instinct does not show previous day stats in app or web

Historical data is being stored (at least as long as the sync is functional, and you do not have multiple accounts associated with the device). To see it on the phone app, tap the chart symbol in the top right corner of the Steps card, or go to Training » Steps, or to Reports » Health & Fitness » Steps in Garmin Connect Web

I know 'how' to look.  When I do so, there is no historical data saved in either mobile or web interfaces.   I can see the data for 'today' in the mobile app but no previous data.  In the web interface I see no data for today either, unless I manually synch by connecting the watch to the Macbook (which I'm not going to do).

Sync logs are clean on the mobile app.

I have historical data in the app that stopped in mid-May 2020 when presumably I did an app update or a watch firmware update.  Both are up to date.   Something obviously broken on the Garmin side.

In that case there are basically four following possibilities. The most common and the most likely reason in most cases is the #3, despite that people are always mistakenly persuaded they never created multiple accounts.

1. Your Privacy Settings do not allow sending data to the Garmin Account (verify the option Storage & Processing), or the device is not set as the Preferred Activity Tracker (check out the Device Settings on the Garmn Connect Mobile app » Activity Tracking » Preferred Activity Tracker)
   
   
2. The BT synchronisation on the phone app does not work (the white circle around the watch symbol never closes) - in that case follow the tips in the Sync / Connection Troubleshooting Guide. Alternatively, you can sync the data with the GC account over the USB cable and Garmin Express on a compuiter, or manually by importing files from the device folder //GARMIN/ACTIVTY/ to the Import Data page of GC Web (in case of errors during the import, see the hint #3)
   
   

3. When the synchronisation works (the white sync circle closes and turns green), but not all the data is appearing in your account, then it very probably means that your device is associated with multiple accounts, and a part of the data lands in the other account. It frequently happens for example when you reinstall the application, and inadvertently sign up a new account instead of signing into the original one. Follow the instructions from the support document Data is Missing from My Garmin Account After Syncing to resolve the issue.
   
   

4. The storage (or a FIT file storing the Activity details or HR data and the steps data) is dammaged or full. Try backing up and deleting old files from the folder //GARMIN/Activity and //GARMIN/Monitor. Look up the last unsynced activities from the folder //GARMIN/Activity, and try importing them manually on the Import Data page of GC Web. If you get errors when trying to import them, try fixing the broken files by passing them through the Section Remover of FIT File Tools (without removing anything), and then importing again the repaired file(s).