Want to get rid of Instagram Instants? Here’s how to disable it

Instagram just rolled out Instants more widely, and a lot of people want it gone already. The feature, which Meta officially announced just a few hours ago, puts disappearing photos from Close Friends or mutual followers right in your inbox. Many users seem to have gotten it overnight with no obvious way to turn it off.

Turns out there is one.

Multiple users discovered that you have to go to your Instagram profile, tap the three lines in the top right corner, then go to Settings > Content Preferences. At the bottom of that menu is a toggle labeled “Hide instants in inbox.” Turn it on, and Instants disappears from your inbox entirely.

A user shared a screenshot of the page on X. Check it out below:

When turned on, Instagram says you “won’t see new instants in your inbox.” Users in a couple of threads confirmed this worked for them.

But that only handles the inbox. Notifications are separate.

For that, go back to Settings, search “Notifications,” scroll down to the Instants section, and mute everything from there. A user noted this specifically: “Notifications won’t be disabled though!!! So for that, go back and this time search ‘Notifications’ in settings.”

Someone else also shared screenshots of the notifications settings. Check them out below:

That said, if you don’t see the toggle to turn off Instants, then you should check for an update for the Instagram app. 

More chatter on this is rolling in here, here, and here.

It’s worth noting that Instagram also launched a separate standalone Instants app in select countries, so the inbox toggle won’t block content coming through that. The app uses the same Instagram account and shares across both surfaces. Instagram says instants can’t be screenshotted or screen-recorded, and for teens on supervised accounts, time spent on Instants counts toward their existing daily Instagram time limit.

None of that helps if you don’t want the feature at all, but it’s at least something for parents keeping tabs on what their kids are using.

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