Instagram’s navigation is built around a bottom tab bar that gets you to Home, Reels, DMs, Search, and your Profile, plus a top bar with notifications and the option to create a new post. If your layout looks a little different from a friend’s right now, that’s normal. Instagram is in the middle of rolling out a redesign, so not everyone sees the exact same setup yet.
we’ll walk through how navigation actually works today, including the newer layout changes, so you can move around the app efficiently instead of hunting for buttons that keep shifting around.
Instagram navigation refers to the buttons, tabs, and gestures you use to move between different parts of the app, your feed, Reels, direct messages, search, and your own profile. It’s split mainly between a bottom tab bar for switching between major sections and a top bar for things like notifications and posting new content.
Instagram has changed this layout more than once over the years, and it’s currently in the middle of another significant shift, one that prioritizes Reels and direct messaging over the traditional scrolling feed.
Here’s what you’ll typically find across both the classic and newer layouts, even though the order and placement shift depending on which version you have.
- Bottom tab bar: The main row of icons for switching between Home, Reels, DMs, Search, and Profile.
- Top bar notifications: The heart or activity icon showing likes, comments, and follow notifications.
- Create button: The button for posting new photos, videos, Reels, or Stories.
- Swipe navigation: In the newer layout, you can swipe horizontally between certain tabs instead of only tapping.
- Stories bar: The horizontal row of profile circles at the top of your Home feed for viewing friends’ Stories.
- Search and Explore: A dedicated tab for finding accounts, hashtags, and discovering new content.
- Your Algorithm controls: A newer feature letting you directly adjust what kind of Reels content gets recommended to you.
Knowing your way around the app saves real time. Instead of tapping around trying to find your DMs or figuring out where your notifications went after a layout update, you can move directly to what you’re looking for.
It also helps you get more out of features you might otherwise miss entirely, like the newer algorithm controls that let you shape what Reels content shows up in your feed, or swipe gestures that make moving between sections faster than tapping each icon individually.
For creators and business accounts specifically, understanding navigation changes matters even more, since where Instagram places features, and how much visibility they get, directly affects how people discover and interact with your content.
New users obviously benefit from a clear walkthrough when they’re just getting started. Content creators and influencers need to understand navigation changes since shifts in how Instagram prioritizes Reels, DMs, or the main feed directly affect how their content gets seen. Small businesses using Instagram for marketing need to know where features like Shopping or messaging live within the current layout. Social media managers juggling multiple accounts need to stay on top of navigation changes across different rollout phases. And casual users who’ve noticed their app suddenly looks different just want to understand what changed and why.
The Bottom Tab Bar
In Instagram’s newer layout, currently rolling out to more accounts, the bottom tab bar is ordered Home, Reels, DMs, Search, and Profile, in that sequence from left to right. This is a real shift from the older, more familiar order, which placed Search and Reels earlier and kept DMs accessed through a separate icon in the top corner rather than a main tab.
The reordering isn’t random. Instagram has said that more than half of the total time people spend in the app happens in Reels or DMs, so the redesign puts those two front and center, positioned for easier thumb access, rather than tucking them away.
The Create Button Has Moved
If you’re used to tapping a plus icon in the center of your bottom bar to create a post, that’s changed too. In the updated layout, the create button has moved to the top-left corner of the screen instead of living in the main navigation row. This freed up space in the bottom bar for DMs to take a more central position.
One genuinely useful addition in the newer layout is horizontal swipe navigation, letting you slide between certain tabs with a swipe gesture instead of tapping each icon individually. This makes moving quickly between, say, Reels and your DMs feel a bit faster once you get used to it.
Reels-First Experience in Some Regions
In select markets, including India and South Korea, Instagram has tested opening the app directly to the Reels tab instead of the traditional Home feed. This is a bigger shift than just reordering icons, since it changes what you see the moment you open the app, prioritizing short-form video discovery over your regular feed of posts from people you follow.
