Instagram has one really good magic trick. You open it to answer a single message, and it makes forty minutes disappear.
It goes like this. A friend sends you something. You tap the notification, reply “haha”, and then your thumb (completely on its own, officer) taps over to Reels. One video becomes twelve. The message you came to answer? Still sitting there, read and unanswered. (Ask me how I know.)
So you start googling how to block Instagram Reels but keep DMs. Good news: you can.
Can you block Instagram Reels and still use DMs?
Yes. Scroll Less blocks full-screen Reels inside the real Instagram app on your iPhone. Your DMs, Stories, Search and profile keep working normally.
You don’t switch to a different app. You open Instagram from your home screen like always, and the part that eats your evening is the part that’s gone.
Why “just delete Instagram” breaks your group chat
The classic advice is to delete the app. And sure, that kills Reels. It also kills the group chat where your friends plan everything, the DMs from your cousin, and the one account you actually follow for work.
So you delete it on Sunday night, feeling great about yourself. By Wednesday somebody’s asking why you didn’t reply about dinner, you reinstall it “just to check”, and you’re back in Reels before the app finishes loading. (A full cycle I have completed more times than I’d like to admit.)
The problem was never Instagram. It’s one feature inside Instagram. If you only remove that feature, there’s nothing to reinstall.
Why Screen Time and Instagram’s own settings don’t solve this
iPhone Screen Time can limit Instagram, but it limits all of Instagram. When the timer runs out, your DMs are locked up right along with Reels. That’s the opposite of what you wanted. And the “Ignore Limit” button is always right there anyway. (It’s less of a wall and more of a polite suggestion.)
Instagram itself doesn’t give you a switch to turn Reels off. Which, when you think about how much Instagram wants you watching Reels, isn’t a huge surprise.
That’s the gap Scroll Less fills: block the Reels, keep the messages.
If you want every option side by side, including Instagram’s own settings and Screen Time, here’s how to block Reels on Instagram on iPhone.
How to block Instagram Reels on iPhone with Scroll Less
Setup takes a couple of minutes:
- Download Scroll Less from the App Store.
- Open it and follow the setup steps.
- Choose Reels as the thing to block, then start the Blocker.
- Go back to Instagram and use it like you normally would.
Now when you (out of pure muscle memory) wander into a Reel, Scroll Less blocks it. Door closed, loop avoided.
What still works in Instagram
This is the whole point, so let’s be specific. With Reels blocked, you still have:
- DMs: read, reply, send voice notes, keep the group chat alive.
- Stories: watch your friends’ Stories and keep up with what they’re doing.
- Search: look up a specific account or post when you actually need it.
- Your profile: check your own posts and settings like normal.
In other words, the social part of social media stays. The slot-machine part goes.
“But what if a friend sends me a Reel?”
Fair question. It happens constantly. Your friend sends you a Reel with “LOL this is so you”, and now you need to see it or the friendship is technically at risk.
A Reel someone sends you in DMs stays blocked in the Instagram app, but you can open it in Scroll Less’s built-in browser to watch it. So you see the one video your friend picked for you, laugh, reply, and get on with your day.
Honestly, this ends up being one of my favorite parts. Watching a Reel because a friend sent it is a choice. Watching forty because the app decided you should is not.
Want to hide Explore and the feed too?
Reels are the biggest time sink, but they aren’t the only one. If the Explore grid or the endless main feed is your personal weak spot, Scroll Less’s built-in browser can hide those as well. If the Explore grid is your weak spot, here’s how to hide the Instagram Explore page on iPhone. Open Instagram inside Scroll Less and you can hide Explore, the feed, suggested posts and Stories.
Same trick works for YouTube Shorts
If YouTube is your other rabbit hole, Scroll Less blocks Shorts inside the real YouTube app the same way. Regular videos and search keep working. Here’s the full walkthrough on how to block YouTube Shorts on iPhone.
And if you’re still shopping around, I compared the options in the best apps to block Reels and Shorts on iPhone.
Keep your friends. Lose the Reels.
You don’t need to quit Instagram to stop losing evenings to it. Keep the DMs, keep the Stories, keep the people. Just lose the feed that was never really about them anyway.
Get Scroll Less on the App Store.
Then go answer that message. Just that message.