You can finally like Instagram Stories without sliding into anyone's DMs

Instagram logo on phone (Image credit: Joe Maring / iMore)

What you need to know

Instagram is changing to way people like Stories.
Story likes will no longer go into a poster's direct messages.
Instagram says the change is rolling out to its users now.

Instagram is finally letting people like a Stories without sending a DM. The move is called "Private Story Likes" and it's rolling out to everyone now.

The move, which was announced by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri on Twitter, means that people won't have their list of DMs polluted just because someone wanted to like their video. However, Story likes won't have a count on-screen and as the name suggests, they're private. Mosseri says that they'll appear as hearts next to people's names in the Story poster's view sheet.

Starting to roll out today, you can now send some love by liking people's stories without sending a DM.Likes on stories are private and do not have counts. Rather, they appear as hearts next to people's handles in your Stories view sheet.

❤️ Private Story Likes ❤️

Starting to roll out today, you can now send some love by liking people’s stories without sending a DM.

Likes on stories are private and do not have counts. Rather, they appear as hearts next to people’s handles in your Stories view sheet. 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/l56Rmzgnnw❤️ Private Story Likes ❤️

Starting to roll out today, you can now send some love by liking people’s stories without sending a DM.

Likes on stories are private and do not have counts. Rather, they appear as hearts next to people’s handles in your Stories view sheet. 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/l56Rmzgnnw— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) February 14, 2022 February 14, 2022

Mosseri says that the feature is rolling out now so don't panic just yet if the change isn't reflected on your own account — it'll come soon enough.

Instagram is one of the best iPhone apps for people who want to share photos and short-form videos, but it isn't perfect. The change in the way likes are handled on Stories is sure to be a popular one, though. Don't yet have Instagram installed? You can grab it from the App Store for free right now.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

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