Add the extension
Choose your browser from the official store links and complete its installation prompt.
Setup guide / Version 2.0.0
Start with the Free privacy controls, then set up the Pro tools you want. This guide follows version 2.0.0. Just installed? Explore the getting started guide.
Use Stay Unseen on supported websites in desktop Chrome, Edge or Firefox. Free privacy controls work without a licence key.
Choose your browser from the official store links and complete its installation prompt.
Pin Stay Unseen from your browser’s extensions menu. Reload any social tabs that were already open, including after an update.
Click the toolbar icon. Review the switches for each site and leave the privacy controls you want enabled.
Coming from 1.1.1? The toolbar icon now opens a full-page dashboard. Your browser may ask for access to the added websites and media downloads. Read the complete release notes for the changes.
Core privacy switches start enabled. Pro switches unlock after activation. Focus mode, screen privacy and the download queue start off, so turn them on when you need them.
Status and counters describe settings and observed blocked signals. They do not prove what another person sees, and repeated signals may be grouped together.
Feature rows show local activity, a runtime-health badge and, where available, a separate public verification date. For example, a blocked count and “last” time come from this browser; Working describes required local components; Verified comes from a manually recorded compatibility test.
Hover, focus or click the badge to see exact local reasons, such as a missing hook, an older content build or one of several tabs not responding. Reload affected tabs and check site access. Read the public Status page separately for published compatibility; its API receives no local health evidence.
Tools appear when the current page has a supported chat, profile or media item. The table below separates the original Free privacy features from Pro additions.
| Platform | Free privacy | Pro additions |
|---|---|---|
| Story/reel views, DM read receipts, typing controls and native unread markers. | Supported video, story and voice-note downloads; follow status; Mark Seen; Focus mode; screen privacy. | |
| Story views, read receipts, typing controls and native unread markers. | Supported video, story and voice-note downloads; Mark Seen; Focus mode; screen privacy. | |
| Messenger | Read receipts, typing controls and native unread markers. | Available chat voice-note downloads; Mark Seen; screen privacy. |
| WhatsApp Web | — | Blue-tick, typing/recording and Status-view controls; Mark Seen; screen privacy. |
| Threads | Native unread-marker utility where supported; Seen/typing protection requires Pro. | Seen/presence and typing controls; follow status; Focus mode; screen privacy. Works on threads.com and threads.net. |
| TikTok | — | Supported video downloads and incoming follow-status badges. TikTok tools do not block read receipts or hide profile visits. |
Pro also includes the status pill on all six platforms and the queue for supported Instagram, Facebook and TikTok media. These controls apply to websites, not the native mobile apps.
Lifetime Pro is a one-time $9.99 USD purchase for up to three browser installations, with no subscription. Separate browsers or browser profiles count as separate installations.
After activation, the extension checks its signed entitlement locally and attempts renewal through the Stay Unseen API about daily and when needed at startup or near expiry. A longer-lived refresh credential can recover access after an offline gap. Offline Pro works only until the current entitlement expires. Refunded or revoked purchases cannot renew; an offline browser may keep access until expiry. Using social websites and downloading media still requires their normal internet connection. See what activation sends.
Already activated? The licence-check improvements preserve valid Pro activations. Update normally and reload open social tabs; this change does not require releasing your device, buying again or reactivating Pro.
On the old installation, choose Release this device. Select Release. After release succeeds, activate that key on the new installation. Releasing a device frees its slot and does not cancel your purchase.
Release before uninstalling or clearing extension data. If the old installation is no longer accessible or you reach the device limit, contact support.
PRO Look for the Stay Unseen icon near the bottom-right corner of a supported page. Select the pill to open quick controls for that site.
The pill remains usable while screen privacy blurs and locks the page. Use it to turn screen privacy off, or use the dashboard. Press Esc or click outside to close quick controls; Tab moves between controls.
Try the homepage’s status pill demo. It only changes the website preview.
PRO Enable Mark Seen button in In-Page Utilities, then open a supported Instagram, Facebook, Messenger or WhatsApp Web conversation. The button sits just above the active message composer.
Select Mark Seen when you want to send the receipt for that chat. This deliberately lets the messaging service know you have read it.
Availability depends on the site’s current chat layout. Mark Seen is not supported on Threads or TikTok. For sender-visible blue ticks in a WhatsApp personal chat, WhatsApp’s own Read receipts setting must allow them; the button does not override that privacy setting. A local result does not guarantee that the other person’s screen has updated.
PRO Turn on Video & story downloads for Instagram/Facebook media, or Video downloads in the TikTok section.
Downloads use media the supported page makes available. TikTok photo slideshows are not included, and marks embedded by the uploader cannot be removed. Chrome and Edge currently support TikTok downloads up to 128 MB.
Enable Download queue under In-Page Utilities, then use a supported media download button. Remote Instagram, Facebook and TikTok media can be queued one at a time; media available only as a temporary in-page file saves directly.
Stay Unseen / platform / date in your downloads folder.If a media link has expired, return to the original post, play the media again and select its download button.
PRO Enable Show following status in the Instagram, Threads or TikTok section. Instagram and Threads share the same preference. Sign in to that website and open a profile.
The badge reports whether that account follows you, or identifies your own profile. Instagram places the badge below the Follow/Following control; Threads places its rounded badge after the username. An explicit non-follower result is different from missing relationship data. If the site does not provide enough information, it shows an unavailable result or a retry option. Reopen the profile or retry after its details finish loading.
PRO Both are optional switches in In-Page Utilities. They start off and can also be controlled from the pill where available.
Screen privacy affects supported webpages. It does not hide browser notifications, other applications or TikTok. The status pill stays outside the blurred page so its controls remain accessible.
Refresh the social tab, check that Stay Unseen is enabled for that site in your browser, and review the matching dashboard switch. Pro tools also require an active Pro licence. If the pill was hidden, restore Floating status pill in In-Page Utilities.
Select Resume to end a pause. For Partial or Off, review that platform’s individual privacy switches. TikTok’s pill reports download and profile tools, rather than privacy blocking.
Open the correct conversation or media item and try again. Start video playback before downloading. If a queued link has expired, select the media again from the original post. Site changes can affect which actions are available.
Check the key from your purchase email and your internet connection. If all three slots are in use, release an old installation first. Contact support if you no longer have access to it.
For more help, email [email protected] with your browser, extension version, affected site and the message shown. There is no need to include private conversations.