- Remixing in plain English: your content inside someone else's reel
- Who can remix you: public, private and teen accounts
- Switching off remixing for all your posts and reels
- Stopping remixes on a single reel or photo
- What happens to remixes that already exist
- Remix compared with reposting and sharing to stories
- My advice for businesses: leave remix on or switch it off?
- Frequently asked questions
Remix on Instagram means someone has made their own reel using your reel, feed video or photo as part of it, usually reacting to it or building on it. On public accounts, remixing is switched on by default for anything shared after the feature arrived. The catch is that turning it off later doesn't remove remixes that already exist.
If you've had a notification that someone remixed your content, or you've seen Remix in a menu and wondered what it does, here's the whole picture from Instagram's Help Center, including the settings most people never find.
Remixing in plain English: your content inside someone else's reel
A remix takes an existing reel, video or photo and lets another person create something new with it. You'll often see reactions, duets, answers to a question or someone recreating a trend next to the original. The original creator is still connected to it, which is the difference between a remix and simply copying someone's video.
Instagram's Help Center notes a detail that surprises people: remix creators can download your content as part of their remix, but you can't download remixes other people have made with your reel, video or photo.
You'll usually spot the word Remix in two places: in the menu on someone else's reel, where it lets you start a remix of your own, and in your notifications, where it tells you someone has remixed you. Seeing it in the menu doesn't mean anything has happened yet. It's just an option the creator has left switched on.
Who can remix you: public, private and teen accounts
Instagram's Help Center says the default depends on your account's privacy setting:
| Account type | Default remix setting | Can you change it? |
|---|---|---|
| Private account | No one can remix your reels, feed videos or photos | Content stays unremixable while private |
| Public account | Anyone on Instagram can remix content shared after remixing became available | Yes, for everything or post by post |
| Users under 18 | Default is people you follow | Yes: everyone, people you follow or no one |
You'll also get a notification when a public account remixes your content, according to the Help Center, so you're not left in the dark.
Switching off remixing for all your posts and reels
You can turn remixing off without making your account private. Here are the Help Center steps for the Android and iPhone app:
- Tap your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
- Tap the menu in the top right.
- Below How others can interact with you, tap Sharing and reuse.
- Below Allow people to create with and reuse your content, switch Posts or Reels off.
Instagram's note is worth knowing: this changes the setting for all of your reels, feed videos and photos, and it won't affect who can use your original audio. If you want your sound to stay private too, that's a separate decision.
Stopping remixes on a single reel or photo
If you only want to protect one post, the Help Center says you can do it from the post itself. Open the reel or photo on your profile, tap the options menu, then tap Remixing and choose Turn off reuse, then confirm. No one will be able to create new remixes with it. Tap Allow reuse later if you change your mind.
What happens to remixes that already exist
This is where people get caught out. The Help Center lists several rules:
- Turning off remixing doesn't remove remixes created before you changed the setting. They stay unless you delete your post.
- Deleting your reel or photo also deletes remixes made with it, including ones shared to Facebook.
- If you restore a deleted video or photo within 30 days, its remixes are restored too.
- Remixes are deleted if you set your account to private for longer than 24 hours.
- Remixed reels shared to Facebook can't be remixed again on Facebook.
So if a remix of your video is somewhere you'd rather it wasn't, turning the setting off won't fix it on its own. Your options are deleting the original or reporting the remix if it breaks the rules.
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There's also a search angle many people miss. The Help Center says that depending on the remixing account's settings, a remix may be indexable by search engines, and that after you delete the original it can take time for search engines to drop remixes of your content. If privacy matters to you, it's better to switch remixing off before you post than to clean up afterwards.
Remix compared with reposting and sharing to stories
| Option | What the other person does | Credit to you |
|---|---|---|
| Remix | Makes new content using yours | Your original stays connected |
| Repost | Shares your post or reel unchanged with their followers | Credited to you automatically |
| Share to story | Puts your post in their story for 24 hours | Your name shows on the shared post |
Instagram's original content guidance says that if you want to share other accounts' reels or posts without making real edits, you should repost or share to your story rather than posting a copy. My guide on reposting on Instagram covers that side, and if a remix uses the POV format, here's what POV means.
My advice for businesses: leave remix on or switch it off?
For most brands, I'd leave remixing on. Every remix puts your original in front of someone else's followers, and a customer remixing your product video is free word of mouth. Switch it off post by post when the content features customers, children, staff who didn't agree to wider use or anything sensitive. If you run a private account by design, such as a client group, you don't need to do anything, because no one can remix you. Check your setting once a quarter, because it's easy to forget it's there. And if a remix of your product turns out well, thank the creator in the comments. It costs nothing and encourages more people to do the same.
Related guides live in the Instagram Help: 81 Guides to Followers, Hashtags, Money, Accounts and Fixes.
Frequently asked questions
What does remix mean on Instagram?
It means someone has created their own reel using your reel, feed video or photo as part of it.
Can people remix my reels without asking?
On a public account, yes, by default. You can turn remixing off for everything or for individual posts.
How do I turn off remix on Instagram?
Go to your profile, open the menu, tap Sharing and reuse, then switch off Posts or Reels under Allow people to create with and reuse your content.
Does turning off remix delete existing remixes?
No. Remixes made before you changed the setting stay unless you delete your original post.
Will I know if someone remixes my reel?
Yes. Instagram sends you a notification when a public account remixes your content.
