Instagram 101: Turn Off Stories from Brands & Followed Hashtags

Instagram integrated Stories back in 2016, and it flew right bySnapchat as a whole, becoming a bigger success itself than the whole entire Snapchat app. Still, the constant bombardment of information can be tiring in Instagram, so much so that you may want to mediate what Stories are shown to you. Fortunately, there's a way to do just that — without unfollowing accounts or hashtags.

Brands are particularly a sore spot when it comes to Stories, at least, for me they are. While I want to see an occasional photo or video in my main feed from a brand I follow, I don't want them clogging up my new Stories feed. Muting them is simple, meaning you can still get pics and videos in your feed, just not Stories.

This goes without saying, probably, but this doesn't just apply to brand accounts. You can mute new Stories from any individual account on Instagram that you follow, as well as any hashtags that you follow. If you're tired of scrolling through garbage inside you that carousel at the top of your feed, this is the solution for you.

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To mute a Story, long-press on one inside the carousel at the top of your feed, no matter if you're on iPhone or Android. You'll then have the option to either "View Profile" or "Mute [name of account or hashtag]." Choose the latter option.

Muting the account or hashtag will stick it at the end of your carousel and fade the picture (so you know which ones are muted), where you'll need to manually scroll all the way to the right to see any new additions to their Story. If you want to unmute them, long-press on the picture that corresponds to the account, and tap "Unmute [name of account or hashtag]."

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You'll still see pictures and updates from accounts whose Stories you mute, but they just won't be cluttering up your Stories bar anymore as new ones on the left side. Now your Instagram will be a more calm place, and less of an anxiety-inducing mess as you try to figure out whose Stories to watch and which to skip.

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Cover image and screenshots by Brian Lang/Gadget Hacks