Instagram gives users lots of controls and settings to fine-tune their experience in the app, but is there a way to see who viewed your Instagram posts? Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has been well established as one of the biggest social media platforms on the planet. It’s well-known, free to use, and one of those social apps that everyone seems to have an account for.

But that doesn’t mean Instagram is perfect. As more and more features have been added, knowing how to do ‘simple’ tasks has become more complicated. Instagram lets users switch back to a chronological home page, but you may miss the option entirely unless you know precisely where to look. There are also hidden settings to see your first likes, restore deleted content, and stop autoplay videos. These are all important features to be aware of, but more often than not, Instagram hides them in plain sight.

Related: Instagram Wants You To Stay In Its Social World Just A Little Bit More

With so many features/settings to keep track of, many Instagram users likely assume there’s an option to see who viewed their posts on the app. And it’s a fair assumption to make! Given everything Instagram’s capable of, having a tool to see who’s viewing your photo and video posts seems like something that should exist. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple.

How To See Who Viewed Your Instagram Photos/Videos

For photos and videos uploaded to your Instagram feed/timeline, there’s currently no way to see who has viewed those posts. It’s not something enabled by default, and there’s no option in Instagram’s settings to do so. It may seem silly to not have such a feature, but as it stands today, Instagram doesn’t allow you to keep tabs on who’s viewing your posts.

One workaround to this is looking at who’s liked your posts. If you’re on Instagram and viewing one of your posts, tapping ‘Liked by’ underneath it shows which users have liked that photo or video. It’s not a perfect workaround, but anyone who has liked an Instagram post has also seen it. Videos you’ve uploaded to Instagram also show how many views they’ve received. It doesn’t tell you who watched that video, but Instagram does tell you how many people have seen it.

How To See Who Viewed Your Instagram Stories

'Your Story' on the Instagram app

Thankfully, Instagram isn’t quite so strict with Instagram Stories posts. While it’s impossible to see who has viewed photos/videos published on the timeline, Instagram readily shows you who’s viewed posts on your Stories page. Here’s how to do it:

  • Open the Instagram app.
  • Tap ‘Your story’ at the top left of the screen.
  • Swipe up.

Here, Instagram shows users how many views a Stories post has received and a full list of who’s seen that post — including the person’s name, username, and profile picture. If you’ve uploaded multiple Stories posts over the last 24 hours, you can tap each one to see who’s viewed that specific post.

But that’s not all. While Stories expire after 24 hours, Instagram still shows you the viewer list up to 48 hours after a Stories post is published.  Here’s how to find it:

  • From the Instagram app, tap the profile icon at the bottom right.
  • Tap the three lines in the top right corner.
  • Tap ‘Archive.’
  • Tap one of your Stories posts.
  • Swipe up.
  • If that Stories post was uploaded within 48 hours, you’ll still be able to see who’s viewed it.

While it’s irritating that Instagram doesn’t let you see who’s viewed your regular photo/video posts, at least being able to see a viewer list for your Instagram Stories content is a nice touch. Will any of this change in the future? That’s difficult to say. Instagram may eventually let you see who’s viewed ‘normal’ posts, or it may keep that functionality exclusive to Stories.