What is vanish mode in Instagram DMs actually for, and is it safe to use?

A friend keeps sending me stuff in 'vanish mode' and I don't really get the point. Do the messages actually disappear for good? Can they still screenshot? Just want to understand what I'm agreeing to before I keep chatting in it.

BBruno Kowal4d ago368 views

3 answers

Best answer

Vanish mode makes messages disappear once you close the chat and both people have seen them. It's meant for casual, in-the-moment stuff you don't want cluttering the thread. Two things to know: the other person can still screenshot (though you'll be notified if they do), and 'disappeared' doesn't mean it never existed. Treat it as tidy, not secure.

LLena Okoro2d ago

Small thing, but restarting the phone first made every other step work. – Malik Kim 2d ago

Came here from a Google search with the exact same problem, this sorted it. – Ella Torres 1d ago

Clear, concise, correct. Rare combo on the internet these days. – Clara Verma 22h ago

Same issue here after the last update. The fix above sorted it.

EEthan Bianchi3d ago

Appreciate you writing this up properly instead of just linking a help page. – Ravi Osei 3d ago

Legend, thank you. – Hugo Novak 2d ago

Safe-ish for keeping your chat clean. Not safe if you mean 'no trace ever'. Nothing you type into someone else's phone is truly gone.

DDevon Lima4d ago

Are you on the latest version? A lot of this got patched recently. – Amir Fischer 2d ago

Does the same apply to the desktop version, anyone know? – Bruno Pires 2d ago

Ha, been there. – Ivy Brooks 2d ago

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What is vanish mode in Instagram DMs actually for, and is it safe to use?

3 answers

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