The defining feature of Instagram Stories is that they disappear after 24 hours. But what happens if you love a story so much you want to save it to view later?

You take a screenshot, of course. We’ve all been there before: screenshotting an Instagram story and hoping that the person who posted it won’t know. (Thankfully there are ways to view an IG story without the person knowing).

But you may not want the user to know that you’ve taken a screenshot of their Instagram Story. Will they know about it?

The short answer in 2021 is: no, they won’t know if you took a screenshot. 

And there don’t seem to be any indications or rumors that this will change in 2022 either.

Here’s the longer answer regarding IG’s story screenshot history:

Instagram’s Defunct Screenshot Alert Feature

The concept of disappearing posts was first introduced by Snapchat, and people used that feature to send private messages or post information they didn’t want preserved. So when other users screenshotted their posts, this could violate their privacy.

Because of this issue, in February 2018, Instagram introduced a feature that would alert a user when a follower had taken a screenshot of their story.

When a user took a screenshot, a little starburst icon would appear next to their username in your Story stats.

What Instagram didn’t anticipate was that IG users didn’t actually mind people screenshotting their Stories. To most users, the advantage of disappearing Stories wasn’t privacy, it was the dynamic nature of the feature: that they could upload fresh content without creating a cluttered, cumbersome feed.

So IG users protested the feature, and in June of 2018, Instagram removed it.

So no one will know if you screenshot an Instagram Story in 2021 and 2022?

As of October 2021, no one will know. Screenshot anything on Instagram to your heart’s content! Your Instagram story screenshot will be kept a complete secret!

Warning! Instagram does indeed notify about certain screenshots:

• Instagram screenshots can indeed trigger notifications within a private DM for any disappearing photos or videos. So, be aware that if you screenshot a disappearing photo in a DM, your sender may be well aware.
• Instagram is known it change their rules and procedures at various junctures, so be sure to check back for more information in case of an update.