Does Instagram Automatically Like Photos?

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How to Copy on Instagram

Sometimes you can come across pictures or comments that you haven’t liked yourself and it can be quite scary to know that you’re not the only person who has control of your own account.

If you see a picture that you haven’t liked yourself, there’s probably something that has access to your account. There are a few ways to stop Instagram from automatically liking pictures.

Does Instagram Automatically Like Photos

Instagram doesn’t automatically like photos on your behalf. If you see a picture that has been liked but you know it wasn’t you, chances are it was a third-party bot doing the liking, or there’s a bug within Instagram that’s showing the red heart on posts when they actually haven’t been like. There’s no case where Instagram likes posts automatically so if you do see posts being liked and you know it wasn’t you, then an app might have authorization to like posts on your behalf or someone may be in your account liking posts.

The only time where Instagram could potentially ‘like something on your behalf’ is if the app has a bug and the red heart is filled in when you haven’t double-tapped the post. This doesn’t mean that the like will be registered, it just means that there’s a glitch making it look like you’ve liked a post when the like hasn’t been registered. If you were to wait for the glitch to correct itself, then the red heart will go.

Why Is Instagram Saying I Liked Something I Didn’t?

There are a few reasons why Instagram is saying that you’ve liked something when you didn’t and in more cases than not, you aren’t the one who’s liked it. Chances are there’s a bot or a glitch causing the problem. There are a few other cases where something has caused the app to say that you’ve liked something when you didn’t make sure to check yourself first before looking at other reasons.

1. Third-Party App

The reason Instagram is liking photos by itself is that a third-party app or person has control of your account. If you’ve signed up for an app that requires you to sign into Instagram, this app may be using bots to like photos automatically.

If you’ve signed up for an app that requires you to sign in to Instagram, this app may be using bots to like photos automatically. Until you stop the third-party access, you may continue seeing pictures that are automatically liked. To stop this, you have to stop third-party access and you need to change your Instagram password.

2. You’ve Been Hacked

If you’ve been hacked on Instagram, the hacker themselves may be liking posts on your Instagram. Usually, hackers only hack your account for monetary gain so if the hacker has been liking pics, it’s usually using a tool that they can use to automate it. Them using a tool means that they’re able to automate the liking and it means they can do it in mass quantity. There are two types of hackers. The ones that hack you because you’ve clicked on a link and entered your Instagram login credentials in an embedded browser. The other is someone that knows you personally that’s hacked into your account and is being foolish with it. 

3. You Liked It Without Realising

If you’ve been liking posts on Instagram without realizing it, this could be why you’re seeing liked posts when you think you haven’t liked them. You may have double-tapped the screen or clicked the like button without realizing it. If this is the case, then you’ll need to make sure that you don’t accidentally like Instagram posts. You may have been drunk on a night out and you’ve opened Instagram to realize that there are a bunch of liked posts you’ve liked without realizing. If you notice that this happens regularly and you’re sure that you have been liking people’s posts, then chances are it’s something else that’s causing the problem.

4. Bug

Another reason why Instagram is liking posts automatically when you haven’t liked yourself is that there’s a bug in the Instagram app that’s liking posts randomly. When there’s a glitch within Instagram, it can cause unexpected errors with a common error being photos being liked automatically. A glitch is a failure within the software and when this happens, you’ll need to get rid of it before it causes more problems.

To fix this glitch, you need to get rid of the error within the app and this can be done in your settings.

  1. Open the Settings app. The app icon resembles a gear that is kept against a gray background.
  2. On the Settings menu, scroll down to “Apps” and tap on that option.
  3. When you’re on the Apps menu, select the “Instagram” app from the list of the apps on your device.
  4. Once you click on the app, you’ll have to select the option on the screen that says “Storage.”
  5. At the top of the storage screen, you’ll see the Clear Data and Clear Cache options.
  6. Select each of those options, one by one.

5. Someone Else Has Access to Your Instagram Account

If someone else has access to your Instagram account, they may be liking posts on your behalf. If you have a social media manager that runs your business account for you, then they might be the ones liking it. If you’ve given a friend, a family member, or a significant other your Instagram account, maybe they’re the ones that have liked your Instagram pictures on your behalf. If this is the case, then you need to ask them if they’re the ones doing so.

6. Someone’s Been on Your Phone

If someone has access to your phone, maybe your significant other, or your friend, they might be the one who’s liking pictures and when you visit the app, you’re wondering how posts are being liked without you clicking the like button. If this is the case, you need to ask who you think may have been on your phone if they’re the ones that have been liking posts. Simply say to them, have you liked any pictures on my Instagram recently, then go ahead and show them the pictures. If they’ve said it’s not them, then it’s likely another reason.

