What Does Active Today Mean on Instagram? Explained

Here's everything you need to know about the Active today status on the Instagram DM's section. Find what exactly is it and other statuses as well.

Did you go to the Instagram DM section and see many people’s status as Active today. What exactly does Active Today mean in the Instagram app? Well, That’s what we are going to discuss in this article.

Instagram is the most popular image and video sharing platform out there. Instagram also lets you send a message or share different multimedia content with other people as well. There is certain activity status on Instagram that shows whether a person is online or offline. And active today is one of those activity statuses on Instagram that shows when a person was last online.

Active Now, Active Today, Active Yesterday, Active X minutes ago, etc., are a few activity statuses on Instagram.

Active Today on Instagram

What is Active Today in Instagram?

At first, let’s start with the Active today status on Instagram. As I mentioned earlier, there are a couple of statuses on Instagram that will let you know if a person is online or offline, and Active today is one of them. In this section, we will talk about Active today status only.

You can find all the statuses similar to Active Today and their meanings in the next section.

As the name itself indicates, Active Today means the person was active during some time of the day, which is today. Generally, when a person is online, Instagram shows Active now. Similarly, when a person leaves Instagram or goes offline, it will be shown as Active x minutes or hours ago. Here x can change up to 8 hours maximum.

When an Instagram user is inactive for more than 8 hours but less than 24 hours, Instagram shows active today. If the user is inactive for more than 24 hours, the activity status will change to Active yesterday.

Long story short, Instagram shows Active Today status when a person is inactive or hasn’t used Instagram for more than 8 hours but less than 24 hours.

All Statuses in Instagram and their Meanings

Now let’s take a look at all statuses in the Instagram app’s DM section and their precise meanings.

StatusMeaning
Active nowActive now means the person is currently online. Sometimes, Instagram shows Active now status even after the person goes offline. In this case, it might take up to 5 minutes for the Active now status to change.
Active x mins agoThis shows that the person was active x minutes ago. x can vary anywhere from 1 to 59. As soon as it hit 59 minutes, then from the next minute onwards it will be shown in hourly format.
Active x hours agoThis shows that the person was active x hours ago. x can vary anywhere from 1 to 8. As soon as it gets more than 8 hours, the status will change to Active Today
Active TodayAs mentioned earlier, Active today is shown when the user is inactive or offline for more than 8 hours but less than 24 hours. If it gets more than 24 hours the status changes to Active yesterday
Active YesterdayActive yesterday status is shown when an Instagram user is inactive or offline for more than 24 hours

These are all the statuses available in Instagram.

Also take a look at our guide to download Instagram Reels videos.

Why can’t I see when a user was last active on Instagram?

Instagram provides its users with the privacy option to decide whether or not to show the last active status. In Instagram, this is called Activity Status. As an Instagram user, you have the option to either enable or disable the Activity Status.

If the activity status is enabled, your last seen or last active status will be shown to everyone. Similarly, if the activity status is disabled, your last active status will be hidden from everyone too. Also, keep in mind that if you disable the activity status, you won’t be able to view others’ activity status.

Even if you enable the activity status, your last active time won’t be shown to people who have disabled their Activity status.

If you are concerned about your privacy and don’t want other users on Instagram to see your last active status, follow the steps given below to disable activity status on Instagram.

How to Disable Last Active Time in Instagram?

If you want to hide your last active status on Instagram, then follow the steps mentioned below. Once you have disabled it, status like Active now, Active X minutes or hours ago, Active today, Active yesterday won’t appear.

Step 1: Open the Instagram app on your smartphone. Tap on your Instagram DP from the bar at the bottom and then tap on the three lines hamburger menu on the top right side of the screen.

Open Instagram Hamburgur Menu
Open Instagram Hamburgur Menu

Step 2: Tap on the first option – Settings. It will open Instagram Settings.

Instagram Settings
Instagram Settings

Step 3: Tap on Privacy

Instagram Privacy Settings
Instagram Privacy Settings

Step 4: Under Interactions, tap on the option – Activity Status.

Instagram Activity Status Option
Instagram Activity Status Option

Step 5: To hide your last seen or last active status on Instagram, all you have to do is disable the option.

Disable Activity Status
Disable Activity Status

Now you have successfully disabled activity status on your Instagram account. From here on, no one will be able to see your last active time on the DM section.

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Can I view others’ last active status while I disabled my Activity Status?

When you turn off your activity status on Instagram, you will no longer be able to see others’ last active time. Now you might wonder if there is any method you can follow to view other Instagram users’ last active time while keeping your activity status disabled.

Well, as of now, you can’t view other’s last active time when you have disabled your activity status. But there is a quick tip that you can try to easily see others’ activity status even if you have disabled yours.

All you have to do is go to the Privacy settings and enable Activity Status. Quit the Instagram app and re-launch it again. Now head over to the DM section, and you will see the last active time of other users. As soon as you are done, head over to the Privacy settings again and disable the Activity status. As simple as that.

This is a little time-consuming process, but this is the only way as of now.

Final Words

This is everything you need to know about the Active today status on Instagram. Along with the Active today status, there are a couple of other statuses as well. This kind of statuses will help you to understand whether a person is online or offline easily.

Ajay is an active cybersecurity analyst and helps companies find and fix bugs and vulnerabilities. He is an ardent fan and power Linux user. His area of expertise includes Linux and Cybersecurity side of things.