How to use Instagram's Sensitive Content Controls to filter your Explore page

• Instagram's Sensitive Content Controls let you limit how much graphic content appears on your Explore page.
• Sensitive Content Controls are turned on by default, but you can make them stricter or turn them off.
• The Sensitive Content Controls affect content that's "sexually suggestive, non-graphic violence, or about drugs or firearms."

Instagram's Explore page does more than just let you search for your friends. Every time you open it, you're recommended dozens of new photos and videos that the site thinks you might like. And although the algorithm is pretty fine tuned to match your tastes, it's not hard for more unsavory content to make its way onto the page.

To give users more control over the Explore page, Instagram introduced the Sensitive Content Controls page. This menu lets you make the Explore page's filters even stricter, or turn them off entirely.

Here's how to use your Sensitive Content Controls in the Instagram app on both iPhone and Android.

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How to change the Sensitive Content Controls on Instagram

Instagram considers "sensitive content" to be posts which are "sexually suggestive, non-graphic violence, or about drugs or firearms." They provide some more details in a Help Center article, but there's no exact definition of what all these terms mean.

These controls only affect the Explore page, not your feed, Direct Messages, Stories, or Reels.

1. Open the Instagram app and tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner.

2. On your profile page, tap the three stacked lines in the top-right corner, and then Settings.

3. Tap Account, and then Sensitive Content Control.

4. Pick whether you want the default Limit, Limit Even More, or Allow. Each option comes with a short explanation of how it works.

Quick tip: If you're under 18, you won't see the Allow option.

5. Once you've picked an option, exit the menu. Your changes will take effect immediately.