diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/loki/parse_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/loki/parse_query.go
index e212e43568a02..d6c81f1c1c797 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/loki/parse_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/loki/parse_query.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/backend"
 
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb/intervalv2"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb/loki/kinds/dataquery"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ const (
 	varRange      = "$__range"
 	varRangeS     = "$__range_s"
 	varRangeMs    = "$__range_ms"
+	varAutoRange  = "$__auto"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -28,7 +30,7 @@ const (
 	varRangeMsAlt    = "${__range_ms}"
 )
 
-func interpolateVariables(expr string, interval time.Duration, timeRange time.Duration) string {
+func interpolateVariables(expr string, interval time.Duration, timeRange time.Duration, step time.Duration, queryType dataquery.LokiQueryType) string {
 	intervalText := intervalv2.FormatDuration(interval)
 	intervalMsText := strconv.FormatInt(int64(interval/time.Millisecond), 10)
 
@@ -50,6 +52,19 @@ func interpolateVariables(expr string, interval time.Duration, timeRange time.Du
 	expr = strings.ReplaceAll(expr, varRangeMsAlt, rangeMsText)
 	expr = strings.ReplaceAll(expr, varRangeSAlt, rangeSText)
 	expr = strings.ReplaceAll(expr, varRangeAlt, rangeSText+"s")
+
+	// Interpolate $__auto range variable to step in range queries and to $__range in instant queries
+	// re := regexp.MustCompile(`\s*\[auto\]\s*\)`)
+	if queryType == dataquery.LokiQueryTypeRange {
+		//expr = re.ReplaceAllString(expr, "[" + intervalv2.FormatDuration(step)+"])")
+		expr = strings.ReplaceAll(expr, varAutoRange, intervalText)
+	}
+
+	if queryType == dataquery.LokiQueryTypeInstant {
+		//expr = re.ReplaceAllString(expr, "[" + rangeSText + "s])")
+		expr = strings.ReplaceAll(expr, varAutoRange, rangeSText+"s")
+	}
+
 	return expr
 }
 
@@ -131,8 +146,6 @@ func parseQuery(queryContext *backend.QueryDataRequest) ([]*lokiQuery, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		expr := interpolateVariables(model.Expr, interval, timeRange)
-
 		queryType, err := parseQueryType(model.QueryType)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
@@ -143,6 +156,8 @@ func parseQuery(queryContext *backend.QueryDataRequest) ([]*lokiQuery, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
+		expr := interpolateVariables(model.Expr, interval, timeRange, step, queryType)
+
 		var maxLines int64
 		if model.MaxLines != nil {
 			maxLines = *model.MaxLines
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/components/LokiLabelBrowser.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/components/LokiLabelBrowser.tsx
index c89734d7b62db..5700c9faed2cd 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/components/LokiLabelBrowser.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/components/LokiLabelBrowser.tsx
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ export class UnthemedLokiLabelBrowser extends React.Component<BrowserProps, Brow
       closeType: 'showLogsRateButton',
     });
     const selector = buildSelector(this.state.labels);
-    const query = `rate(${selector}[$__interval])`;
+    const query = `rate(${selector}[$__auto_range])`;
     this.props.onChange(query);
   };
 
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/components/monaco-query-field/monaco-completion-provider/completions.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/components/monaco-query-field/monaco-completion-provider/completions.ts
index d40703e3640c0..d5c554bb52de5 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/components/monaco-query-field/monaco-completion-provider/completions.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/components/monaco-query-field/monaco-completion-provider/completions.ts
@@ -51,15 +51,17 @@ const AGGREGATION_COMPLETIONS: Completion[] = AGGREGATION_OPERATORS.map((f) => (
   documentation: f.documentation,
 }));
 
