Instagram may remove your reels for a variety of reasons, most commonly due to violations of Instagram’s community guidelines or terms of service. Reels containing nudity, hate speech, harassment, or other prohibited content are likely to be taken down. Copyright violations or impersonating others can also lead to reel removal. Less commonly, bugs and glitches may cause some reels to disappear temporarily. However, in most cases removed reels broke Instagram rules in some way.
Violating Community Guidelines
The most common reason Instagram removes reels is because they violate the platform’s community guidelines. These guidelines prohibit certain types of content to ensure safety and prevent abuse on Instagram. If your reel contains any of the following, it may be taken down:
- Nudity or sexual content – Reels cannot contain nudity, sexual activities, or overtly sexual poses. Some educational, artistic, and protest content showing nudity may be allowed, but is still risky.
- Hate speech, bullying, or harassment – Do not create reels that attack or threaten others based on identity characteristics like race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disabilities, or diseases.
- Harmful or dangerous acts – Reels promoting self-injury, eating disorders, hard drug abuse, violence, or other dangerous activities will likely be removed.
- Misinformation – Reels spreading false or misleading claims about COVID-19, elections, public events or figures may be taken down if reported.
- Impersonation – Pretending to be someone else in a confusing or deceptive way can lead to reel removal.
- Regulated goods – Marketing or attempting to sell firearms, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, or other regulated goods often results in removed reels.
Review Instagram’s community guidelines closely before posting any reel to ensure it follows all policies. Reels taken down for guideline violations may also lead to warnings, temporary bans, or permanent account disabling in some cases.
Copyright Infringements
Reels may also disappear because they infringe on someone else’s copyright. Instagram is legally required to remove content if the copyright holder submits a valid takedown notice. Your reel could be removed for using any of the following without permission:
- Music – Reels with unauthorized music from popular songs, movie soundtracks, or other copyrighted audio often get removed.
- Video clips – Using recognizable clips from movies, TV shows, music videos, or other copyrighted videos typically leads to takedowns.
- Photos – Reels with professional photos from news, entertainment, or stock photo sources frequently get removed for infringement.
- Logos and branding – Reels that use a company’s logo or other trademarks without permission may disappear.
To avoid this, only use original content you created yourself or content you have explicit rights to use. Be extra careful when using popular songs, brands, or any widely recognizable content in your reels.
Bugs and Technical Issues
In some rarer cases, reels may disappear due to bugs or glitches in Instagram. Some examples include:
- Uploading errors – If an error occurs while initially uploading a reel, it may fail to post or be removed shortly after.
- App crashes – Crashes while making edits may lead to loss of unsaved progress on a reel.
- Server outages – During Instagram outages, any reels posted may end up removed once services resume.
- Account issues – Reels associated with disabled, hacked, or deleted accounts usually also disappear.
If you believe a technical error caused your reel to vanish, try reposting it. If it disappears again, the issue is likely a community guideline violation or copyright problem instead. Contact Instagram support if a reel goes missing repeatedly with no explanation.
Avoiding Reel Removal
Here are some tips to help prevent your Instagram reels from being taken down:
- Read community guidelines and copyright rules carefully before posting.
- Only use your own original content or content you have licensed rights to use.
- Credit music, footage, photos, etc. properly to avoid copyright issues.
- Avoid controversial, offensive, dangerous or misleading content.
- Do not impersonate or pretend to be someone else.
- Get consent before featuring identifiable people in your reels.
- Double check reels for guideline violations before publishing.
- Appeal removals you believe were mistakes to try restoring your reel.
With billions of users, Instagram has to enforce guidelines uniformly to remain a safe platform. Following the rules closely and avoiding risky content gives your reels the best chance of staying up.
Appealing Removed Reels
If you believe Instagram mistakenly removed your reel, you can submit an appeal:
- Go to your profile and tap the three dot menu in the top right corner.
- Select “Settings” then “Account” then “Content that was removed.”
- Find the removed reel and tap “Request Review.”
- Select the option “I think this was removed by mistake.”
- Explain why you believe the reel was removed incorrectly.
- Instagram will review your appeal and may reinstate the reel if it was removed in error.
