The feature that causes messages to vanish after being viewed can be disabled within Instagram’s chat settings. Doing so prevents photos and videos sent in a direct message from disappearing after the recipient has opened and viewed them. This change reverts the conversation back to a standard message format, where content remains visible until manually deleted.
Disabling this ephemeral message mode provides users with a persistent record of their conversations. This can be beneficial for referencing information shared within the chat or retaining media content. While disappearing messages offer a degree of privacy, standard messages allow for easy review and prevent the need to capture screenshots to preserve important content. Instagram introduced disappearing messages as part of a larger suite of privacy-focused features designed to provide greater control over shared information.