StillfeedHow to Turn Off "Suggested for You" on Instagram (What Works in 2026)
You open Instagram to see what your friends posted, and halfway down the screen there is a post from an account you have never heard of, labelled "Suggested for you." You scroll past it. Two posts later there is another one. It is one of the most searched complaints about the app, and the honest answer is that Instagram gives you several ways to turn the volume down and no way to turn it off for good.
This guide walks through each control Instagram actually provides, in the order of how much it helps, and says plainly what each one does not do. If you want the wider picture, including Stories, our earlier guide on hiding Instagram Stories and suggested posts covers it. This one is the step-by-step for the "Suggested for you" posts themselves.
Short answer: Instagram can pause suggested posts in your feed for 30 days, and it can make them more relevant or less frequent, but there is no setting that removes them permanently. The only place they never appear is a feed made up purely of accounts you follow.
What "Suggested for you" actually is
Your home feed on Instagram is a mix. Part of it is posts from accounts you follow. Part of it is posts from accounts you do not follow, which Instagram picks because it predicts you will watch or react to them. Instagram describes this directly in its own explanation of how ranking works: the feed contains recommendations as well as the people you follow, and you are given controls to shape them (Instagram Ranking Explained).
That explains why the setting you want does not exist. Recommendations are not a side feature that happens to be switched on. They are how Instagram keeps you scrolling after you have seen everything from your friends. So every control below changes how many you get, or how well they match your taste, or how long you are free of them. None of them delete the idea.
Snooze suggested posts for 30 days
This is the closest thing to an off switch, and it is the one most people miss. Instagram lets you pause all suggested posts in your feed for 30 days.
- Scroll your home feed until a suggested post appears.
- Tap the X (or the three-dot menu) at the top right of that post.
- On the "Post hidden" card, tap Snooze all suggested posts in feed for 30 days.
- A confirmation appears. If you tapped it by accident, tap Undo.
Instagram announced the snooze option in 2023, and it was still current in 2024 walkthroughs. Two things to know. First, it lasts 30 days and then suggested posts come back, so it is a repeating chore if you want it to stick. Second, it affects the suggested posts in your Feed. It does not change Reels or Explore, and it does not touch sponsored posts. A recent walkthrough of the same steps is on MacRumors.
Use "Not interested" on individual posts
The same menu has a plain Not interested option. Tap the three dots on a suggested post, choose it, and Instagram will show you less of that kind of content. This is the control that matters if your complaint is "why does it keep showing me this," rather than "why is it showing me anything."
It works slowly. Each tap is a small signal, and a feed full of cooking videos does not turn into a feed of your friends after three taps. Think of it as training the recommendations, not removing them. If you use it every time for a week or two, the posts you see should drift toward topics you do not mind.
Hide suggested posts by word with Hidden Words
If one topic is the problem, Instagram's Hidden Words tool is more precise. Instagram says you can proactively hide suggested posts whose captions contain words, phrases or emojis you do not want to see. You add the terms in your settings under Hidden Words, in the section for custom words and phrases, and Instagram filters suggestions that match.
This is useful for a narrow annoyance, such as a topic you are avoiding or a celebrity you are tired of. It is the wrong tool for the general problem, because you cannot list everything you do not want, and it only matches captions, not what is in the image or video.
Turn down in-feed recommendations
Instagram's Sensitive Content Control has three levels: More, Standard and Less, with Standard as the default. Instagram says the control applies to in-feed recommendations as well as Explore and Reels, so moving it to Less reduces the borderline material that shows up as suggestions (Instagram's announcement). Menus move between app versions, so the quickest route is to open Settings and search for "sensitive content."
Be clear about what this does. It filters a category of content. It does not reduce how many suggested posts you receive, and a feed on Less still has suggestions in it. It helps if the posts that bother you are the edgy ones, and not much if the problem is volume.