Someone Is Liking Posts on My Instagram

If you think someone has been liking people’s photos on Instagram, chances are they haven’t been and there’s another reason why posts are being liked automatically. If you can see that posts are being liked automatically on your Instagram, then you need to make sure that you haven’t been the one that’s doing it. If you know for sure it wasn’t you, try some troubleshooting steps and once you’ve concluded that it wasn’t a bot, glitch, or you, someone’s probably in your Instagram account and you’ll need to change your password.

How to Stop Auto Like on Instagram

If you want to stop Instagram automatically liking posts then you’ll need to remove unauthorized access from apps that could potentially be liking posts on your account without you doing so. If it isn’t a bot doing the liking, then chances are Instagram has a bug that’s causing posts to like themselves without you doing anything.

1. Revoke and Block Third-Party App Access

block third party apps

The first way to stop Instagram from liking photos itself is to block third-party app access. Since an app may have control of your Instagram account, you’ll need to block and revoke it using the web version of Instagram.

When an app has third-party access, it has access and control over your profile information such as photos and followers.

It can like photos and comment on your behalf. And it can follow and unfollow other Instagram accounts.

To block third-party access:

  1. Go to instagram.com.
  2. Click on your profile.
  3. Click Authorized apps.
  4. Click Remove Access under the authorized app
  5. Click Yes to block the third-party app.

If you see a message saying, ‘You have not authorized any applications to access your Instagram account,’ it means that you haven’t given any third-party apps access to your Instagram account.

If this is the case, you’ll need to change your password because it looks like someone or something has access to it that Instagram doesn’t know about.

2. Change Instagram Passwords

change instagram password

Instagram automatically signs out every device and removes any device with third-party access when you change your password.

To sign out on other devices:

  1. Go to your Instagram profile.
  2. Click on the settings icon.
  3. Click Change Password.
  4. Enter your Current Password.
  5. Enter a New Password twice.
  6. Click Done to change your password and sign out other devices.

Once you’ve done this, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll see any more liked photos that you didn’t like yourself.

If you do, repeat the same steps just to make sure no other third party has access to your Instagram account.

3. Wait For Them To Come Out With A Fix

If you notice that Instagram is still liking posts automatically, you should wait for Instagram to come out with a fix. Just know that this is potentially a sitewide thing that everyone will be experiencing so the right thing to do would be to wait for Instagram to get rid of the bug.

4. Password Protect Your Phone

If there’s a chance someone could be using your phone without you knowing, maybe it’s a family member or a significant other, then you need to make sure that your phone is password protected. Whether you’re using an iPhone or an Android, you need to make sure that your phone is password protect and this can be done via the settings app. In the settings app, you can password protect your phone in the password section and this will stop unauthorized access to your Instagram account.

5. Restart Instagram App

Another way to combat this problem would be to restart the app. When you restart the app, it refreshes the page which allows any glitches that were causing posts to be liked automatically to go away. After you’ve restarted the app, you can go back to the post that was automatically liked and check if it’s gone.

6. Log Out then Back In

Getting rid of bugs that can cause Instagram to like posts for you can be done by logging out them back into Instagram. Once you’ve logged out, log back in and check if Instagram is still liking posts for you. If you’ve noticed after a while that posts are still being liked for you, then you know that there was a glitch that caused them.

7. Update Instagram

The last step to take if the steps above haven’t worked for you would be to update Instagram. If the steps above didn’t work, it looks like the app has a bug. From here on, you would need to go to the App Store and check if Instagram has an update. The point of an update is to fix bugs and add new features to the app.

If you look at the description, you’ll see the term ‘bug fixes’. There’s a very high chance that this would fix the bug that’s causing Instagram to like posts for you. 

8. Contact Instagram

App developers frequently release new versions of their apps that include a variety of bug patches and new features. You should return to the Google Play Store or the App Store and see if an update is available. If you’re still unable to stop Instagram automatically liking pictures, then you should contact Instagram support. If an update for the program is available, make sure you install it as soon as possible. Often, this is sufficient to resolve the situation.

Bottom Line

To stop pictures from automatically liking, you’ll need to block third-party access and change your Instagram password. This ensures that nothing else has control over your Instagram

If you have any questions, comment down below.

David Johnson is a freelance writer with 9 years of experience writing for Techzillo and other established tech outlets like iMore. His focus and key interests are Apple and accessibility as well as consumer technology in general. Read our Editorial Guidlines and Fact Checking process.

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