Humans are naturally social creatures driven by a desire for connection and engagement—whether in person or through social media platforms like Instagram. At the same time, curiosity is deeply ingrained in our psychology. But what do these two concepts have in common? Instagram amplifies this curiosity, making us eager to know who is engaging with our content.
So, when you ask, 'How do I see who shared my Instagram post?' it’s not just about curiosity—it's also about understanding how your content resonates with both followers and non-followers, how you’re being perceived, and the impact of your social influence.
Whether you’re a content creator, influencer, or business owner, knowing how your posts are being shared can help you grow your audience, optimize your content strategy, and measure your post’s reach.
Due to Instagram’s privacy policies, it’s not possible to see exactly who shared your post. However, if you have a Business or Creator account, tools like Instagram Insights and View Story Reshares allow you to track how often your post is shared and identify users who may have shared it to their Instagram Stories. Additionally, checking Story Mentions, tags, or other indirect methods can provide further insights into your audience engagement.
And that’s exactly what we’ll cover in this article! By the end, you’ll learn:
Instagram’s privacy policy prevents personal account users from seeing exactly who shared their posts via Direct Messages or Stories.
However, if you have a Business or Creator account, you can use Instagram Insights and View Story Reshares, which are built-in analytics tools that show how often your post has been shared and who shared it on their Stories. These insights help you gauge your post’s reach, engagement, and overall performance.
Additionally, indirect methods—such as checking tags, mentions, or hashtags—can provide further data about who is interacting with your content.
Switching to a Business or Creator account gives you access to Instagram Insights, View Story Reshares, and additional professional tools. Here’s how you can make the switch on both mobile (iOS & Android) and desktop.
1. Open Instagram, log into your account, tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner, and then the three horizontal lines (☰) in the top-right corner.
2. Scroll down and select “Account type and tools”, under “For professionals”.
3. Tap “Switch to professional account”, and then “Next”.
4. Select or search for the category that best describes you or your business, and tap “Switch to professional account”.
Important: Switching to a professional account makes your profile public. This means anyone can see your photos and videos, and you won’t need to approve followers. Any pending follow requests will be automatically approved. If you're comfortable with this, tap 'OK' to proceed."
5. Choose between Business (for retailers, local businesses, brands, organizations, and service providers) or Creator (for public figures, content producers, artists, and influencers). Toggle “Display on profile” on or off, depending on whether you want your selected category to be visible to others, and tap “Next”.
Note: If you choose a Business Account, you’ll be asked to enter an email, phone number, and/or address & Instagram audio calling so people can contact you. This information will be displayed publicly but can be edited or removed at any time.
6. Connect to a Facebook Page (optional but recommended). This allows businesses to share Instagram posts on Facebook and use features like ads and shopping tools. If you don’t have a Facebook Page, tap “Skip”.
7. Complete your setup or tap "X" to set it up later.
8. Done! You’ve successfully switched to a Professional account!
1. Log into your account on Instagram.com, click on the three horizontal lines (☰) in the bottom-left corner, and select “Settings”.
2. Scroll down on the left panel and select “Account type and tools”, under “For professionals”.
3. Click “Switch to professional account”.
4. Select either Creator or Business and click “Next”.
5. Choose your category, toggle "Show category on profile" on or off based on your preference, then tap "Done". If you selected "Business", the next step will be to "Review your contact info." If you prefer not to display this information publicly, tap "Don’t use my contact info."
6. Click “Done”, and your account is now a Professional account!
Currently, Instagram only lets users see who shared their posts to Stories. It doesn’t notify or reveal when a post is shared via Direct Messages due to privacy policies. Here's how you can check who shared your post to their Stories using these two methods:
If a user shares your post to their public story or their private story (if you follow them) for 24 hours and tags you, you'll receive a notification saying, "@user mentioned you in their story."
To view the story, simply tap the notification or go to your Direct Messages, where you’ll find a new chat indicating that you’ve been tagged in someone’s story!
With this feature, even if users don’t tag you, you can still see the exact profile that shared your post in their public story.
Pro-Tip: Indirect Ways to Identify Shares
If you want to discover who might be sharing your post, try these few indirect methods:
After switching to a Professional account, you can access Instagram Insights in three ways:
1. Through the Professional Dashboard at the top of your profile.
2. From the menu: Open Instagram > tap your profile picture in the bottom right corner > tap the menu (☰) in the top right corner > select Insights under “For Professionals”.
3. On individual posts: Open a post and tap "View Insights" to see its performance metrics. We’ll explore this in more detail below!
Instagram provides insights for Reels, static, and carousel posts separately on mobile and desktop.
On Mobile (Instagram App – iOS & Android)
1. Open Instagram, go to your profile, and click on the post you want to check.
2. Tap the three dots (•••) in the top-right corner of the post to open the post’s menu.
3. Select “Insights”. Inside the panel, you'll see engagement metrics, such as views, watch time, interactions (likes, comments, shares, saves), and profile activity (profile visits, follows). “Shares” refers to the total number of times your post has been shared by other users, whether through Direct Messages (DMs) or Stories. However, Instagram doesn’t disclose who shared the post or specify whether the shares occurred via DMs or Stories.
On Desktop (Reels and Photo Posts)
1. Open Instagram in a web browser, go to your profile, and select the post you want to check.
2. Below the post, tap "View Insights." Note: For reels, the watch time metric is currently available only on the mobile version.
Instagram provides insights for both live and archived stories. However, story insights aren’t available on the desktop version; they can only be viewed through the mobile app.
On Mobile (Instagram App – iOS & Android)
If your story is live:
1. Open Instagram and go to your profile.
2. Open your story.
3. Swipe up on the screen to view insights.
If your story is no longer live:
1. Open Instagram and go to your profile.
2. Tap on the menu (☰) in the top right corner.
3. Select "Archive" and choose "Stories Archive".
4. Find the story you want to check.
5. Swipe up on the screen to view insights directly.
In Instagram Story insights, "Shares" also refers to the number of times your story has been shared by viewers to others via Direct Messages or their own stories.
Instagram doesn't provide a feature to see exactly who shared your post because it prioritizes user privacy.
When someone shares a post via Direct Message or to their story, Instagram considers it a private interaction and doesn’t disclose the sharer’s identity to protect their privacy.
If people knew their shares were being tracked and made visible, they might hesitate to share content freely. By keeping this anonymous, Instagram encourages organic content sharing.
Instagram allows users with Business and Creator accounts to see how many times a post was shared via Instagram Insights or who shared it to their Stories through View Story Reshares to help creators understand and track engagement trends without compromising user privacy.
If someone shares your post to their Instagram Story and tags you, you’ll receive a notification. However, if they share it without tagging you, you won’t be notified or see who shared it.
Understanding how your content is being shared, how many people are sharing it, and who is sharing it can provide invaluable insights into:
Optimizing your Instagram content strategy based on post shares can help you increase reach, engagement, and brand awareness. Here are some key best practices:
Use clear and engaging call-to-action prompts, such as:
Building relationships can lead to organic brand advocacy and stronger community engagement.
Instagram doesn’t provide a direct way to see exactly who shared your post, except for identifying those who shared it to Stories—either by tagging your handle or through the “View Story Reshares” feature. This feature is only available for Business or Creator accounts along with Instagram Insights, which lets you track share counts and engagement.
Additionally, using indirect methods can help you better understand how your content is performing to ultimately refine your content strategy, boost engagement, grow your audience, and build meaningful connections.
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