The short version: You cannot switch Reels off completely on Instagram, but you can cut the volume dramatically using “Not Interested” taps, the Content Preferences menu, and by unfollowing accounts that only post video. Do all three and your feed goes from roughly 70 percent Reels back down to something closer to a mix you chose. It takes about ten minutes to set up and needs a top-up every few weeks because Instagram quietly nudges the sliders back.
Why your feed turned into a Reels feed in the first place
This isn’t your imagination and it isn’t your settings glitching. In 2023, Instagram’s head Adam Mosseri said publicly that video, meaning Reels, was becoming the dominant format across the whole app, not just its own tab. Meta’s own reporting has repeatedly flagged that time spent watching Reels has grown faster than any other content type on the platform. The app is built to push you toward the format that keeps you scrolling longest, and that format is short video, because video ad inventory sells at a higher rate than static image ads. Once you know that, the flood of Reels on your main feed stops feeling like a bug and starts making a lot more sense as a business decision.
I noticed it during a client audit last spring. A wellness brand I was working with tracked its own founder’s personal feed for a week using Instagram’s built-in activity dashboard. Reels made up 41 minutes of a 58-minute daily average, up from roughly 15 minutes the previous year on the same account with the same follows. Nothing had changed on her end. The app had simply decided she should be watching more video.
The fastest fix: “Not Interested” on every Reel that annoys you
This is the single most effective lever and most people never use it consistently. When a Reel shows up in your main feed that you don’t want, long-press on it (or tap the three dots on some Android builds) and select “Not Interested.” Instagram treats this as a strong negative signal, far stronger than simply scrolling past. Do this ten or fifteen times in a single sitting and you’ll notice the feed shift within a day or two.
The trick almost everyone misses is that this needs repeating regularly. Instagram’s recommendation model isn’t static, it retrains constantly, and a few weeks of normal scrolling will slowly reintroduce the exact type of content you filtered out. Treat it like weeding a garden rather than a one-time fix.
Step by step: turning down Reels in your settings
Beyond the tap-by-tap approach, there’s a proper settings menu most users never open:
- Open your profile and tap the three lines, then Settings and privacy
- Tap Content preferences
- Tap Reels, then check “Accounts you don’t want to see” and add any accounts flooding your feed with clips you’re sick of
- Scroll to “Sensitive content control” and set it to “Less,” which trims a surprising chunk of the algorithmically pushed, engagement-bait video content
- Go back to Content preferences and tap “Manage words you don’t want to see,” adding terms tied to the type of Reels you’re trying to avoid, since Instagram uses these to filter recommended video too, not just comments
None of this removes the Reels tab itself, and there’s still no official toggle that says “hide Reels from my main feed.” Instagram has resisted adding one despite years of user requests, which tells you plainly where the company’s priorities sit. If you want a gentler, more targeted approach that keeps specific creators around without cutting them off entirely, this guide on how to mute Reels on Instagram without unfollowing anyone walks through the account-by-account version of the same idea.
Unfollow the accounts training the algorithm against you
Here’s the part that feels obvious but that people skip because unfollowing feels rude. If you follow twenty accounts and five of them post nothing but Reels, your engagement with those five is teaching Instagram’s model that you like video, and it will serve you more video from accounts you don’t even follow to match that pattern. Go through your following list once every couple of months and unfollow or mute the worst offenders. I did this with my own account in January, cutting eighteen accounts that had gone all-in on Reels-only content strategies, and my feed calmed down within four days.
This also connects to how hashtags behave. If you search or engage with certain hashtags regularly, Instagram treats that as another signal for what to recommend, video included. If you’re building your own content strategy alongside cleaning up your feed, it’s worth understanding which hashtags drive reach in 2026 versus which ones just flood your explore page with more of the same short video everyone else is posting.
Use the Favourites feature to force real priority
A less-known workaround: Instagram’s “Favourites” list, found in Content preferences, lets you mark up to 50 accounts whose posts get pushed higher in your feed regardless of format. This doesn’t block Reels, but it dilutes their dominance by guaranteeing that photos and carousels from people you chose get priority placement instead of being buried under recommended video from strangers. Add your top 20 to 30 accounts here and check the feed difference within a day.
What none of this fixes
Here’s the uncomfortable bit most guides skip past. Even with every setting maxed out and every “Not Interested” tap logged, Instagram will still show you Reels, because the business model isn’t built around giving you a filter switch, it’s built around watch time and ad revenue, and video performs better on both. Meta has had years to add a simple “hide Reels from feed” toggle, the kind TikTok-style apps get asked for constantly, and it hasn’t. That’s not an oversight. Every setting covered here reduces volume, none of them remove the format entirely, and treating this as a permanent fix rather than ongoing maintenance is where people get frustrated and give up after week one.
The realistic goal is reduction, not removal. Get the feed from mostly Reels down to a manageable mix, expect to redo the “Not Interested” taps every month or so, and accept that the app’s default state, left unmanaged, will always drift back toward video.
Other feed and content controls worth knowing while you’re at it
If you’re already digging into Instagram’s settings menus to control what shows up, a few related controls are worth bookmarking. If you post your own Reels or Stories and want to know what happens to them after the fact, it’s worth reading how to delete or erase an Instagram Story after posting, and if you’re curious who’s watching what you share, how to check who has saved your Instagram Story covers what you can and can’t see in 2026. And if a competitor or ex keeps screenshotting content you’d rather they didn’t, this piece on whether you can stop competitors screenshotting your Instagram Stories is worth ten minutes.
A realistic weekly routine
If you want this to stick, treat it as a five-minute weekly habit rather than a one-off setup:
- Tap “Not Interested” on any Reel that annoys you the moment you see it, don’t save it for later
- Once a week, scroll your Content preferences list and add any new repeat offender accounts
- Once a month, review your following list and cut accounts that have gone Reels-only
- Every few months, double-check your Favourites list still reflects who you want prioritised
None of this is glamorous, and it won’t get you to zero. But consistently applied, it’s the difference between a feed that feels like it’s yours and one that feels like it’s being run entirely by someone else’s ad targets.
Related reading: does instagram blend change your feed.
Frequently asked questions
Can you turn off Reels completely on Instagram?
No. There is no official setting to remove the Reels tab or stop Reels appearing in your main feed. You can reduce their volume significantly using “Not Interested” taps, Content preferences, and unfollowing video-heavy accounts, but Instagram has never added a full off switch and there’s no sign it plans to.
Why does my Instagram feed show so many Reels from accounts I don’t follow?
Instagram’s recommendation system fills gaps in your feed with content it predicts you’ll engage with, based on your watch history, likes, and search behaviour, regardless of whether you follow the account. This is why unfollowing alone doesn’t fix it, the algorithm is reacting to your engagement patterns, not just your follow list.
Does tapping “Not Interested” on Reels work?
Yes, it’s the strongest negative signal available to regular users and works faster than simply scrolling past unwanted content. Doing it consistently over ten to fifteen Reels in one sitting typically produces a noticeable shift in your feed within one to two days, though the effect fades over a few weeks if you stop.
Is there a way to see fewer Reels without unfollowing people I like?
Yes, use the mute option instead of unfollowing, which hides an account’s posts or Reels from your feed while keeping the follow relationship intact so they don’t know you’ve muted them. This works well for accounts you like personally but that have shifted to posting mostly video content you’d rather skip.
Official documentation
If this did not solve it, browse every Instagram fix and setting in one place.
