Why Instagram keeps showing Reels after you tap Not interested (2026)
Not interested does what Instagram's help says: you see fewer posts like the one you marked. It does not turn Reels off, and the Reels tab keeps recommending reels similar to what you recently engaged with. What reduces a kind of reel: Don't suggest posts with certain words, Reset suggested content, and Your algorithm where available. To have Reels gone instead of fewer, open Instagram in minulo, which hides the Reels tab for free and keeps DMs working.
Written by Ayumu Kitabayashi, the developer of minulo. Facts about Instagram come from the sources listed below, checked on 2026-10-25. Menu names can change with app updates.
| What you can do | What it changes | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Not interested (Options on a reel) | Instagram shows you fewer posts like that one. | One reel at a time. It does not turn Reels off. |
| Don't suggest posts with certain words (in the Not interested menu) | Hides suggested posts whose caption or hashtags contain the words, phrases or emoji you add. Reels count. | Only captions and hashtags. Not accounts you follow, and not on instagram.com. |
| Snooze (in the Not interested menu) | Pauses all suggested posts in your Feed for 30 days. | Instagram's help says Feed. It does not say the Reels tab. |
| Reset suggested content (Menu › Content preferences) | Starts your suggestions over. | Cannot be undone. Suggestions personalize again as you like, share and interact. |
| Your algorithm (Reels, Explore, or Content preferences) | Add topics to see more or less of, across Feed, Reels and Explore. | Instagram's help says it is being tested and is not available everywhere. |
| minulo (free) | Hides the Reels tab, Reels in the feed and Explore. DMs keep working. | The official app itself does not change. |
Why Reels keep coming after Not interested
Instagram's help says Not interested lets you see fewer posts like the one you marked. It does not remove Reels, and it works on one reel at a time. The Reels tab is built to recommend. Meta's system card for the Reels tab says the system collects reels from people you follow and reels similar to ones you have recently engaged with.
The same card lists some of what the system predicts for each reel: how likely you are to comment on it, reshare it, follow its author, or watch less than three seconds. So what you watch and do keeps shaping what comes next, alongside the reels you mark. We could not find in Meta's pages how much one Not interested tap weighs against the rest.
What actually reduces them
- Keep tapping Not interested on the kinds of reels you don't want: tap Options on the reel, then Not interested. In Explore you can also tap and hold a post.
- Add words. In the same menu tap Don't suggest posts with certain words, enter a word, phrase or emoji, and tap Done. It checks the caption and hashtags of suggested posts, including reels. It does not hide posts from accounts you follow.
- Tune your algorithm if you have it: from Reels, Explore, or Settings › Content preferences, add topics under what you want to see less of. Instagram's help says this is still being tested and depends on region.
- Reset suggested content if your Reels are full of one thing: Profile › Menu › Content preferences (under What you see) › Reset suggested content. It cannot be undone, and it does not change who you follow or delete your data.
All of these change which Reels you see. None of them changes how many. We could not find a setting in Instagram's help that turns the Reels tab off.
If you want them gone, not fewer
minulo opens Instagram's official website inside the app with the Reels tab, Reels in the feed and Explore hidden. Suggested posts can be hidden too. DMs, posts from people you follow and search keep working. Hiding is free. Note that Instagram's help says the word filter does not apply on instagram.com, so it does not work inside minulo either. In minulo, suggested posts are hidden as a whole instead.
minulo can also lock the official Instagram app with Screen Time, free for up to 2 hours per block. While it is locked, its notifications don't arrive, and minulo does not send any. minulo Pro adds schedules by day and time, longer blocks, Hard Mode and multiple block lists. minulo is for iPhone only, and it is made by the author of this page.
Why do I keep seeing Reels after tapping Not interested?
Not interested shows you fewer posts like the one you marked. It does not remove Reels. The Reels tab recommends reels from people you follow and reels similar to ones you recently engaged with, so what you watch keeps shaping it too.
Does Not interested work on Instagram Reels?
Yes. Instagram's help says you can mark a post as not interested in your feed, Reels, Explore or Search, and you will see fewer posts like it. It works one post at a time.
How do I stop seeing a certain kind of Reels?
Tap Options on a reel, then Not interested, then Don't suggest posts with certain words, and add the word, phrase or emoji. Suggested posts and reels with it in the caption or hashtags are hidden. Posts from accounts you follow are not.
Does Snooze stop suggested Reels?
Instagram's help says Snooze pauses all suggested posts in your Feed for 30 days. It does not say the Reels tab, and we could not confirm that it changes it.
Can I turn Reels off completely?
We could not find one in Instagram's help as of October 2026. To hide the Reels tab and Reels in the feed, open Instagram in an app that hides them. In minulo this is free and DMs keep working.
Sources
- Instagram Help: Hide an Instagram post that you're not interested in
- Instagram Help: Hide suggested posts in your Instagram Feed
- Instagram Help: Stop seeing suggested posts with certain words on Instagram
- Instagram Help: Reset your suggested content
- Instagram Help: Tune your algorithm on Instagram
- Meta Transparency Center: Instagram Reels Chaining
- App Store (US): minulo
