What Does Circle On Instagram Story Mean: Blue, Black, Grey & Others

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✎ Key Takes:

» Instagram profiles are color-coded to signal recent story updates. Each color ring corresponds to a different story status:
» A rainbow ring celebrates pride month.
» Blue signifies a recent story post, while green signals restricted access to ‘Close Friends.’
» A double ring indicates a bordered profile picture, while a grey circle denotes viewing all stories.
» A red circle indicates an unseen story by the profile owner.

Instagram Story Ring Color Meaning:

If you have Instagram friends or follow certain accounts, you’ll spot a vibrant circle surrounding their profile picture when they share a new Instagram Story. This circle appears at the top of your home feed, signaling fresh content awaiting exploration.

This feature allows you to tap their profile photo and instantly dive into their Story, browsing through the photos or videos they’ve uploaded. Swipe through the Story to explore its various segments.

When you see the colorful circle around someone’s profile picture, simply tap on their photo to access their Story. From there, you can engage with the content by sending direct messages or reacting with emojis.

1. Blue Circle Mean

The blue circle signals that the profile has recently shared an Instagram Story. You can view this story by tapping on their profile while the circle is still visible. When you tap into their story, you’ll navigate to the next segment, and tapping left will take you back to the previous one.

A green circle indicates that the person has posted a story exclusively for close friends.

2. What does Grey circle On Instagram Story mean:

Instagram also features a grey color ring, indicating viewed content. If a profile image appears in grey, black, or faded, it means you’ve seen all of the person’s stories. When someone posts a story, their profile circle initially appears in color, but after viewing all their stories, it turns grey.

However, there’s a condition: if you haven’t seen all the contents of someone’s story, their profile circle remains colored, not turning grey. To ensure the circle does turn grey, open their story and tap the right side of your screen to navigate through each content.

Repeat this process for all contents to trigger the color change. If a profile with a faded or grey ring reappears, it signals a new story.

3. What Does Black Ring Around Instagram Profile Picture Mean:

If you spot Instagram friends with profile pictures encircled by a black ring, it indicates they’ve posted a story that you’re currently unable to view. This could stem from diverse causes, like technical glitches or temporary app issues.

To address this, you can take several troubleshooting steps. Begin by refreshing your Instagram feed or restarting the app to see if the problem resolves. If not, consider clearing the app cache or updating to the latest Instagram version.

4. Double circle on Instagram Mean

The double circle seen on Instagram serves as a customizable border for users’ profile pictures. Many individuals utilize this feature to enhance their presence on the platform. While it may resemble a posted story, it actually signifies a border.

Some users opt to edit their profile pictures by incorporating a colored border, hence the appearance of a double circle. This distinction allows viewers to recognize manually added borders.

When a story containing such a border is posted, the profile picture gains three circles: two representing existing borders and one for the story. Tools like ‘UNILINK’ enable users to effortlessly add Instagram borders to their profile pictures, facilitating customization via the web or app.

5. The Instagram Red circle On Profile picture Mean:

As previously stated, when you create a story on Instagram, a colorful ring encircles your profile picture, signaling the presence of a new story.

For active Instagram users, a red hollow circle surrounding a profile picture or adjacent to a username indicates the posting of a new story that you have yet to view.

Following the story’s posting, the red ring remains visible for only 24 hours, as Instagram stories automatically vanish after this period. Once you’ve viewed the story, the red circle transitions to gray.

What Does Purple Color Mean:

This indicates that the user has contributed to the individual’s Private Story, which will be distinguished by a lock icon.

Why are Some Instagram Profiles Circle in Color:

Instagram profiles display colored circles when a user has recently posted a story. If you don’t see a colored ring, it indicates the absence of a recent story. Tapping on a profile picture with a colored circle allows you to view the posted story.

To navigate through stories, tap the right side of the screen for the next content, if available, or swipe from right to left to move to the next person’s story. Instagram stories remain visible for 24 hours before the colored circle and story disappear.

Once you’ve viewed all of someone’s story content, the circle changes to grey, but you can still re-watch it.