Instagram is developing a feature allowing users to remove themselves from another person’s Close Friends list, as Meta confirmed to TechCrunch on Friday. The feature remains in early development stages without public testing.
The Close Friends feature enables Instagram users to share Stories, Reels, and posts exclusively with a selected group of individuals instead of their entire follower base. Introduced in 2018, this functionality has not previously provided any mechanism for recipients to opt out of inclusion on someone else’s list.
Reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi first identified the internal prototype. Paluzzi focuses on detecting unreleased features during their development phase. He shared a screenshot illustrating the proposed interface for this opt-out option.
#Instagram is working on a feature that lets users remove themselves from another user's Close Friends list 👀 pic.twitter.com/ftgDSfxE7p
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) January 29, 2026
The screenshot displays a warning message stating that users who leave a Close Friends list will lose access to that person’s Close Friends content. Access would only resume if the list owner adds them back manually.
Snapchat offers a comparable capability, permitting users to remove themselves from another person’s private story. This exists as one of Instagram’s primary competitor features in private sharing tools.
No timeline exists for public release of the Close Friends opt-out, consistent with the status of other internal prototypes.
In parallel development, Instagram pursues new subscription options granting access to exclusive features across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Meta disclosed plans to TechCrunch earlier this week to initiate testing of these subscriptions.
Meta withheld specifics on subscription-included features during the disclosure. Paluzzi detailed potential Instagram premium subscription benefits, including creation of unlimited audience lists, identification of followers who do not reciprocate follows, and viewing of Stories without notification to the original poster.
Meta outlined its objectives for the subscriptions as delivering special features alongside enhanced control over sharing and connections. Core platform experiences will remain available without charge.
The company intends to experiment with multiple subscription bundles. Each application—Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp—will provide a unique combination of exclusive features within its respective subscription tier.