-const FUNCTION_COMPLETIONS: Completion[] = RANGE_VEC_FUNCTIONS.map((f) => ({
-  type: 'FUNCTION',
-  label: f.label,
-  insertText: `${f.insertText ?? ''}({$0}[\\$__interval])`, // i don't know what to do when this is nullish. it should not be.
-  isSnippet: true,
-  triggerOnInsert: true,
-  detail: f.detail,
-  documentation: f.documentation,
-}));
+const FUNCTION_COMPLETIONS: Completion[] = RANGE_VEC_FUNCTIONS.map((f) => {
+  return {
+    type: 'FUNCTION',
+    label: f.label,
+    insertText: `${f.insertText ?? ''}({$0}[\\$__auto_range])`, // i don't know what to do when this is nullish. it should not be.
+    isSnippet: true,
+    triggerOnInsert: true,
+    detail: f.detail,
+    documentation: f.documentation,
+  };
+});
 
 const BUILT_IN_FUNCTIONS_COMPLETIONS: Completion[] = BUILT_IN_FUNCTIONS.map((f) => ({
   type: 'FUNCTION',
@@ -71,13 +73,21 @@ const BUILT_IN_FUNCTIONS_COMPLETIONS: Completion[] = BUILT_IN_FUNCTIONS.map((f)
   documentation: f.documentation,
 }));
 
-const DURATION_COMPLETIONS: Completion[] = ['$__interval', '$__range', '1m', '5m', '10m', '30m', '1h', '1d'].map(
-  (text) => ({
-    type: 'DURATION',
-    label: text,
-    insertText: text,
-  })
-);
+const DURATION_COMPLETIONS: Completion[] = [
+  '$__auto_range',
+  '$__interval',
+  '$__range',
+  '1m',
+  '5m',
+  '10m',
+  '30m',
+  '1h',
+  '1d',
+].map((text) => ({
+  type: 'DURATION',
+  label: text,
+  insertText: text,
+}));
 
 const UNWRAP_FUNCTION_COMPLETIONS: Completion[] = [
   {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/datasource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/datasource.ts
index c0da2484716e4..03403dc4f4704 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/datasource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/datasource.ts
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ export class LokiDatasource
           refId: `${REF_ID_STARTER_LOG_VOLUME}${normalizedQuery.refId}`,
           queryType: LokiQueryType.Range,
           supportingQueryType: SupportingQueryType.LogsVolume,
-          expr: `sum by (level) (count_over_time(${expr}[$__interval]))`,
+          expr: `sum by (level) (count_over_time(${expr}[$__auto_range]))`,
         };
 
       case SupplementaryQueryType.LogsSample:
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querybuilder/LokiQueryModeller.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querybuilder/LokiQueryModeller.ts
index c7d689a53ae6c..1587908001da2 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querybuilder/LokiQueryModeller.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querybuilder/LokiQueryModeller.ts
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ export class LokiQueryModeller extends LokiAndPromQueryModellerBase {
           { id: LokiOperationId.LabelFilterNoErrors, params: [] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.Unwrap, params: [''] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.LabelFilterNoErrors, params: [] },
-          { id: LokiOperationId.SumOverTime, params: ['$__interval'] },
+          { id: LokiOperationId.SumOverTime, params: ['$__auto_range'] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.Sum, params: [] },
         ],
       },
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ export class LokiQueryModeller extends LokiAndPromQueryModellerBase {
         // sum by() (count_over_time({}[$__interval)
         operations: [
           { id: LokiOperationId.LineContains, params: [''] },
-          { id: LokiOperationId.CountOverTime, params: ['$__interval'] },
+          { id: LokiOperationId.CountOverTime, params: ['$__auto_range'] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.Sum, params: [] },
         ],
       },
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ export class LokiQueryModeller extends LokiAndPromQueryModellerBase {
           { id: LokiOperationId.LineContains, params: [''] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.Logfmt, params: [] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.LabelFilterNoErrors, params: [] },
-          { id: LokiOperationId.CountOverTime, params: ['$__interval'] },
+          { id: LokiOperationId.CountOverTime, params: ['$__auto_range'] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.Sum, params: [] },
         ],
       },
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ export class LokiQueryModeller extends LokiAndPromQueryModellerBase {
         // bytes_over_time({}[$__interval])
         operations: [
           { id: LokiOperationId.LineContains, params: [''] },
-          { id: LokiOperationId.BytesOverTime, params: ['$__interval'] },
+          { id: LokiOperationId.BytesOverTime, params: ['$__auto_range'] },
         ],
       },
       {
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ export class LokiQueryModeller extends LokiAndPromQueryModellerBase {
         operations: [
           { id: LokiOperationId.Logfmt, params: [] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.LabelFilterNoErrors, params: [] },
-          { id: LokiOperationId.CountOverTime, params: ['$__interval'] },
+          { id: LokiOperationId.CountOverTime, params: ['$__auto_range'] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.Sum, params: [] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.TopK, params: [10] },
         ],
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ export class LokiQueryModeller extends LokiAndPromQueryModellerBase {
           { id: LokiOperationId.LabelFilterNoErrors, params: [] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.Unwrap, params: ['latency'] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.LabelFilterNoErrors, params: [] },
-          { id: LokiOperationId.QuantileOverTime, params: ['$__interval', 0.5] },
+          { id: LokiOperationId.QuantileOverTime, params: ['$__auto_range', 0.5] },
           { id: LokiOperationId.Sum, params: [] },
         ],
       },
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querybuilder/operationUtils.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querybuilder/operationUtils.ts
index 0a26a20e4b725..c9b34aea21c23 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querybuilder/operationUtils.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querybuilder/operationUtils.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ import { LokiOperationId, LokiOperationOrder, LokiVisualQuery, LokiVisualQueryOp
 