Reset what Instagram recommends
In November 2024 Instagram announced a way to reset your recommendations across Explore, Reels and Feed, so that suggestions start fresh and personalize again from what you do next (Instagram's announcement). The post described it as a few taps, with the option to unfollow accounts whose content you no longer want. Instagram introduced it as a test that would roll out widely, so if you do not see it, search Settings for "reset suggested content."
A reset is worth doing if your suggestions have gone bad: a stretch of late-night scrolling that taught Instagram something you do not want repeated. It does not stop suggestions. It clears the history they were built from, and the new history starts forming the moment you scroll again.
Switch to the Following or Favorites feed
Here is the one method that guarantees no "Suggested for you" posts: look at a feed that only contains accounts you chose. Instagram offers two. Tap the Instagram wordmark at the top of the home screen and pick Following to see posts from the accounts you follow, or Favorites to see only the accounts you have starred. Instagram's own description says Following shows the last 30 days of posts from those you follow in chronological order.
The weakness is the one everybody complains about. Instagram opens on its recommended Home feed, so you have to make the switch yourself each time you open the app, and the moment you forget, you are back in suggestions. The longer you have been using the app, the more automatic the habit of just scrolling Home becomes. The option works. It is the remembering that fails.
Opening Instagram on Following every time with Stillfeed
That last gap is the one Stillfeed closes. Stillfeed is an in-app browser for iPhone that loads the real instagram.com, signed into your own account. Instead of opening on the recommended Home feed, it opens on your Following feed, newest posts first, every time. You do not have to remember a menu.
What you get for free, with no trial and no Stillfeed account:
- Instagram opens on your Following feed
- Reels and Explore are removed
- Messages, search, profiles and the posts from people you follow keep working
Stillfeed Pro is optional and adds extras on top, such as hiding the Stories tray, hiding sponsored posts, a DMs-only mode and a daily time limit. None of it is required to get the Following-first feed.
To set it up, download Stillfeed from the App Store, pick Instagram and log in as you normally would. Your login goes straight to Instagram. Stillfeed does not change your account, followers or posts. There is one real limit: it only works inside Stillfeed, so if the official Instagram app is still on your home screen, habit will take you there. Move the app off your home screen and put Stillfeed where it was. For the full setup and trade-offs, see how to turn off Reels on Instagram and see Following in chronological order.
Which combination makes sense
- You want a break right now: snooze suggested posts for 30 days and put a reminder in your calendar.
- One topic keeps appearing: add the words to Hidden Words and tap Not interested a few times.
- Your feed feels off overall: reset your suggested content, then set Sensitive Content Control to Less.
- You never want to see them: use the Following feed, and let Stillfeed open it for you so it does not depend on willpower.
If the bigger issue is that Instagram takes more of your day than you want, how to take a break from Instagram covers options beyond the feed. And for Reels and Explore alongside suggestions, how to block Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts on iPhone compares every route.
Common questions
Can you turn off Suggested for you on Instagram permanently?
No. Instagram has no setting that removes suggested posts for good. You can snooze them for 30 days, tune them with Not interested, Hidden Words and Sensitive Content Control, or view only the accounts you follow through the Following feed.
How do I mute suggested posts on Instagram?
Tap the X or the three dots on any suggested post and choose "Snooze all suggested posts in feed for 30 days." After 30 days they return unless you snooze again.
Does the snooze hide Reels and Explore too?
No. The snooze covers suggested posts in your Feed only. Reels and Explore are separate surfaces, and Instagram has no setting that removes them.
Why does Instagram show posts from accounts I don't follow?
Because recommendations are part of how the feed is built. Instagram fills your Home feed with posts it predicts you will engage with, from accounts you follow and accounts you do not. The Following feed removes the second group.
Does the Following feed show suggested posts?
No. It only shows accounts you follow, newest first. The catch is that Instagram opens on Home by default, so you have to choose Following each time you open the app.
Is it free to open Instagram on Following with Stillfeed?
Yes. Opening on your Following feed and removing Reels and Explore are free from the first launch. Stillfeed Pro is a separate, optional purchase for extras.
