Let's be straight from the start: Instagram has no setting that removes Reels. Not in preferences, not in a hidden menu. If you came here hoping for a switch, there isn't one.
What does exist is three partial workarounds and one thing that actually holds. In order.
Why there is no switch
Reels aren't just another feature — they're Instagram's answer to TikTok, and the part of the app where people spend the most time. A setting that removed them would sink the one metric that matters to an ad-funded network: time spent.
So it isn't an oversight, and it isn't coming. That also explains why every workaround below is temporary: when a setting like this exists at all, it expires on its own after a few weeks.
A setting that expires after 30 days isn't a setting. It's a reprieve.
What you can do inside Instagram today
Switch the feed to Following
Tap “Instagram” at the top left of your feed: a menu offers Following and Favourites. The feed becomes chronological, limited to accounts you follow. It's the most effective option here. The catch: Instagram doesn't keep it — next launch, you're back on the algorithmic feed.
Pause suggested content
Under Settings → Content preferences, you can pause suggested posts for thirty days. It doesn't touch the Reels tab, and it expires — but it quiets the main feed.
Tap “Not interested”
On any suggested Reel, the “…” menu offers Not interested. You're teaching the algorithm what you don't want, one item at a time. In practice it moves the problem rather than solving it: it will suggest something else.
What doesn't work — and gets recommended anyway
- Deleting the app. You lose your messages and your groups along with the Reels. That's why it lasts three days: a detox asks you to choose between your time and your people.
- App blockers. They cut off access at a set hour. Opening Instagram was never the problem; what happens once you're inside is.
- Restricted mode. It filters sensitive content, not engagement mechanics. No effect on Reels.
- Unfollowing everyone. The suggested feed doesn't depend on who you follow — that's precisely the point of it.
The method that holds: remove, don't block
Slowcial opens Instagram in a web view and strips the elements before they render: access to Reels, the Explore page, suggested posts, sponsored posts. Your account, your messages, the people you follow and your own posts don't move — it's the same Instagram, minus the part built to keep you there.
Deleting the app
- You lose your messages
- You lose your groups and contacts
- You reinstall within three days
- All or nothing
Removing the mechanics
- Your messages stay
- The people you follow stay
- The setting never expires
- You choose what goes, filter by filter
The switch to the Following feed is replayed every time you open the app, so it no longer gets lost between sessions. And filtering is per element: keep Explore but drop Reels, and that's one toggle.
Frequently asked questions
Can you disable Reels in Instagram's settings?
No. No Instagram setting removes Reels or the tab that leads to them. The options that exist — the Following feed, pausing suggested content, “Not interested” — reduce suggestions in the main feed, but the Reels tab stays.
Does the Following feed stay selected?
No, and that's its main limitation: Instagram reverts to the algorithmic feed next time you open it. You have to reselect it every session — unless something replays the switch for you.
Does this work without giving a third-party app my login?
Yes. With Slowcial you sign in to Instagram directly in a web view, exactly as you would in a browser. The app doesn't read, copy or transmit your credentials, and has no server to receive them.
