On a phone, Instagram at least feels like an app you chose to open. On a computer it is a tab, and tabs are easy to leave open all day. Instagram's website puts Reels in the left menu, fills the Explore page with a grid of videos from strangers, and slips suggested posts into your feed between the people you actually follow. None of it has an off switch. This guide shows how to use instagram.com on a desktop browser without those three surfaces, using a free browser extension, and what it leaves alone.
Short answer: Stillfeed's free browser extension sends the Reels page home, hides the Reels entry in the left menu, collapses Reels and suggested posts in your feed and hides the Explore grid. Search, your messages, profiles and the posts you open keep working. It needs no account and nothing leaves your browser. Get the extension.
Why the desktop site is the same trap
People tend to assume the website is the calmer version of Instagram. Sometimes it is, because a mouse and a big screen make you less likely to lose forty minutes in a sitting position you would not choose. But the layout is built around the same ideas as the app. A column of navigation on the left lists Home, Search, Explore, Reels and Messages. The home feed mixes accounts you follow with posts Instagram thinks you will like. Explore is a wall of recommendations. Open a single Reel and the next one is a scroll away.
The problem for anyone who wants to use Instagram on purpose is that every route into the recommendation machine is one click from wherever you are. If you came to check a message or look up a friend's profile, the Reels link sits right there at the edge of your vision. Willpower can handle that most days. It is less reliable at 4pm on a Friday.
Instagram does not offer a setting to remove these surfaces, on the website or in the app. There are ways to tell it you are not interested in a particular video, and a way to look at a feed of only the accounts you follow, but the Reels link and the Explore page stay. That is why a browser extension, which changes what your own browser shows you, is the practical route on a computer.
What the extension changes on instagram.com
Stillfeed is a free extension for desktop browsers. Its Instagram rules are on by default once you install it, and you can switch Instagram off in the extension's popup whenever you want to see the site unchanged. Here is what it does on instagram.com:
- The Reels page and single Reels are sent to your home page. If you click a Reel link, or someone sends you one, you land on your home page instead of a video player.
- The Reels entry in the left menu is hidden. The link simply is not there to click.
- Reels in your feed are collapsed. A post that is a Reel is folded away rather than playing in the middle of your timeline.
- Suggested posts are collapsed. Posts Instagram labels "Suggested for you" are folded away too. This works where Instagram's labels are in English; in another language those posts stay visible.
- The Explore grid is hidden. The wall of recommended videos and photos is gone, and search still works.
That last point is worth a sentence. On Instagram the Search button and the Explore page are tied together, and you reach the search panel from the same menu. Stillfeed hides the grid of recommendations but leaves Search alone, so you can still look up a person, a place or a tag. Explore's own tag, location and people pages are blocked, which keeps the recommendation trail from reopening through the back door.
If you are on a phone and want the same result there, we cover it in Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts on iPhone.
How to install it
Everything starts at stillfeed.pro/extension. The steps depend on your browser.
Firefox
Firefox gets a one-click install from Firefox Add-ons, linked from the extension page. Click the button, confirm the browser's prompt and you are done.
Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera and Arc
These browsers install from the Chrome Web Store, where Stillfeed is listed:
- Open the Stillfeed page on the Chrome Web Store, or start from the extension page.
- Click the add button and confirm your browser's prompt.
Edge and Opera may ask you to allow extensions from other stores first; follow the prompt your browser shows. Your browser then keeps the extension updated for you.
What stays exactly as it was
The point is to remove the recommendation machine, not to break Instagram. The extension leaves these alone: your home feed of accounts you follow, profiles, posts you open directly, stories, messages, search and sign-in. A profile's own Reels tab is also not blocked. That matches how the iPhone app behaves, and it means that if you want to watch one specific person's Reel from their profile, you still can.
The result is an Instagram that does what you opened it to do. You check a message, look at a friend's post, search for the cafe someone mentioned, and you leave, because nothing is queued behind what you came for.
Honest limits
A few things to know so nothing surprises you.
- Language. Hiding suggested posts relies on Instagram's English labels. If your Instagram is set to another language, suggested posts will remain, while the Reels and Explore blocking works by page address and is not affected.
- Instagram changes its pages. The extension finds menu entries and feed posts by how they are built. If Instagram redesigns the layout, a rule can stop matching until the extension is updated.
- One browser at a time. The extension works in the browser where you install it. Another browser, or your phone, is a separate setup.
- Not every Instagram feature is covered. Some extra controls, such as hiding comments or sponsored posts on Instagram, are not available yet. Where a control is not ready, the popup says "Not available yet" instead of showing a switch that does nothing.
Add a limit on top
Removing Reels and Explore takes away the parts built to keep you scrolling. It does not stop you from simply browsing the rest for an hour. The extension has time tools for that, and they work on Instagram like every other supported site:
- Daily limit: set a total for the day. When it is used up, the sites close until midnight, with one extra five minutes once per visit if you really need it.
- Session timer: two, five, ten or fifteen minutes per visit.
- Quiet hours: named schedules that close chosen sites on chosen days, overnight windows included.
- Pause before opening: five or ten seconds before the site loads, enough to ask whether you meant to open it.
- Grayscale: drains the color from the page so scrolling is less rewarding.
These limits apply in this browser only. The extension covers eight sites in total: Instagram, YouTube, X, Reddit, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and Snapchat.
And on your phone
Stillfeed's main product is an iPhone app, which blocks Reels, Shorts and more in a distraction-free browser. Blocking in the app is free. If your real problem is the phone in your hand rather than the tab on your desk, start with our guide for the phone or see Stillfeed on Instagram. The extension and the app are separate installs and do not sync.
Common questions
Does the extension cost anything?
No. It is free, needs no account and has no sign-up.
Does Stillfeed see my Instagram activity?
No. Everything runs inside your browser, the hiding rules ship inside the extension, and it sends no data to us or anyone else. It has no analytics and makes no network requests of its own.
Can I still search on Instagram?
Yes. Search keeps working. Only the Explore grid and Explore's tag, location and people pages are blocked.
What happens if I open a Reel link someone sent me?
You are sent to your Instagram home page. If you want to watch it, switch Instagram off in the extension's popup for a moment, or open it on your phone.
Why are some suggested posts still showing?
Suggested posts are found by their English "Suggested for you" label. In another language they stay visible. Reels and Explore are blocked by address and are not affected.
Is it in the Chrome Web Store?
Yes. Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera and Arc users install it from the Chrome Web Store listing, and Firefox has a one-click install on Firefox Add-ons. Both are linked from the extension page.
More Instagram guides
- How to hide the Instagram Stories tray
- Reels addiction: why short videos are so hard to stop
- How to block social media on iPhone
More browser extension guides
- How to Block YouTube Shorts on Chrome (and Other Desktop Browsers)
- How to Set a YouTube Time Limit in Chrome (and Other Desktop Browsers)
- Unhook YouTube Extension vs Stillfeed: What Each One Does
- A Website Blocker for Firefox That Blocks the Feed, Not the Whole Site
- How to Hide Reels on Facebook on a Computer
- Snapchat Web: Use It for Chat Only, Without Stories or Spotlight
- How to Block a Website in Chrome (and When You Only Want the Feed Gone)
- News Feed Eradicator Alternative: Hide Feeds on 8 Sites, Plus Time Limits
- How to Block r/popular and r/all on Reddit in Your Browser
- Block Distracting Sites on Edge, Brave, Opera and Arc (Free Extension)