However, keep in mind appeals are only successful if the reel truly did not break any rules. Also, multiple rejected appeals can result in penalties, so only dispute obvious mistakes.
What To Do If Your Reel Is Removed
If one of your Instagram reels has disappeared, follow these steps:
- Check if you violated any community guidelines or copyright rules. If so, do not repost the infringing content.
- Review Instagram’s penalties – some guideline violations may result in temporary posting bans.
- Submit an appeal if you believe the reel was removed incorrectly.
- Wait a few hours and repost the reel if you’re confident it broke no rules.
- If the reel disappears again, it likely does violate some Instagram policy.
- Change the content and try posting an updated compliant version of the reel.
- Contact Instagram support if your appeal is rejected but you still believe the reel followed all policies.
Having a reel removed can be frustrating, but try to view it as a learning experience. Instagram aims to inform users when their content violates standards, so you can adjust and avoid future takedowns.
Avoiding Account Penalties
Repeated reel removals and rejections of appeals can result in penalties like temporary posting bans, disabled commenting, or even permanent account disabling in severe cases. Here are some tips to avoid account restrictions:
- Only post original reels that clearly follow Instagram’s guidelines.
- Delete any existing reels that you suspect violate policies.
- Do not try reposting removed content repeatedly.
- Read Instagram’s emails notifying you of removals carefully.
- Only appeal if very confident the removal was a mistake.
- Avoid hashtags, captions or audio associated with removed reels.
- Temporarily switch to posting only safe, non-controversial reels.
Essentially, comply closely with Instagram’s rules and adapt your posting strategy if you start getting content removed. This will keep your account in good standing.
Getting Removed Reels Back
Unfortunately, once Instagram removes a reel, it is usually gone for good. Some options to potentially rescue your vanished reel include:
- Repost the reel if you believe the removal was a mistake.
- Download the reel from a reel downloader site if you don’t have the file.
- Appeal the removal and hope Instagram reinstates the reel.
- Edit the reel to remove any infringing or policy-breaking content.
- Post a similar but compliant version of the removed reel.
- Ask followers who saved your reel to repost or send you the file.
However, reposting the same exact prohibited reel repeatedly risks penalties. And appealing only works if the reel was taken down incorrectly. In most cases, removed reels are gone for good unless you have the original file backed up somewhere.
Avoiding Future Reel Removals
Learning from any reel removals you encounter is crucial to avoiding future takedowns. Some tips:
- Read Instagram’s full community guidelines and regular updates.
- Study what types of content frequently get removed in your niche.
- Ask for feedback from those familiar with removals on risky content.
- Research proper copyright use for music, images, footage, etc.
- Consult Instagram’s list of prohibited hashtags and captions.
- Analyze competitors following guidelines closely and emulate their best practices.
- See if any tools exist to prescreen reels for violations before posting.
Essentially, remain vigilant about Instagram’s ever-evolving rules and keep your content safely within the lines. Avoid anything potentially questionable, controversial or infringement prone.
Instagram Reel Removal FAQs
Can you recover a deleted Instagram reel?
Unfortunately no, once Instagram removes a reel it is gone for good in most cases. Your only options are reposting a backed up copy or appealing in hopes of getting the reel reinstated.
Why did Instagram remove my reel with no warning?
Instagram will remove reels immediately, without warning, if they clearly violate community guidelines around dangerous acts, regulated goods, impersonation, etc. More ambiguous content may get a warning first.
Can someone else get my Instagram reel removed?
Yes, anyone can report your reel to Instagram for potentially violating policies. If Instagram agrees, they will remove it. Multiple reports make removal more likely.
What happens if you post a removed reel again?
Reposting a removed reel multiple times, especially if appeals are rejected, can lead to penalties like temporary bans. Continually reposting prohibited content risks permanent disabling.
Do removed reels count against your record?
Yes, Instagram keeps track of removals and rejections. Too many strikes against your account can lead to restrictions, even if posting content believed to be permissible.
Can you get sued for using copyrighted content in reels?
You are less likely to get sued than to just have the reel removed. But using someone’s intellectual property without permission means they could sue for copyright infringement if they wished.