 export function createRangeOperation(name: string, isRangeOperationWithGrouping?: boolean): QueryBuilderOperationDef {
   const params = [getRangeVectorParamDef()];
-  const defaultParams = ['$__interval'];
+  const defaultParams = ['$__auto_range'];
+
   let paramChangedHandler = undefined;
 
   if (name === LokiOperationId.QuantileOverTime) {
@@ -55,6 +56,8 @@ export function createRangeOperation(name: string, isRangeOperationWithGrouping?
 
       if (op.params[0] === '$__interval') {
         return `${opDocs} \`$__interval\` is a variable that will be replaced with the [calculated interval](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/dashboards/variables/add-template-variables/#__interval) based on the time range and width of the graph. In Dashboards, you can affect the interval variable using **Max data points** and **Min interval**. You can find these options under **Query options** right of the data source select dropdown.`;
+      } else if (op.params[0] === '$__auto_range') {
+        return `${opDocs} \`$__auto_range\` is a variable that will be replaced with the value of step in range queries and value of $__range in instant queries.`;
       } else {
         return `${opDocs} The [range vector](https://grafana.com/docs/loki/latest/logql/metric_queries/#range-vector-aggregation) is set to \`${op.params[0]}\`.`;
       }
@@ -137,14 +140,14 @@ function operationWithRangeVectorRenderer(
   innerExpr: string
 ) {
   const params = model.params ?? [];
-  const rangeVector = params[0] ?? '$__interval';
+  const rangeVector = params[0] ?? '$__auto_range';
   // QuantileOverTime is only range vector with more than one param
   if (params.length === 2 && model.id === LokiOperationId.QuantileOverTime) {
     const quantile = params[1];
     return `${model.id}(${quantile}, ${innerExpr} [${rangeVector}])`;
   }
 
-  return `${model.id}(${innerExpr} [${params[0] ?? '$__interval'}])`;
+  return `${model.id}(${innerExpr} [${params[0] ?? '$__auto_range'}])`;
 }
 
 export function labelFilterRenderer(model: QueryBuilderOperation, def: QueryBuilderOperationDef, innerExpr: string) {
@@ -237,7 +240,7 @@ export function addLokiOperation(
           modeller,
           (def) => def.category === LokiVisualQueryOperationCategory.Functions
         );
-        operations.splice(placeToInsert, 0, { id: LokiOperationId.Rate, params: ['$__interval'] });
+        operations.splice(placeToInsert, 0, { id: LokiOperationId.Rate, params: ['$__auto_range'] });
       }
       operations.push(newOperation);
       break;
@@ -292,6 +295,6 @@ function getRangeVectorParamDef(): QueryBuilderOperationParamDef {
   return {
     name: 'Range',
     type: 'string',
-    options: ['$__interval', '$__range', '1m', '5m', '10m', '1h', '24h'],
+    options: ['$__auto_range', '$__interval', '$__range', '1m', '5m', '10m', '1h', '24h'],
   };
 }