The “Your Algorithm” Controls
A newer feature tied to this navigation update lets you directly influence what Reels content gets recommended to you. To use it, open the Reels tab, tap the two-hearts icon in the upper-right corner, and you’ll be able to tell Instagram what you want to see more or less of, including adding custom interest tags. This gives you a level of direct control over your recommendations that wasn’t previously available in such an accessible way.
Notifications and the Activity Feed
Regardless of which layout version you have, notifications typically live behind a heart-shaped icon, showing likes, comments, new followers, and tagged posts. This has stayed relatively consistent even as other parts of the navigation have shifted around it.
Search and Explore
The Search tab remains where you go to find specific accounts, hashtags, or browse Explore’s recommended content grid. In the newer layout, its position in the bottom bar has moved further right, after DMs, rather than sitting closer to the Home tab like it traditionally did.
| Icon or Tab | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Home | Shows your main feed of posts from accounts you follow |
| Reels | Short-form video discovery and browsing |
| DMs | Direct messages and broadcast channels |
| Search | Find accounts, hashtags, and browse Explore content |
| Profile | Your own posts, highlights, and account settings |
| Heart icon | Notifications and activity feed |
| Create button | Post a new photo, video, Reel, or Story |
| Two-hearts icon (in Reels) | Access “Your Algorithm” recommendation controls |
Why Does My Instagram Look Different From Someone Else’s?
This is genuinely one of the most common points of confusion right now, and it’s not a bug. Instagram rolls out interface changes gradually, by account, app version, device, and region, which means two people can both be using a fully updated app and still see different layouts. If your navigation looks different from a friend’s, it’s most likely just a difference in which test group or rollout phase your account currently falls into.
Update your app regularly, since navigation changes roll out through app updates, and running an outdated version can mean missing new features or seeing a layout that no longer matches current tutorials or guides. Try the swipe gesture between tabs if your app has the newer layout, since it’s genuinely faster than tapping once you build the habit. Check the “Your Algorithm” controls in the Reels tab if you want more say over your recommendations, rather than assuming you have no influence over what shows up. And if you use Instagram for business or content creation, keep an eye on where key features land after a navigation update, since visibility and discoverability shift along with the interface.
Problem: You can’t find your DMs where they used to be. Fix: Check whether your app has the newer layout, since DMs may have moved from a top-corner icon into a central position in the bottom tab bar.
Problem: The create button seems to have disappeared from the bottom bar. Fix: Look in the top-left corner of the screen instead, since the newer layout moved the create button there from its previous spot in the center of the bottom navigation.
Problem: Your app opens directly to Reels instead of your regular feed. Fix: This is intentional in certain regional test rollouts. There isn’t currently a universal setting to switch this back, so it’s a matter of adjusting to the new default if your account is part of that test.
Problem: Your layout looks completely different from a friend’s, even though you’re both updated. Fix: This is expected, since Instagram rolls out changes by account and region rather than all at once, so seeing a different layout than someone else doesn’t mean anything is broken.
Problem: You can’t figure out how to control what Reels content you see. Fix: Open the Reels tab and tap the two-hearts icon in the upper-right corner to access the “Your Algorithm” controls and adjust your content preferences directly.
In the newer layout currently rolling out, the order is Home, Reels, DMs, Search, and Profile, though not all accounts have received this update yet.
The create button moved to the top-left corner to free up space in the bottom bar, allowing DMs to take a more central, easily accessible position.
There’s currently no universal setting to revert to the previous layout if your account has received the update, since these changes are typically rolled out server-side rather than as an optional toggle.
What is the “Your Algorithm” feature on Instagram?
It’s a control found in the Reels tab, accessed through the two-hearts icon, that lets you directly tell Instagram what kind of content you want to see more or less of.
Instagram rolls out interface updates gradually by account, device, and region, so it’s common for two users to see different layouts even if both apps are fully updated.
Can I swipe between tabs on Instagram instead of tapping?
Yes, if you have the newer layout, you can swipe horizontally between certain tabs instead of tapping each icon individually.
