Meta’s latest Instagram feature aims to bring spontaneity back to social media.
Within days of the rollout, users flooded Reddit threads and X with complaints, while searches for “how to turn off Instagram Instants” also began trending.
To disable the new Instants feature, users can head to their profile and tap the three-line menu in the top-right corner to open Settings.
From there, scroll down to “Content Preferences” and enable the “Hide Instants in Inbox” option.
Once this setting is turned on, the Instants feature will disappear from the inbox, and users will also stop seeing any Instants sent by others.
Meta’s latest Instagram feature aims to bring spontaneity back to social media. But for many users, it has sparked more anxiety than excitement. Last week, the company quietly rolled out Instants, a feature that sends a photo the moment a user taps the button- with no preview, no confirmation, and no easy visible option to undo it. The backlash was immediate.
Within days of the rollout, users flooded Reddit threads and X with complaints, while searches for “how to turn off Instagram Instants” also began trending.
The Meta-owned social network describes Instants as “a new way to share in the moment with spontaneous, unfiltered photos.” The feature allows users to send a photo instantly to followers, who receive a notification when it arrives. Once opened, the image disappears and cannot be viewed again.
How does it work?
The feature sits inside Instagram’s inbox. When users open the Instants section for the first time by tapping the mini photo stack in the bottom-right corner, the app gives a brief walkthrough explaining how it works. But the feature’s design is what has left many users uneasy.
Once users open the camera, they see a shutter button at the centre, with a toggle below it allowing them to choose between “Friends” and “Close Friends.” By default, the setting is switched to “Friends.”
What Meta does not immediately highlight is that the moment a user taps the shutter button, the captured photo is automatically sent to everyone on their Friends list unless they manually change the setting to “Close Friends” beforehand.
Instants are stored in the sender’s archive for up to a year and can later be shared as a recap to Stories. Friends can also reply to them directly, with responses landing in DMs.
Why are users scared of it?
So while the feature appears similar to Snapchat and Instagram has even launched a separate app for Instants in a few countries- the experience differs in one key way. On Snapchat, users can at least preview or save a photo before sending it. That extra layer of control is missing here.
And that lack of a review step has frustrated many users. On a platform where people are used to editing photos, reconsidering captions, and choosing the perfect crop before posting, the idea of an instantly sent, irreversible photo has made many uncomfortable.
Because the sending process is not clearly explained, several users have accidentally shared photos with people they never intended to send them to.
While Meta does provide an “undo” option after a photo is sent, many users either miss it or notice it too late, especially given how abrupt and jarring the experience can feel. In some cases, users did not even realise that a photo had already been sent.
How to disable the feature?
To disable the new Instants feature, users can head to their profile and tap the three-line menu in the top-right corner to open Settings. From there, scroll down to “Content Preferences” and enable the “Hide Instants in Inbox” option.
Once this setting is turned on, the Instants feature will disappear from the inbox, and users will also stop seeing any Instants sent by others.
For those who do not want to disable the feature completely, Instagram also offers a temporary option. Users can press and hold the stack of Instants in their inbox and swipe right to pause receiving them for a while.
