Tech Savvy Mama

How to Turn Off Instagram Location Sharing in 6 Easy Steps
2025-08-07 17:10 UTC by Leticia

Earlier this week, Instagram released a new Map feature. It’s designed to share your location with nearby friends in real time and allows you to see posts tagged by friends or those you follow that are close by. While Instagram Maps may seem like a fun new feature that Mashable says could be “a handy tool for meetups and discovery,” the tech publication also says location sharing gives “third party advertisers a solid picture of the places you visit and how often.” Since this Mashable article also mentions how location sharing can be used for stalking and in cases of domestic digital abuse, here’s how to turn off Instagram location sharing to preserve your safety and privacy.

How to Turn Off Instagram Location Sharing in 6 Easy Steps

If you’re wondering how to turn off Instagram location sharing, follow these 6 steps to turn off the Maps feature.

1. Visit your Instagram profile and tap on the three lines on the upper right corner of your screen. This will take you to “Settings and activity.”

2. Once you’re in “Settings and activity,” scroll until you see “Who Can See Your Content.”

3. Under “Who can see your content,” you’ll see “Story, live and location”

4. Tap on “Story, live and location” and then tap on “Hide story and live from.”

5. This will take you to a menu where you can choose who can see your location. While you can designate certain people to see your location, my Close Friends already have access to my location through Find My Friends on iPhone so I set my Instagram to “No One.”

6. If a red arrow with a line through it appears with the words “Not sharing,” your location is private.

While Mashable says there’s a fun and practical side of location sharing tools, location sharing also gives “third party advertisers a solid picture of the places you visit and how often.” They also mention how location sharing can be used for stalking and in cases of domestic digital abuse.

The post How to Turn Off Instagram Location Sharing in 6 Easy Steps appeared first on Tech Savvy Mama.