Instagram Reach Drop Diagnoser
Turn "why is my reach down" into a specific answer. Enter the Insight numbers you have — the diagnoser ranks the probable causes, names the metric that confirms each one, and gives you the fix. Runs in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded.
Your numbers
One sentence is enough — the shape of the drop narrows the causes.
Insights → Accounts reached. Leave blank if you don't know.
Insights → Reached audience. Healthy reels travel mostly to people who don't follow you.
Reel insights → Average watch time. Leave blank if you don't know.
The usual length of your recent reels — needed to compute retention.
How long you've been posting consistently.
Compare your post counts across the two windows.
Professional Dashboard → Account Status. This is Instagram's own eligibility check.
Be honest — the rolling 30-day originality window drives recommendation eligibility.
Your diagnosis
Enter what you know — even one number is enough, or load the example.
Every field above has an "I don't know" option — fill in what you have and the list updates as you type. Each label's help text says where the number lives in your Insights.
How the diagnosis works
The diagnoser reads your numbers the way an operator would: each cause has a confirming metric, and the list only claims a cause when your numbers match it. The signals it checks are the ones Instagram has made public.
- The skip window. Meta's Reels ranking documentation lists a prediction for whether a viewer will watch less than three seconds — so watch time under 3s points at the hook.
- Watch time, likes, sends. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, names these as the top three signals, with sends mattering most for people who don't follow you — so thin shares point at send-worthiness.
- Rates, not totals. Mosseri tells creators to watch average watch time, like rate and send rate — per-person rates, which is exactly what this tool compares.
- Eligibility before content. Instagram's Recommendation Guidelines and Account Status decide whether strangers can see your reels at all, so notices and originality outrank everything else in the ranking.
The numeric cutoffs (under 3 seconds, under 1 share per 100 reached, under 20% non-follower reach) are commonly used operator benchmarks, not official Instagram thresholds. Instagram publishes signal names and predictions, never cutoffs — treat these as starting points and compare against your own account's recent posts.
The full reasoning, all eleven causes and the fixes are written up in Why Are My Reels Not Getting Views? 11 Causes and Fixes.
Diagnosis is step one. The system is the rest.
Instagram Ignited — included in All Access — teaches the weekly test-and-review loop behind this tool: reading Insights like an operator, testing with trial reels, and building content strangers watch and send.
Or join the free community: IImagined Discord
FAQ
What numbers do I need before using this?
Three carry most of the diagnosis: average watch time, the non-follower share of reach, and shares per 100 accounts reached. You'll find them in Insights: Accounts reached for the last 30 days, then the audience breakdown and per-reel insights. Every field's help text says where to look — and you can run the tool with only some of them filled in.
Are these thresholds official Instagram rules?
No. The signals themselves come from what Instagram has published — its Reels ranking documentation names the under-three-seconds watch prediction, and Adam Mosseri has named watch time, likes and sends as the top signals. The numeric cutoffs in this tool are commonly used operator benchmarks for diagnosis, never official Instagram statements. Always compare against your own account's recent posts.
My reach is zero — is my account banned?
Usually not. A true zero on every surface is rare; what looks like zero is often recommended delivery stopping, meaning only followers see you. Check Account Status in the Professional Dashboard: it shows whether your content is eligible to be recommended to non-followers and names any rule a post broke. Fix or appeal what it flags, then re-run this tool with fresh numbers.
How often should I re-run the diagnosis?
Every two to four weeks, or right after you change something — a new posting cadence, a new format, or after clearing an Account Status flag. Instagram publishes no recovery timeline, so judge changes on your next 5 to 10 reels using the same rates, not on a single post.
Does this tool connect to my Instagram account?
No. You type the numbers from your own Insights; the diagnosis runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to IImagined or anywhere else, and no signup is required.