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The Daily Insight

What are all the symbols on Instagram?

Author

Daniel Lopez

Updated on February 23, 2026

List of Instagram Symbols and Icons

  • Chat Bubble. This icon refers to comments. ...
  • Paper Plane Icon. Consider this as a send button. ...
  • Bookmark. This icon lets you save or bookmark the post to your collections. ...
  • Person Icon. The person icon on a post means that someone is tagged in the post. ...
  • Three-Dot. ...
  • Messenger. ...
  • Search Icon. ...
  • Reels.

What do the icons on Instagram stories mean?

Each circular icon you see at the top of your home screen will have a gradient circle around it, denoting that the user has recently posted a Story. Tap on it to expand the user's Story — it'll either be a photo or a video, and the latter will play automatically once you tap on the Story.

What do Instagram DM symbols mean?

The meaning of DM on Instagram is a direct message, which is a form of private message that each user can send through the Instagram app. A direct message is no available on the Instagram desktop version too, and users can read, reply, and send messages on Instagram both from desktop and app.

What is the 3rd icon on Instagram?

This icon lets you save or bookmark the post to your collections. To view the saved posts, open your Instagram profile screen and tap on the three-bar icon at the top. Choose Saved from the menu. Saved posts are private and only you can view them.

What is the arrow thing on Instagram?

Instagram has now added an arrow icon next to the “like” and “comment” icons under every post. When you tap on the arrow icon, you will be able to send that post to a friend or group as a message using Instagram Direct.

Navigating Instagram (UNDERSTAND IG ICONS LIKE A PRO)

What is the dotted circle in Instagram?

If you are using multiple Instagram accounts, you may notice a red dot next to your Instagram username in DMs. It means that some other Instagram account has unread notifications. If you tap on the username, you can easily switch between multiple accounts right from the chat list.

What does the little heart on Instagram story mean?

It's a small change -- you'll see a heart icon on stories, allowing you to like it -- but a big relief for anyone who wanted to show support for another person's story without barging all the way into their DMs. It's the Stories equivalent of sending a text rather than calling someone up on the phone. Adam Mosseri.

What is the compass symbol on Instagram?

Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram has another addition to the homepage in its web version: a little compass icon that takes you to a new page where you can “discover” other users. The new button is located near the top-right corner of the window when you're viewing Instagram.com in the browser.

What are the three dots on Instagram story?

If there's someone viewing your Story and you decide you don't want that person to see it: Just tap the three dots next to the person's name.

Can you tell if someone screenshots your Instagram message?

Does Instagram Show When You Screenshot a DM? Yes, Instagram notifies recipients when you take a screenshot in private conversations (also known as Instagram DMs), but only for messages sent using Vanish Mode. Similar to Stories, users can send photos and videos personally to an individual or a group in Vanish Mode.

What does the paper airplane mean on Instagram messages?

Users can share a post by clicking the “paper plane” icon, either through direct messages with friends, or to their Instagram Story. A shareable post can be anything posted to Instagram, including your own, from a hilarious meme to a news update to a cute pair of boots that someone wants to share with their friend.

What is the arrow on Instagram stories?

Instead of drawing it by hand as you did before, take notice of the up-arrow icon between the pen and the marker tool. To start using it, tap on the arrow tool. Then, draw a straight line and the point of the arrow will appear. The placement of the arrow tip depends on how you swipe.

What does the arrow on Instagram stories mean?

Howfinity. Instagram Stories has a new tool for creating unique story posts. Inside of the draw option inside of Instagram stories, there is a new creative tool for creating arrows. Instead of using the marker to draw the arrow, the arrow tool turns any line into an arrow.

What is the purple circle on Instagram?

The screenshots shared by Paluzzi showed that coming across an exclusive story will put up a message for normal followers informing them that the particular Instagram story is reserved for "only members". Exclusive stories for select members will be marked with a purple heart icon.

How can you tell who looks at your Instagram 24 hours?

You can see who has viewed your stories by just swiping up from the story panel. When the story disappears from your story tab after 24 hours, you can no longer access this data from there. But actually, you can see the list of story viewers up to 48 hours after you post it using Instagram's archives feature.

What does the top 3 viewers on Instagram story mean?

The order of Story viewers is based on how your followers interact with your profile on the platform instead of how you engage with these profiles. This means those people who visit your profile the most appear at the top of the list.

What does the blue square mean on Instagram?

The blue square posts are being made on the social media platform in support of Jews who have long suffered racial discrimination. Antisemitism is typically considered to be a form of racism and people who identify with hate promoting agendas are known as 'antisemite'.

What is the plus button on Instagram?

To share a photo or video on Instagram, tap the large plus button, where you can select photos or videos from your phone's camera roll to post. Instagram allows you to to select up to 10 photos and videos to post at once.

What is the Discover People button on Instagram?

Tap on “Discover People,” and you'll see an option to connect your account with Facebook or your phone contacts. Choose “Connect” and allow Instagram to access your phone or Facebook contact lists. Here, you'll also see profile suggestions.

How can you see who looks at your Instagram?

To look at who's seen your story, open your story and swipe up on the screen. You'll see the number and the Instagram usernames of the people who have viewed each photo or video in your story.

What does orange triangle mean on Instagram?

To find the conversations you've flagged, navigate to your Instagram inbox. Then tap the icon to the right of the search box and select Flagged from the pop-up menu. Flagged messages have an orange triangle in the top-right corner.

Can you tell if someone is chatting on Instagram?

When your friends are active on Instagram, you'll see a green dot next to their profile picture in various spaces within the app, including the Direct inbox and your friend list when you share a post from feed. You will only see status for friends who follow you or people who you have talked to in Direct.

How do you know if someone is talking to someone else on Instagram?

The update is rolling out now, to see if you have it:

  1. Head to the profile tab (person icon) in the bottom right corner of Instagram.
  2. Tap “Following”
  3. If you've got the change, you'll see “Least Interacted With” and “Most Shown in Feed” near the top.

What is the brush icon on Instagram?

Drawing a halo around an object or person in your Instagram story is a creative way to highlight something special in your image and make it stand out. To create this effect, tap the brush tool icon (the squiggly line) at the top of the screen.