Anonymous · Free · No login

Watch Instagram stories anonymously

Paste a username or link and watch or download public Instagram stories in seconds. No login, no app, and you do not appear in the account's viewer list.

Works with a username, @handle or any instagram.com link. No login needed.

Public accounts only · Free · Not affiliated with Instagram

No login. No account. Not in their viewer list.

Our servers fetch the story. Your device never talks to Instagram, so there is no viewer to record.

Watch it end to end.

Tap to skip, hold to pause, swipe to the next account — the player you know, minus the viewer list.

View public content without an account.

Stories, highlights, reels and profile pictures from public accounts, right in your browser.

Start watching

Scroll to see how it works ↓

What Peekghost is

Peekghost is a free web tool that shows public Instagram stories, highlights, reels, posts and profile pictures without logging in. You only type a username: no Instagram account or password, and you do not need to install an app or browser extension. It works for public accounts only, it is supported by ads, and it has guides in 9 languages. Peekghost is not affiliated with Instagram or Meta.

How it works

Three steps, no sign-up.

Type a username
Paste a handle or any Instagram link. We only look up public accounts.
We fetch it server-side
Our servers request the public content. Your device never talks to Instagram, and nothing is marked as seen.
Watch, save, keep a list
Play stories in an Instagram-faithful player, download originals and keep a watchlist in your browser.

Why people use it

Not in the viewer list

You never appear in anyone's viewer list because there is no account to appear as.

No login, ever

We don't ask for your Instagram password and we can't use your account.

The real story experience

Tap to skip, hold to pause, swipe between accounts — just like the app, without an account to show up in the viewer list.

Original quality downloads

Photos and videos in the size Instagram serves them, no watermark.

Saved accounts

Keep a list of public accounts you open often, so each one is a tap away.

Your list stays on your device

Your watchlist and recent searches stay in your browser. The privacy policy explains what our server records and why.

What you can see here, compared with Instagram

Peekghost shows what a public Instagram account shows to everyone, and you do not sign in to Instagram to see it. It does not unlock anything Instagram keeps for followers.

What you want to do	On Instagram	On Peekghost
Watch a public account's story	Your username goes on the owner's viewer list for up to 48 hours. Story Preview, a paid Instagram Plus feature, leaves it off	You do not sign in here, and no account of yours is used, so your username is not added to the viewer list
Open highlights, including old ones	Round covers under the bio. The website may ask you to log in	Every highlight on a public profile, played in order
Browse an account's reels and posts	Logged out, recent posts load and login prompts follow as you scroll	The whole public grid, page by page
See a private account's stories or posts	Only as a follower the owner approved	Not possible. Only the profile picture, name and bio are public
See a profile picture at full size	Tapping it shows a larger circle, still resized for the screen	The largest square copy Instagram serves, also for private accounts
Save to your device	A Download option on public reels, unless the creator turned it off. No download button for other people's stories or photos	A download button on public stories, highlights, posts and profile pictures, except videos whose creator turned downloads off
See who viewed a profile	Not shown to anyone	Not shown. No tool can show it

Instagram facts come from its Help Center and its Instagram Plus page. Its logged-out website varies by country and device.

All the tools

One search box, six ways to look.

Popular guides

Latest guides

What we do and don't do

We fetch public content server-side. We don't log in and we don't mark stories as seen. The privacy policy explains what our server records and why.

Read our methodology

If a search does not show what you expected

It says there are no active stories: Nothing was posted in the last 24 hours. Highlights do not expire, so open those instead. A story posted minutes ago can take up to about 15 minutes to appear here.
It says the account is private: Only followers the owner approved can see a private account's stories, highlights and posts. The profile picture, name and bio stay public, so those still load. No honest tool gets past this.
It cannot find the username: Check the spelling, or paste the profile link instead. The account may also have been renamed, deleted or banned.
A story you saw in the app is missing here: A green ring means a Close Friends story, which only people on the poster's list can see. Those are never public, so they never appear here. Otherwise the story may have expired in the meantime.

Frequently asked questions

Will the account know I watched their story?: No. Instagram only records viewers who are logged in. We fetch the story with our own servers, so there is no viewer to record.
Does it work for private accounts?: No. Only approved followers can see a private account's content, and we don't bypass that.
Do I need an Instagram account?: No. You never log in, and we never ask for a password.
Is it free?: Yes. The viewer is free and supported by ads.
Can I download stories?: Yes, in the quality Instagram serves: stories, highlights, posts and profile pictures from public accounts. Videos whose creator turned downloads off on Instagram have no download button.
Why are some stories missing?: Stories disappear after 24 hours. If Instagram is throttling us, we show the last copy we have and tell you how old it is.
Do you store what I search?: Your recent searches and watchlist are kept in your browser, and you can clear them. The privacy policy explains what our server records and for how long.
Is this affiliated with Instagram?: No. This is an independent tool and is not affiliated with Instagram or Meta.
Can I see an Instagram story after 24 hours?: Not as a viewer. A story leaves the profile after 24 hours, or 48 if the poster used Story Extend, an Instagram Plus feature. After that only the owner can open it, in their archive, unless they added it to a highlight.
Does Instagram tell someone when I screenshot their story?: Instagram's Help Center describes screenshot notices only for disappearing photos and videos sent in direct messages and for vanish mode chats. It describes none for ordinary stories, posts or reels.
Can anyone see who viewed their Instagram profile?: No. Instagram does not show a list of profile visitors to anyone. Public accounts get a count of profile activity in their insights, but no names, so an app that promises a visitor list cannot deliver one.
How is this different from Instagram Plus Story Preview?: Story Preview is part of Instagram Plus, Instagram's paid subscription. Instagram says it lets a subscriber look at a story without appearing in the viewer list, from their own logged-in account. Peekghost needs no account and no subscription, but it only shows public accounts.
Does it work on iPhone, Android and computers?: Yes. It runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install. On a phone you can also add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.

Ready to look?

Type any public username to start.

Open the viewer