diagnosis.
No sign-up, and your answers stay in the page. When you finish, the total score, a number from 0 to 24, is sent to our analytics.
How often do you open their profile?
A no-peek challenge that needs no account
It runs on trust and lives in this browser's storage: another device, a private window or cleared site data starts from nothing.
The 7-day no-peek challenge
Runs right here in your browser. Check in daily, don't check them.
What Detox Lock cannot hide
Some of these hold for any lock on a single website; the rest are how ours is built.
- 01Instagram itselfThe lock changes only what StoriesFly shows your account. Their profile in the Instagram app and on instagram.com is untouched, and nothing is sent to Instagram or to them.
- 02Signed out, or another accountThe lock belongs to your StoriesFly account. A signed-out browser, a different StoriesFly account or an API key sees their stories as usual.
- 03The page before the checkTheir page on StoriesFly is built with the stories in it for every visitor. Your browser hides them once it has checked your locks, and shows placeholders until then.
- 04Tracker follower alertsIf the tracker watches that account's followers and following, those alerts still arrive while the lock runs. Only story alerts are silenced: the ones you set and the ones from your search history in the Telegram Mini App. Story alerts can come again once the lock ends.
- 05A new usernameThe lock is tied to the handle as typed, and the handle is not checked against Instagram. If they rename the account, the new name is not locked; a typo locks a name that may not exist.
- 06A way out, one tap awayUnlock early is a button on their locked page, behind one confirmation. The only thing it costs is the day count.
- 07Their profile cardThe lock hides stories, highlights, reposts and the archive. Their profile photo, name, bio and follower counts still show on their StoriesFly page.
Questions about checking and the lock
Will my ex know I looked at their story?
Yes, if you watch it in Instagram while signed in: Instagram shows the author who viewed their story, and muting does not change that. StoriesFly's viewer opens the story through one of our own Instagram sessions, so the list shows that session and not your name, which is why the lock exists here.
Does muting someone on Instagram notify them?
No. Instagram does not notify people you mute. Muting is not unfollowing either: you keep following them, and their profile is still one search away.
Is Detox Lock free?
Yes, for 7 days per lock, with a free StoriesFly account on any plan. Locking the same handle again is free too: while the lock runs, it keeps the day count and never moves the end earlier, and after the lock has ended, it starts a new 7 days. Adding 30 or 90 days costs 149 or 299 Telegram Stars in our bot and keeps the count.
Why does the lock need an account?
Because the lock is saved to your StoriesFly account, not to this page. You sign in with an email code, Google or Telegram, and the lock then applies on every device where you are signed in; a signed-out browser still shows everything.
Does the lock block them on Instagram or tell them?
No. Nothing is sent to Instagram or to them. The lock changes what StoriesFly shows your account; inside Instagram, use mute, restrict or block.
Can I end a lock early?
Yes. Open their page on StoriesFly while signed in, tap Unlock early and confirm. The lock ends at once, and so does the day count.
Does checking an ex's profile make a breakup harder?
There is a link, not proof. A 2012 study of 464 people found that monitoring an ex's Facebook page went together with more distress over the breakup, more longing for the ex and less personal growth (Marshall, doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0125). It studied Facebook, not Instagram, and cannot show that checking causes the distress.
Type the handle you keep going back to. The 7 days start when you press lock.
Free with a StoriesFly account. You can end it early at any time.