How do you lock Instagram on Android?

Three different things people call locking Instagram

A lock on the app asks for a PIN, pattern or fingerprint before Instagram opens on your phone. Instagram doesn't have one, and most of this guide is about adding it.

Account security keeps people out of your account on their own phones: a strong password, two-factor authentication and a check of where you're logged in.

A private account decides who sees your posts and stories. It does nothing about someone holding your unlocked phone.

What Instagram can lock: single chats

Instagram's Lock and hide chat moves a conversation into a hidden Locked chats folder and keeps its messages out of notifications and search. It opens with your phone's own screen lock or fingerprint, not a separate Instagram PIN, so anyone who knows your phone's PIN can open it too.

The lock is only on your side of the chat, not for the other people in it, and it works in the Android and iPhone apps, not on a computer.

1. 01In Instagram, open Messages and touch and hold the conversation.
2. 02Tap Lock chat and confirm with your screen lock or fingerprint.
3. 03To see it again, swipe down from the top of the inbox and open Locked chats.

Lock the whole Instagram app with your phone's settings

Instagram has no app lock of its own, so the lock has to come from your phone or from an app locker. Menu names shift a little between versions, so if a path doesn't match, search Settings for “App lock”.

1. 01Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO: Settings > Apps > App lock, then turn on Instagram.
2. 02OPPO, realme and OnePlus: Settings > Security & privacy > App Lock, with a privacy password of its own.
3. 03vivo and iQOO: Settings > Fingerprint, face and password > Privacy and app encryption, then turn on Instagram.
4. 04Samsung: One UI has no app lock. Secure Folder can hold a second copy of Instagram behind its own PIN, but your usual Instagram stays open.Get it onGoogle PlayInstall
5. 05Pixel and other Android 15 phones: no app lock on stable Android. Private space (Settings > Security & privacy) installs a fresh copy of Instagram behind a separate lock, and you log in again there.
6. 06Infinix and Tecno: look for App Lock under Settings > Privacy or Security, or in Phone Master.

Lock Instagram on any phone with an app locker

An app locker works the same on every brand, and its PIN is separate from your phone's, so someone who knows your screen lock still can't open Instagram. Lock WhatsApp and the gallery at the same time, since the photos you post usually sit there first.

AppLock Master puts a PIN, pattern or fingerprint on Instagram and any other app you pick. After repeated wrong tries it takes a photo with the front camera, it can keep Instagram's message previews off the lock screen, and it asks for your PIN before anyone can uninstall it. It's free, with ads.

1. 01Install AppLock Master and allow Usage access and Display over other apps, so it can see which app is opening and show the lock screen.
2. 02Tick Instagram in the list of apps, and anything else you want locked.
3. 03Choose a PIN, a pattern or your fingerprint, and set a security question in case you forget it.

Try it in AppLock MasterFree on Google Play · No accountGet it onGoogle Play

More detail: See who tried to open your Instagram →

Keep Instagram messages off the lock screen

Even with Instagram locked, a new message can show its text on your lock screen. Turn that off in your phone's settings.

1. 01Pixel: Settings > Notifications > Notifications on lock screen, then turn off Show sensitive content.
2. 02Samsung (One UI 8): Settings > Notifications > App notifications > Instagram > Show or hide content when locked > Hide when locked.
3. 03Other phones: search Settings for “lock screen” or “sensitive”, because the labels differ by brand and Android version.

If someone else may be using your account

A lock on your phone doesn't help if someone has your password and logs in from their own phone. Check that from inside Instagram.

1. 01Open your profile, tap ☰ and go to Accounts Center (some accounts show Meta Account) > Password and security.
2. 02Open Where you're logged in and log out any device you don't recognise.
3. 03Turn on Two-factor authentication, then change your password: Instagram logs you out of every other device when you do.