How to Reset the Instagram Algorithm

Feeling like the Instagram algorithm has you all wrong? You're not alone. One day your feed is perfectly curated, and the next it’s serving you content you have zero interest in, tanking your reach and making you feel like you’re shouting into the void. This guide will walk you through exactly how to retrain the algorithm to work for you again, whether you're looking to improve your personal feed or boost your business's visibility.

Understanding You Can’t *Literally* Reset the Algorithm

First, let’s get one common misconception out of the way: there is no secret button to completely reset your Instagram algorithm back to a blank slate. Short of deleting your account and starting from scratch (which is almost never the right answer), you can't wipe out years of data. However, what you can do is 'retrain' it. The algorithm is a sophisticated learning system designed to show you more of what it thinks you want to see. Your goal is to give it better, more accurate information so it starts serving you - and your followers - the right content.

Every action you take on the app sends a signal. By changing your actions, you change the signals, and eventually, the algorithm corrects its course. Think of it less like a hard reset and more like teaching a very smart, very powerful student what you actually care about.

How the Algorithm Decides What to Show You

To retrain it, you first need to understand what it's paying attention to. Instagram uses thousands of signals, but a few key ones carry the most weight:

• Your Activity: What accounts are you following? Which posts do you like, comment on, share, and, most importantly, save? How much time do you spend watching a certain type of Reel? The algorithm carefully watches every interaction.
• Information About the Post: It analyzes the content itself - the caption, hashtags used, location tags, and even the visual content in the photo or video. This helps it categorize the post and understand its topic.
• Your Relationship with the User: Have you interacted with this person’s content before? Do you follow each other? Do you message each other? The algorithm prioritizes content from accounts it thinks you have a close relationship with.
• Timeliness: While not as dominant as it once was, the algorithm still prioritizes newer content. Freshness matters.

Everything you’re about to learn is centered on intentionally influencing these signals to shape your Instagram experience.

How to "Reset" as a Content Consumer: Curate a Better Feed

If your Feed, Reels tab, and Explore page feel stale or irrelevant, it’s because your behavior has taught the algorithm to show you that content. To fix it, you need to change your habits and give it new instructions.

1. Use the "Not Interested" Button Generously

The Explore page is your biggest opportunity to teach the algorithm what you don’t like. When you see something you're not interested in, don't just scroll past it - tell Instagram directly.

1. Tap on a post you don't like on the Explore page.
2. Tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the post.
3. Select “Not Interested.”

This single action is among the most powerful negative signals you can send. Instagram will immediately hide that post and show you fewer posts like it in the future. Binge-doing this for 5-10 minutes can dramatically shift what your Explore page looks like in just a few days.

2. Manually Clear Your Search History

Old searches can haunt your content recommendations. If you spent an afternoon looking up baking tips a year ago but no longer care for them, clearing your search history can help remove those lingering suggestions.

1. Go to your profile page.
2. Tap the three horizontal lines in the top right corner and go to "Your activity."
3. Tap "Recent searches" and then "Clear all."

3. Be Intentional with Likes, Shares, Comments, and Saves

Stop mindless scrolling. From now on, only engage with content you genuinely want to see more of. Saves and shares are considered particularly strong signals by the algorithm because they suggest the content was so valuable you wanted to keep it or pass it on. Before you double-tap, ask yourself: "Do I want my entire Feed to look like this?" If the answer is no, keep scrolling.

4. Tweak Your "Following" and "Favorites" Feeds

Instagram gives you two chronological feeds that bypass the main algorithm entirely. Use them to prioritize the content you actually want to see.

• Following Feed: This shows you the latest posts from everyone you follow, in order.
• Favorites Feed: This is a custom feed containing a list of up to 50 accounts you select. This is perfect for making sure you never miss posts from close friends, family, or critical industry sources.

To access them, tap the Instagram logo on the home screen. Actively using these helps you stay connected to what's important to you while you work on retraining your main feed.

