Posts vs Reels on a Public Profile Grid: What's the Difference?

When you browse a public profile, you'll see two terms that often get confused: posts and Reels. They overlap more than people expect — a Reel is actually a kind of post — but they also behave differently on the grid and in the profile's tabs. Here's how they relate.

What a "post" is

On Instagram, a "post" in the broadest sense is anything that lands in a profile's main grid: a single photo, a multi-photo carousel, or a video. These are the items that make up the familiar three-column grid you see when you open a profile.

Posts are the backbone of a profile. They're persistent — they stay on the grid until the owner deletes or archives them, unlike stories which expire. When people talk about "someone's posts," they usually mean this collection of photos and videos in the grid.

In the main grid view, posts appear in reverse-chronological order: the most recent post sits in the top-left, and older posts follow as you scroll down. This gives you a timeline of what the account has shared, newest first.

What a "Reel" is

A Reel is a specific format of post: a short, vertical video, often set to music or audio, designed for full-screen viewing. Reels were introduced as Instagram's short-video format, and they've become a major part of how creators post.

The key thing to understand is that a Reel is a post — it's not a separate category that lives outside the grid. When a profile shares a Reel, that Reel becomes part of their grid just like a photo would. So "posts vs Reels" isn't really an either/or; Reels are a subset of posts.

What makes Reels distinct is their format (short vertical video) and the fact that Instagram gives them a dedicated home on the profile in addition to the main grid.

How each appears on the profile

Here's where the difference becomes visible. A public profile has tabs, and posts and Reels show up differently across them.

The main grid (the Posts tab) is chronological and shows everything together — photo posts and Reels intermixed in the order they were posted. So as you scroll the grid, you'll pass a photo, maybe a carousel, then a Reel, then another photo, all in posting order.

The Reels tab is a filtered view. It collects only the profile's Reels into one place, so you can browse a creator's short videos without scrolling past their photos. The Reels in this tab are the same Reels that appear in the main grid — it's a filter, not a different set of content.

Why both show on a public profile

On a public account, both photo posts and Reels are public. There's no separate privacy setting that hides Reels but shows photos, or vice versa. If the account is public, everything in the grid — photos, carousels, and Reels — is visible to anyone.

That's why a profile viewer that loads a public grid naturally shows both. The Instagram Profile Viewer browses a public account's posts grid, which includes its Reels right alongside its photo posts, in chronological order. You're seeing the profile's full public output, not a photos-only slice.

If a profile is private, of course, none of this is visible to non-followers — both posts and Reels are hidden behind the privacy setting, and that can't be bypassed.

How to tell them apart while browsing

When you're looking at a grid, a few visual cues distinguish Reels from photo posts:

• A small Reels icon (a clapper/film symbol) usually marks a Reel's thumbnail in the grid.
• View counts are commonly associated with Reels, reflecting their video nature.
• The Reels tab itself, if present, groups them — tap it to see only Reels.

If you just want the short videos, the Reels tab is the fastest path. If you want the complete picture of what an account shares, the main grid gives you everything in order.

Neither one holds Stories, which is the third format people expect to find on a profile. Stories sit above the profile picture, expire after 24 hours, and follow different visibility rules — Reels vs Stories covers what stays browsable and what doesn't.

Which view to use when

Choosing between the main grid and the Reels tab comes down to what you're after:

• Use the main grid when you want the full, chronological picture of an account — photos and Reels together, newest first.
• Use the Reels tab when you specifically want a creator's short videos and don't want to scroll past photo posts.

Either way, on a public account both are open to view. To browse a public profile's grid — photo posts and Reels together — open the Instagram Profile Viewer and enter the username. This tool works only with public profiles and is not affiliated with Instagram or Meta.