# ig_rid — the request ID on Instagram links

- Canonical: https://linkclean.app/trackers/ig-rid/
- Updated: 2026-10-03
- Author: Ken Tominaga (https://ken0nek.com)
- Get the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/linkclean/id6758604043

Parameter: `ig_rid` · Category: Social · Vendor: Instagram

> ig_rid is **an identifier Instagram attaches to some profile and post links**, usually a value shaped like a UUID. Instagram has not documented it. The profile or post is addressed by the path, so the link works without it, and LinkClean strips it on instagram.com.

## What ig_rid looks like

It shows up as `?ig_rid=` followed by a value in the 8-4-4-4-12 pattern of a UUID. The name reads as "Instagram request ID", but **Instagram publishes no description of it**, so that reading is an inference from the name and the shape of the value.

What can be said for certain is narrower: the value is not the post and not the account. Those are in the path.

## How it differs from igshid

[igshid](https://linkclean.app/trackers/igshid/) and its newer spellings `igsh` and `igsi` are share identifiers: they name the session that shared a link. `ig_rid` is a separate parameter with a different shape. A link can carry either or both.

## How LinkClean removes it

Default-on, scoped to `instagram.com`. `img_index`, which picks the slide of a carousel post, is kept. AdGuard's filter, Brave and Firefox's Copy Link Without Site Tracking remove `ig_rid` as well.

## Example

Looks like this in a URL: `https://www.instagram.com/p/CxYz123AbC/?ig_rid=1a2b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d&img_index=2`

After LinkClean: `https://www.instagram.com/p/CxYz123AbC/?img_index=2`

## Frequently asked

**What does ig_rid stand for?**

Instagram has not said. The name suggests a request identifier, and the value looks like one, but nothing official confirms it.

**Does the post still open without ig_rid?**

Yes. The post is identified by the shortcode in the path.

**Is ig_rid the same as igshid?**

No. igshid is a share identifier. ig_rid is a different parameter, and LinkClean removes both.


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