Instagram Blend: What It Is and How to Use It
Tap the Blend icon at the top right of an Instagram chat and everyone in it is invited to a shared reels feed. Once someone accepts, Instagram Blend mixes reels suggested for each member, refreshes daily and labels whom each reel was suggested for. It isn’t on desktop, and Instagram says it may not be available to everyone yet.
Each answer below comes from Instagram’s own Help Center article on Blend, plus Meta’s newsroom for the launch date. Blend is one of many chat features reached from our index of Instagram how-tos.
Table of Contents
- What is Instagram Blend?
- When did Blend launch, and who has it?
- How to start a Blend in a chat
- What can other people in a Blend see?
- How to remove a Reel from your Blends
- How to leave a Blend, and what happens when someone leaves
- Why don’t I have Blend on Instagram?
- Instagram Blend: FAQ
What is Instagram Blend?
A blend is a feed of reels inside a one-to-one or group chat, built from reels suggested for each person in the chat who accepts the invite. Suggestions only appear for members who join, and each chat can have its own blend. It refreshes once a day, and again whenever someone reshares a reel to the chat. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Use Blend to see your friends' suggested reels
It stays connected to the conversation: from a reel in a blend you can send a message or a quick reaction back to the chat. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Use Blend to see your friends' suggested reels New to the format itself? What Reels are covers the basics, and the other place Instagram gathers suggested photos and reels is the Explore page. To build a shared list of videos on YouTube instead, invite collaborators to a playlist: see how to make a playlist on YouTube.
When did Blend launch, and who has it?
Meta’s Japanese newsroom reported on 18 April 2025 that Instagram announced Blend on 17 April 2025 (US time). That post describes an opt-in, invite-based reels feed inside DM chats that you can leave at any time. Checked against Meta Newsroom (Japan): Instagram launches Blend (18 April 2025, in Japanese)
This guide found no English-language Meta announcement dedicated to Blend. The nearest is Meta’s 6 August 2025 post introducing the Reels Friends tab, which mentions “recommendations from Blends you’ve started.” Checked against Meta Newsroom: New Instagram Features to Help You Connect (6 August 2025, Friends tab)
As for who has it, Instagram’s Help Center says “Blend is new and may not be available to everyone at this time,” and the computer version of the article says Blend isn’t available on Instagram for desktop. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Use Blend to see your friends' suggested reels
How to start a Blend in a chat
Open the chat, tap the Blend icon at the top right, and the invite goes to everyone in it. Instagram says that if one or more people accept, a blend is created. You open an existing blend the same way. Instagram’s first step shows two possible icons for messages: a messages icon or a paper-airplane icon. The steps are the same on iPhone and Android.
On iPhone:
- Open the Instagram app and tap the messages icon.
- Tap the chat that you would like to start a blend with.
- At the top-right of the chat, tap the Blend icon.
Checked against Instagram Help Center: Use Blend to see your friends' suggested reels.
What can other people in a Blend see?
Each reel in a blend carries a label showing whom it was suggested for, so everyone in the blend can see which reels were picked for you. That’s the main privacy point to know before you accept.
Sensitive content follows the most cautious member: Instagram says a blend uses the sensitive content setting of the member with the strictest filter. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Use Blend to see your friends' suggested reels
If a reel suggested for you is one you’d rather your friends didn’t see, you can take it out, as the next section shows.
How to remove a Reel from your Blends
If a reel in a blend was suggested for you, tap the options icon at its bottom right, then Remove from your blends. Instagram’s wording is precise about the reach: “This removes the reel from all of the blends you are a member of.” Instagram adds that the Interested and Not Interested options tune future blend suggestions.
On iPhone: remove a reel:
- Tap the options icon at the bottom-right of the reel you want to remove.
- Tap Remove from your blends.
Checked against Instagram Help Center: Use Blend to see your friends' suggested reels.
How to leave a Blend, and what happens when someone leaves
Open the blend from its chat, tap the settings icon at the top right of the blend, then tap Leave this blend.
On iPhone:
- Open the Instagram app and tap the messages icon.
- Tap the chat with the blend that you want to leave.
- At the top-right of the chat, tap the Blend icon.
- At the top-right of the blend, tap the settings icon.
- Tap Leave this blend.
Checked against Instagram Help Center: Use Blend to see your friends' suggested reels.
When someone leaves, Instagram says the blend refreshes and removes the content suggested for them. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Use Blend to see your friends' suggested reels
What Instagram records about the reels you watch yourself, apart from any blend, is covered in Instagram watch history.
Why don’t I have Blend on Instagram?
Instagram gives two reasons you might not see it: Blend “may not be available to everyone at this time,” and it isn’t on Instagram for desktop. So look for the Blend icon in a chat in the iPhone or Android app.
If it should be there, Instagram’s general troubleshooting steps are to update the app and your phone’s operating system, restart the device, try both Wi-Fi and mobile data, then uninstall and reinstall the app. Its troubleshooting page also notes that an issue can simply be a feature that isn’t available to everyone yet. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Troubleshooting
For how Instagram ranks and recommends content in general, see the Instagram algorithm.
Draft your next Instagram feed post with Outfeed AI
Instagram Blend: FAQ
What is the Blend on Instagram?
A blend is a shared feed of reels inside an Instagram chat. Everyone in a one-to-one or group chat is invited, and once one or more people accept, the blend shows reels suggested for each member, with labels showing whom each reel was suggested for. It refreshes daily and isn’t available on desktop.
How often does an Instagram Blend refresh?
Instagram says a blend refreshes daily. It also refreshes when someone reshares a reel to the chat, and when a member leaves, at which point the reels suggested for that person are removed.
Can you make a Blend in a group chat?
Yes. Instagram says a blend can be made in a one-to-one or a group chat. Tapping the Blend icon invites everyone in the chat, suggestions are only shown for people who join, and each chat can have its own blend.
How do you leave a Blend on Instagram?
Open the chat, tap the Blend icon at the top right, tap the settings icon at the top right of the blend, then tap Leave this blend. Instagram says that when someone leaves, the blend refreshes and removes the content suggested for them.
Why don’t I have Blend on Instagram?
Instagram says Blend is new and may not be available to everyone yet, and it isn’t available on Instagram for desktop. If it should be there, Instagram’s general troubleshooting is to update the app and your phone’s software, restart the phone, try both Wi-Fi and mobile data, then uninstall and reinstall.