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Instagram Teen Accounts

What are Teen Accounts?

Instagram Teen Accounts come with built-in protections that limit who can contact them, the content that they see and the time that they spend on the app. This experience is designed to provide more protections for teens and peace of mind for parents.
Teens are automatically placed into Teen Accounts, and teens under 16 will need a parent's permission to change any of these settings to be less strict. If you are a parent and want to further help your teen manage their new safety settings, work with them to set up supervision.
Learn more
INTRODUCING

Instagram Teen Accounts content settings will be inspired by film ratings for ages 13+

We're revamping the Instagram Teen Account experience to be inspired by film ratings for ages 13+ and adding a new stricter setting for parents who prefer extra controls. Available in selected countries with more coming soon.
Learn more
*There are lots of differences between social media and films. We didn't work with the MPA when updating our content settings and they aren't rating content on Instagram. Rather, we drew inspiration from the MPA's public guidelines, which are already familiar to parents.
DEFAULT SETTINGS FOR TEENS

Explore Teen Accounts

Teens will get built-in limits on who can contact them and the content that they see.
Private accounts
Messages
Hidden words
Content setting
Time management
Tags, mentions and live

Private accounts

Teen Accounts are automatically set to private. Teens under 16 can only change this default setting with help from a parent or guardian. Learn how to set up supervision on Instagram.
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Account privacy
Account privacy
Private account
Private account
When your account is public, your profile and posts can be seen by anyone, on or off Instagram, even if they don't have an Instagram account.
When your account is public, your profile and posts can be seen by anyone, on or off Instagram, even if they don't have an Instagram account.
When your account is private, only the followers you approve can see what you share, including your photos or videos on hashtag and location pages, and your followers and following lists.
When your account is private, only the followers you approve can see what you share, including your photos or videos on hashtag and location pages, and your followers and following lists.

Messages

Teen Accounts are automatically set so that teens can't be messaged by anyone that they aren't already connected to. They also have nudity protection turned on by default, which blurs images containing suspected nudity in DMs. Teens under 16 will require parental permission to turn this feature off.
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Message controls
Message controls
People you follow or have chatted with before can always message you unless you block them. When anyone else sends you a message, you can receive it as a message request that you can accept or delete.
People you follow or have chatted with before can always message you unless you block them. When anyone else sends you a message, you can receive it as a message request that you can accept or delete.
Who can send you message requests
Who can send you message requests
Your followers on Instagram
Don't receive
Your followers on Instagram
Don't receive
Others on Instagram
Don't receive
Others on Instagram
Don't receive
Group chats
Group chats
Who can add you to group chats
Who can add you to group chats
Learn more about who can message you.
Learn more about who can message you.

Hidden words

Teen Accounts are automatically set to hide potentially offensive comments and message requests with the strictest Hidden words setting.
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Hidden words
Hidden words
Unwanted comments and message requests
Unwanted comments and message requests
Hide comments
Comments that are potentially offensive, misleading or spam will be moved to a separate section. Anyone can see these comments and you can unhide comments on your own posts at any time. Learn more
Hide comments
Comments that are potentially offensive, misleading or spam will be moved to a separate section. Anyone can see these comments and you can unhide comments on your own posts at any time. Learn more
This also hides replies on Threads.
This also hides replies on Threads.
Advanced comment filtering
Even more comments that meet our criteria will automatically be hidden.
Advanced comment filtering
Even more comments that meet our criteria will automatically be hidden.
Hide message requests
Message requests that may be offensive, spam or scams will be moved to the Hidden requests folder. We'll also filter notifications for these messages.
Hide message requests
Message requests that may be offensive, spam or scams will be moved to the Hidden requests folder. We'll also filter notifications for these messages.

Content setting

The Teen Accounts content setting will be automatically set to 13+ by default. This means that teens will see content on Instagram that's similar to what they'd see in a film appropriate for ages 13+. There's also a Limited content option for parents who prefer extra controls.
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Sensitive content control
Sensitive content control
Sensitive content doesn't go against our Community Guidelines, but refers to topics some people don't want to see. Learn more
Sensitive content doesn't go against our Community Guidelines, but refers to topics that some people don't want to see. Learn more

Choose how much sensitive content to see
Choose how much sensitive content to see
Hide comments
You might see less sensitive content.
Hide comments
You might see less sensitive content.
This affects search results as well as recommended content in Explore, Reels, feed and hashtag pages. This also affects comments that you see on other people's posts.
This setting also applies to Threads.

