Start where Instagram starts: "Instagram doesn't have one algorithm that oversees what people do and don't see on the app." It describes "a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and processes, each with its own purpose".
There is one system per surface, because people use each surface differently. This page sets out what Instagram has said about each, and nothing it has not.
The one test. Instagram announces features and policies, and it has never published a dated "algorithm update".
Any guide that names one has invented it.
Feed, Stories, Explore and Reels rank differently
Feed predicts five actions; Explore leans on popularity; Reels has three named top signals.
Feed weighs your activity, details about the post, details about the poster and your history with them. It then predicts five interactions per post: time spent, comments, likes, shares and profile taps.
In Instagram's words: "The more likely you are to take an action, and the more heavily we weigh that action, the higher up in Feed you'll see the post."
Stories ranks on viewing history, engagement history and closeness. Explore is the outlier: mostly unconnected content, where a post's popularity matters far more than in Feed or Stories.
Reels ranks on your activity, your history with the poster, the reel itself, then the poster.
The three Reels signals Mosseri names
Watch time, likes and sends. Comments are not on the list.
The top three signals that matter most for ranking are watch time, likes and sends. So when looking at your insights, pay close attention to average watch time, likes per reach, and sends per reach.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, ranking video series, January 2025
His refinement is the practical part: "Likes are slightly more important for connected content, and sends are slightly more important for unconnected content." Connected means followers; unconnected means recommended reach.
No multiplier has ever been published. Claims that sends carry "3 to 5 times" the weight of likes are invented.
Users now shape their own inputs too. They can edit topics across Reels, Explore and Feed, boost up to 50 Favorites, and reset recommendations since December 2025.
The "shadowban" is recommendation eligibility
The announced mechanism is inspectable in Account Status, with appeals, since 2022.
Instagram has never announced a shadowban system. What it has announced is recommendation eligibility.
Content that breaks its Recommendation Guidelines can still be posted, but it is not recommended to non-followers.
Since 2022 an account can see its own status in Account Status, and appeal. That is the real rule behind most "shadowban" stories.
Hashtags are not a reach lever. Instagram has contradicted that claim for years, and since December 2025 the product caps posts at five hashtags.
Fake Instagram algorithm updates, and the test that kills them
Monthly "algorithm update" roundups round up nothing. Real changes arrive as announced features and policies.
The recurring inventions start with a "Year of Raw Content" ranking shift that no Instagram post announced. Next comes a "July 2026 update" adding a skip-rate signal that no statement supports.
Also "40 to 60% more distribution" for original content, a figure Instagram never gave.
The test is one question: which Instagram post, Mosseri statement or reputable report announced it, and on what date? If none did, it did not happen.
Every real change, with its date and primary source, is on our Instagram tracker.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What are the most important Instagram ranking signals?
For Reels, per Adam Mosseri in January 2025: watch time, likes and sends. Read them as average watch time, likes per reach and sends per reach.
Feed predicts time spent, comments, likes, shares and profile taps.
Did Instagram change its algorithm this month?
Instagram has never announced a dated algorithm update. It announces features and policies, which our tracker records with dates.
Monthly "algorithm update" roundups describe nothing Instagram said.
Is the Instagram shadowban real?
The announced mechanism is recommendation eligibility: content that breaks the Recommendation Guidelines is not shown to non-followers. Accounts can check and appeal their status in Account Status, since 2022.
Do hashtags help reach on Instagram?
Instagram has said for years that they do not boost reach. Since December 2025 posts are capped at five hashtags.
Compiled by Claude from primary sources, checked by Akash Mansukhani before publication. See how we source and correct this page.Keywords Everywhere, "How the Instagram algorithm works", last updated 6th Sep 2026, https://keywordseverywhere.com/news/instagram-algorithm-updates/how-the-instagram-algorithm-works/