If you want to know, “Does Instagram notify when you screenshot a story?” You’re not alone. Social media users often worry about privacy, the risk of being caught by a flash camera, and whether their sneaky screenshots will be exposed. In this blog, we will break down exactly how Instagram handles screenshot policy in 2025. What is now visible or hidden and when someone might actually get notified.
Can Someone See If You Screenshot Their Instagram Story
As of 2025, Instagram does not notify the story creator when you take a screenshot of their story. That means if you screenshot a public, private, or Close Friends story, the person who posted it won’t get any alert or notification. In simple terms, screenshotting someone’s story is undetectable for now.
A short history of Instagram Screenshots Alerts
Instagram once tested screenshot alerts for Stories back in early 2018, then scrapped them.
- Back in early 2018, Instagram briefly shook things up by testing a screenshot alert feature. Whenever someone snapped a screenshot of your story, a tiny camera-shutter icon would appear beside their name in your viewer list. It was Instagram’s way of letting creators know exactly who was saving their content.
- The experiment didn’t last long. By mid-2018, Instagram removed the feature, and since then, screenshot alerts have not returned to the app.
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Other Content Types (Posts, Reels, Profile, DMs)
Instagram treats different content types differently. Here’s a quick breakdown:
| Content type | Does the screenshot notify the other user or not? |
| Stories (public or close friends) | ❌ No notification |
| Regular DMs (text, normal photos/videos) | ❌ No notification |
| Posts, Reels, Profile pictures | ❌ No notification |
| Disappearing photos/videos in DMs or via Vanish Mode | ✅ Yes, screenshot or screen-record triggers an alert to the sender |
Instagram only notifies someone if you screenshot a disappearing photo or video sent in a private DM or in Vanish Mode.
Final Remarks
At present, Instagram does not show any notification when you screenshot someone’s story, whether it’s public, private, or shared with Close Friends. That screenshot alert experiment from 2018 ended. In 2025, there is no official way to know if you screenshot their Instagram story. The only exception is for disappearing photos/videos in DMs or “Vanish Mode” messages.
