Here’s how to find Instagram’s AI Flash Filter that turns your pics into vibey film photos

Everyone is obsessing over a new viral Instagram filter called the AI Flash Filter that makes it look like your pictures were taken on an old-school film camera, but how do you find it? Here’s everything you need to know.

There’s no need to get a digicam anymore, because the filter does everything for you, making it look like you snapped a vibey pic using the flash. This one is actually really great and totally worth the hype.

So, how do you find the viral AI Flash Filter on Instagram?

The filter is part of Instagram’s brand-new “Create with AI” feature, which uses AI to add effects to photos, remove backgrounds, restyle objects and do loads of other things to your stories.

To find the AI Flash Filter on Instagram, here’s what to do:

1. Open Instagram and go to your feed page
2. Hold down the “Your Story ” bubble and click “Add to story”
3. Select the photo you want to add the filter to
4. Click the “Effects” button at the side, with the three stars
5. Select “Browse Effects”
6. Choose “Flash”
7. Wait for Instagram’s AI to edit your image

You can also try the “Flash III” or “Dirty flash” filters, which will give the same film camera effect with slightly different tones.

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Instagram CHOCA ao lançar novo filtro que imita uma câmera fotográfica 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Su9RY5Qs97

— POPTime (@poptime) April 20, 2026

Wait, what if the AI Flash Filter is distorting your faces?!

The filter uses AI, so it can sometimes change the faces of people in the photo, just like other AI chatbots do. If this happens, click on the prompt that appears at the bottom of the screen after the filter has been applied.

In the box, add something like “do not change the faces of the people in this image” to the prompt. Then, tap “Retry” to generate the photo again.

For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook.

Featured image credit: Apple