How to Turn Off Instagram Story Notifications

Since it was founded in 2010, Instagram has become the go-to platform for people who want to share their lives with friends, family, and the general public. One feature that strikes a chord among users is Instagram Stories.

If you want to turn off Story notifications completely, there is no way possible. However, you CAN turn off “First” Story notifications in the Settings menu of your profile. You can also turn on/off Story notifications under each profile you follow, one by one. The good news is that Instagram turns off Posts, Stories, Videos, and Reels for every person you follow by default. You’ll find it in their profiles when you tap the “bell” icon at the top.

To ensure you don’t miss out on the best Stories from the people you follow, Instagram automatically sends you a notification every time someone updates their Stories. But those same notifications can distract you and keep you glued to your device even when you should be focusing on other tasks.

Can You Turn Off JUST Instagram Story Notifications?

Story notifications are great when you want to always be in the loop. However, they can also be annoying when trying to avoid social media, perhaps to concentrate on another task.

In addition, Story notifications are more frequent than other types because most people use stories to keep their followers hooked on their profiles. As such, Story notifications can be more disruptive than less frequent alerts.

Let’s see how each of these options works.

How to Turn Off All First Instagram Story Notifications on Android, iOS/iPhone/iPad

As mentioned, you cannot turn off all Story notifications in bulk, but you can turn off First Story notifications for everyone. “First” Stories include when someone you follow posts a Story for the first time or hasn’t for a while and is posting one again. It DOES NOT involve all Story posts from that profile, as many YouTube videos and websites claim where they show you how to turn off all Story notifications.

To turn off First Posts and Stories notifications on Instagram using Android or IOS, do the following:

1. Open the Instagram app.
   
2. Tap on your avatar in the bottom right corner of your screen.
   
3. Tap the hamburger icon (the three horizontal lines) in the upper right corner. This should open the management section of your account.
   
4. Select “Settings” from the resulting dropdown menu.
   
5. Tap on “Notifications.”
   
6. Select “Posts, Stories, and Comments” from the “Notifications” submenu.
   
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and toggle the “Off” button under “First Posts and Stories.”
   

And with that, you won’t have to deal with pesky First Story notifications on your device.

How to Turn Off All First Instagram Story Notifications using a Browser

You can also turn off all Instagram Story notifications on your PC or laptop using a web browser, including Edge, Safari, or Chrome. Here’s how to go about it:

1. Sign in to your Instagram account.
   
2. Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner of your screen.
   
3. Click on the “gear” icon to the right of the “Edit Profile” button at the top.
4. Select “Settings and privacy” in the popup menu.
   
5. Click on “Push Notifications” in the left navigational menu. This should open a new page where you can manage all notifications, including likes, comments, new follow requests, and First Stories.
   
6. Scroll to the “First posts and stories” section and select “Off.”
   

Using the above steps, you won’t get notifications when someone on your “Following” list posts a Story for the first time or in a while.

How to Turn Off Instagram Story Notifications for a Specific User

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, you cannot turn off all Story notifications in bulk, but you CAN turn them off on a profile-by-profile basis. If you get repeatedly notified of new Stories from someone you follow, you probably have the option turned on for that particular profile. Instagram has Posts, Stories, Videos, and Reels for each profile turned off by default, but you may have made some changes at some point that turned Posts on for certain followed accounts.

To Turn Off Instagram Story Notifications for a Profile, do the following:

1. Open the user’s profile by tapping their name or icon at the top of a post.
2. Tap the “bell” icon (Notifications Settings) in the top right corner.
   
3. Toggle off the button next to “Stories” so that it is grey.
   

Instagram stories are great, but they can also be annoying. On the one hand, you don’t want to miss out on notifications from your friends and family. On the other hand, you want to steer clear of highly active profiles that update their Stories many times a day. You may also want to avoid spending too much time on Instagram.

If you’ve found yourself in any of the above situations, the best thing is to turn off alerts from the specific people inundating you with IG Stories. You cannot disable all Story notifications at once, but you can turn off “First” Story notifications for all and individual profile Story notifications on a one-by-one basis.