Instagram 'Recommend on Facebook' option not appearing for Reels? Here's what support says

If you’ve been trying to post an Instagram Reel recently, you might have noticed something missing. Many users are reporting that the handy “Recommend on Facebook” toggle has disappeared from the posting options. This feature was popular because it allowed creators to have their Reels potentially shown to a wider audience on Facebook, even beyond their own friends or followers, without explicitly sharing it to their linked Facebook profile.

The change hasn’t gone unnoticed. Creators who relied on this feature for visibility are understandably concerned. Over on Reddit, users have been sharing their experiences. One user, GetLegsDotCom, commented, “Also having this issue. I get most of my views from Facebook so I hope this can be fixed”. They later clarified that the missing option specifically allowed recommending without posting directly to their own Facebook account, which is different from the standard ‘Share to Facebook’ option that might still be available.

Another user, foxcloudrock, echoed the sentiment, stating, “The options that allowed me to ‘recommend on Facebook’ no longer appear when I try to post a reel.” Similar reports have surfaced on Threads, with users asking Meta and the Instagram Creators account what’s going on. The disappearance seems to have happened quite suddenly for many over the last few days.

Apparently, Meta support did share some details about what might be going on with the feature. According to a screenshot of a support chat shared by GetLegsDotCom, this isn’t necessarily a permanent removal. Meta Support indicated that the feature is currently undergoing an update.

The support message suggested that only a “few selected accounts” currently have access to the feature. This limited rollout is reportedly to test if the updated feature is stable and still something users want. If the test phase goes well, the plan is to “give access back to all accounts,” according to the shared support response.

This makes sense because I just checked for the feature on my Instagram account and it’s there. So it seems it’s still being A/B tested and some users might see it for the first time while others might not be able to use it like they could earlier.

While this explanation offers some hope for creators missing the feature, it doesn’t provide a specific timeline for its return. For now, users affected by the change will have to wait and see when, or if, the broader rollout happens. We’ll keep an eye out for any further developments and will update this article if there’s something to share.