Time management

Sleep mode: Teen Accounts automatically have sleep mode turned on from 22:00 to 07:00 every day. During sleep mode, Instagram notifications are muted, auto-replies to messages are turned on and the teen will see a reminder to close Instagram.
Daily time limits: Teen Accounts automatically get a reminder to close Instagram after a total of 60 minutes has been spent on the app each day.
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Sleep mode
Sleep mode
Sleep mode
Your notifications will be muted during these times. People will see that you're in sleep mode.
Start time
22:00
End time
07:00
Choose days
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
Sleep mode is on every day.
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Daily limit
Daily limit
How long you can use Instagram each day. We'll let you know when you're close to reaching the limit.
15 minutes
30 minutes
45 minutes
1 hour
2 hours
Off

Tags, mentions and live

Teen Accounts are automatically set to only allow tags, mentions and content remixing by people that they follow. They also ensure that teens under 16 are prohibited from going live unless their parents give them permission to do so.
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Mentions
Mentions
Who can @mention you
Allow mentions from everyone
Allow mentions from people that you follow
Don't allow mentions
Choose who can @mention you to link your account in their stories, notes, comments, live videos and captions. When people try to @mention you, they'll see if you don't allow @mentions.
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Tags
Tags
Who can tag you
Allow tags from everyone
Allow tags from people you follow
Don't allow tags
Choose who can tag you in their photos and reels. When people try to tag you, they'll see if you don't allow tags from everyone. Potential spam will always be filtered.
Every teen is unique, and every family has a different parenting style. That's why last year we launched Instagram Teen Accounts with automatic, built-in protections on who can contact teens and what content they can see. Nearly 95% of parents say that Teen Accounts are helpful in safeguarding their teens.

Frequently asked questions


When will my teen get a Teen Account?

This is a big update that will fundamentally change the Instagram experience for millions of teens and we need to make sure that everything works correctly. We plan to place teens on Instagram into Teen Accounts within 60 days of starting rollout in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and teens around the world will start to get Teen Accounts in January.

How are you ensuring that teens don't lie about their age?

We know that teens may lie about their age and that's why we're requiring teens to verify their age in new ways, such as if they attempt to use a new account with an adult date of birth. We're also building new technology to find teens that have lied about their age to automatically place them in protected settings.
Learn more

What types of automatic protections are included with Teen Accounts?

With Teen Accounts, teens automatically get safety settings that limit contact and inappropriate content, as well as settings to ensure that their time on Instagram is well spent. These built-in default settings include private accounts, restrictions on messaging, restrictions on who can tag and mention them, reminders to leave the app after 60 minutes each day, notifications muted overnight and more.

Can teens opt out of these protections?

Teens aged 13-15 cannot change these settings to be less strict without a parent's permission. In addition, for any teens who are enrolled in parental supervision (irrespective of their age), they'll need a parent's approval to change these settings to a less strict state.

Do parents have to approve their teens using Instagram now?

No. Parents do not have to approve their teen's usage of Instagram. Teen Accounts are designed to provide parents with peace of mind that their teens are automatically placed into safe, built-in protections. If teens aged 13-15 want to change an automatic setting to be less strict, they need a parent's permission to do so.

Can I change my teens' settings on their behalf?

With parental supervision enabled, parents can approve or deny their teen's requests to change settings. Soon, parents will also be able to change teens' default settings to a stricter state on their behalf if they have parental supervision enabled.

What if I don't have an Instagram account?

Both the teen and their parent or guardian must have or create an Instagram account to use supervision.

Where are Teen Accounts available?

We'll bring Teen Accounts to teens around the world by early next year. This is a big update that will fundamentally change the Instagram experience of millions of teens, and we want to take the time to get it right. So, we're starting with the US, UK, Canada and Australia now, and will begin moving teens in the European Union into Teen Accounts later this year.

How can I find help with Teen Accounts?

To learn more about teen accounts, please visit the Help Centre.

When will Teen Accounts be available on other Meta apps?

We're starting with Instagram and will bring Teen Accounts to additional apps in the coming months.

Will parents be able to read their teen's messages through this feature?

No – parents still won't be able to read their teen's messages. This new feature means that they can see who their teen has been chatting with in the last 7 days, but not the content of those messages. As with all of our parental supervision features, this is designed to strike the balance between helping parents be more involved in their teen's online experiences, while still protecting teens' privacy and autonomy.

What does it mean for Teen Accounts content setting to be inspired by film ratings for ages 13+?

This means that, when fully rolled out, teens shouldn't see content on Instagram that they wouldn't see in a film for ages 13+ by default.

When will my teen have the new content setting available to them?

These are significant updates and we want to take the time to get it right. The updated experience will start being rolled out to teens in the US, UK, Australia and Canada and will take a few months to be rolled out fully, and we plan for the experience to be rolled out globally next year.

How does the Limited content setting work?

We understand that parents have different views on what's appropriate, which is why we're also now offering a new, more restrictive setting called "Limited content", which will filter even more content from the Teen Account experience, further limit search results and prevent teens from seeing, leaving or receiving comments under posts.

MORE RESOURCES

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A parent and guardian's guide to Instagram (PDF)
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