How to "Reset" as a Content Creator: Reboot Your Reach

For businesses, marketers, and creators, a misaligned algorithm means your content isn’t reaching the right audience. Retraining it from a creator's perspective is about re-establishing your niche and optimizing your content to attract your ideal followers.

1. Conduct a Content and Follower Audit

You can't fix what you don't understand. Start by looking at your own data. Go to your Professional Dashboard >, Account Insights and look at your top-performing posts from the last 90 days. Filter by Reach, Likes, Comments, and especially Saves and Shares. Look for patterns:

• What topics got the most saves?
• Which video hooks kept people watching?
• What types of questions in your captions generated the most comments?

This audit reveals what *your* audience - and the algorithm - already likes about your content. Next, review your followers. Are they your target audience, or have you collected a random assortment of accounts? Understanding who is following you now helps clarify who you *should* be targeting.

2. Narrow Your Niche and Drill Down on Content Pillars

The algorithm rewards focus. If you're posting about marketing tips one day, your vacation photos the next, and your dog the day after that, Instagram has no idea how to categorize your account. It doesn't know who to show your content to.

Get crystal clear about your niche. Then, define 3-5 content pillars - core themes you will consistently create content about. For example, a social media manager's pillars might be:

• Short-form video strategy
• Content planning tips
• Community engagement hacks
• Social media news and updates

Everything you post should fall under one of these pillars. This consistency is exactly what the algorithm needs to understand your account and serve your content to people interested in those topics.

3. Engage Strategically Within Your Niche

To tell the algorithm where you belong, you need to show it signals. The best way to do that is to actively participate in your community. Dedicate 15-30 minutes every day to an outreach strategy that involves:

• Commenting on posts from larger accounts in your niche. Leave thoughtful, valuable comments that add to the conversation. Don’t just post "Great post!"
• Engaging with your target audience. Find them in the comments sections of other accounts or through relevant hashtags and interact with their content.
• Strengthening follower relationships. Reply to every comment and DM on your own content. This boosts engagement and builds loyalty.

This selective engagement tells the algorithm, "This is my neighborhood. These are my people."

4. Leverage the Right Hashtags (and Stop Using the Wrong Ones)

Hashtags are direct signposts that tell the algorithm what your content is about. Stop using massive, generic hashtags like #business or #love. These are too broad and put your content in competition with millions of other posts. Instead, use a mix of niche-specific tags:

• Community Hashtags: Tags used by your community (e.g., #socialmediamanagersofinstagram).
• Topic Hashtags: Tags that describe the specific subject of your post (e.g., #instagramreeelstips).
• Branded Hashtags: Tags unique to your business or a campaign.

Using 5-10 highly relevant hashtags is far more effective than using 30 generic ones.

5. Commit to a 48-Hour Deep Cleanse

If you're ready for a more dramatic shift, try this focused two-day "reset."

1. Mute or unfollow irrelevant accounts. Go through your following list and get rid of anything that doesn't align with your goals or interests.
2. Mark irrelevant Explore Page content as "Not Interested." Spend 10 minutes cleaning it out.
3. Post strategically. During these 48 hours, post 1-2 pieces of your highest-value content that perfectly aligns with your defined content pillars. For example, a powerful Reel and an educational carousel.
4. Only engage with your true niche. For these two days, make a rule: no mindless scrolling. Only use your time on Instagram to actively engage - liking, sharing, saving, and chatting - with the exact type of content you want to create and the audience you want to attract.

This short but intense period of highly focused activity sends a barrage of strong, clear signals to the algorithm about where your account fits in.

Final Thoughts

Regaining control over the Instagram algorithm comes down to being deliberate and consistent. By consciously curating your feed, strategically engaging with your niche, and creating focused, high-value content, you can effectively retrain it to serve both your personal interests and professional goals, fostering better reach and more meaningful connections.

Staying consistent is the hardest part, and as content creators ourselves, we know the pain of trying to keep everything aligned across platforms. That's why we built Postbase. Using a visual calendar to plan our niche-specific content in advance and knowing our schedule is rock-solid allows us to focus on what matters: creating great content and engaging with our community, which are the actions that genuinely retrain the algorithm over time.