The first semi-final took place on 6 February 2016 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, hosted by Gina Dirawi and Petra Mede. "Don't Worry" performed by Ace Wilder and "Constellation Prize" performed by Robin Bengtsson qualified directly to the final, while "Bada nakna" performed by Samir and Viktor and "Rik" performed by Albin and Mattias advanced to the Second Chance round. A total of 4,389,687 votes were cast by the viewers during the show with a total of 477,689 SEK collected for Radiohjälpen. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Dirawi and Mede opened the show with a performance titled "Hela Sveriges fest" (English: All of Sweden's party) and performed together with Lasse Kronér as part of the interval act in a number titled "Allt är Eurovisions fel" (English: It's all Eurovision's fault). Spanish girl group and 2006 Spanish Eurovision entrants Las Ketchup also performed their song "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" as an interval act. Recurring interval acts such as Jonas Gardell's schlager school and dramatic readings of past Melodifestivalen song lyrics by Swedish actors were also part of the programme; Stina Ekblad performed a dramatic reading of Samir and Viktor's Melodifestivalen 2015 entry "Groupie". Two days prior to the semi-final on 4 February, "Himmel för två", performed by Anna Book, was disqualified after it was discovered that the song had previously been entered and performed in the audition round of the 2014 Moldovan Eurovision Song Contest national selection. Book performed the song during the semi-final as an interval act

The second semi-final took place on 13 February 2016 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, hosted by Gina Dirawi. Charlotte Perrelli was originally supposed to co-host the show; however, after a breach of contract arose due to her endorsement deal with mobile phone brand Comviq, she appeared only as a guest performer instead. "We Are Your Tomorrow" performed by David Lindgren and "Save Me" performed by Wiktoria qualified directly to the final, while "Hunger" performed by Molly Pettersson Hammar and "I Will Wait" performed by Isa advanced to the Second Chance round. A total of 4,647,934 votes were cast by the viewers during the show with a total of 487,371 SEK collected for Radiohjälpen. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Dirawi and Perrelli opened the show with a performance titled "Flickorna från Sverige" (English: The girls from Sweden), while the interval act titled "Rädda schlagerdivan" (English: Save the schlager diva) included a video presentation that featured Claes Elfsberg and Arja Saijonmaa followed by Perrelli performing a Swedish language cover of the song "Atemlos durch die Nacht" by Helene Fischer entitled "Här står jag" (English: Here I stand). Recurring interval acts such as Jonas Gardell's schlager school and dramatic readings of past Melodifestivalen song lyrics by Swedish actors were also part of the program; Krister Henriksson and Peter Haber performed a dramatic reading of Kikki, Bettan and Lotta's Melodifestivalen 2002 entry "Vem é dé du vill ha".

The third semi-final took place on 20 February 2016 at the Himmelstalundshallen in Norrköping, hosted by Gina Dirawi and Henrik Schyffert. "Human" performed by Oscar Zia and "My Heart Wants Me Dead" performed by Lisa Ajax qualified directly to the final, while "Kizunguzungu" performed by SaRaha and "Put Your Love on Me" performed by Boris René advanced to the Second Chance round. A total of 4,389,051 votes were cast by the viewers during the show with a total of 425,474 SEK collected for Radiohjälpen. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Dirawi and Schyffert opened the show with a cover of "Under Pressure" originally by Queen and David Bowie, while the interval acts were stand-up comedy by Schyffert and a performance by Dirawi titled "Love Story". Recurring interval acts such as Jonas Gardell's schlager school and dramatic readings of past Melodifestivalen song lyrics by Swedish actors were also be part of the program; Marie Göranzon performed a dramatic reading of Anna Book's Melodifestivalen 2007 entry "Samba Sambero".

The fourth semi-final took place on 27 February 2016 at the Gavlerinken Arena in Gävle, hosted by Gina Dirawi and Sarah Dawn Finer. "Youniverse" performed by Molly Sandén and "If I Were Sorry" performed by Frans qualified directly to the final, while "Håll om mig hårt" performed by Panetoz and "Rollercoaster" performed by Dolly Style advanced to the Second Chance round. A total of 4,592,313 votes were cast by the viewers during the show with a total of 628,870 SEK collected for Radiohjälpen. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Dirawi and Finer opened the show with a cover of Guy Sebastian's 2015 Australian Eurovision entry "Tonight Again" titled "Du och jag igen" (English: You and I again), while the interval act featured a performance by Dirawi, Finer and Jon Henrik Fjällgren titled "Hela Sveriges sång" (English: All of Sweden's song). Helena Bergström, who hosted Melodifestivalen 2012 together with Dirawi and Finer, reprised her portrayals of Lasse and Marianne—characters that were part of the interval acts for the 2012 competition. Recurring interval acts such as Jonas Gardell's schlager school and dramatic readings of past Melodifestivalen song lyrics by Swedish actors were also part of the program; Lena Endre performed a dramatic reading of Linda Bengtzing's Melodifestivalen 2006 entry "Jag ljuger så bra".

The Second Chance round took place on 5 March 2016 at the Halmstad Arena in Halmstad, hosted by Gina Dirawi, Ola Salo and Peter Jöback. The eight entries that placed third and fourth in the preceding four semi-finals competed during the show in four duels. SVT decided which entries would face off in each duel. Viewers determined the results during the show through telephone, SMS and application voting. Voting in each duel commenced at the start of the first entry's performance and concluded one minute and thirty seconds following the end of the second entry's performance. Executive producer Christer Björkman announced which four entries won their duels and advanced to the final in addition to revealing the running order of the final at the conclusion of the show. "Håll om mig hårt" performed by Panetoz, "Put Your Love on Me" performed by Boris René, "Kizunguzungu" performed by SaRaha and "Bada nakna" performed by Samir and Viktor qualified to the final. A total of 6,059,917 votes were cast by the viewers during the show with a total of 441,443 SEK collected for Radiohjälpen. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Dirawi, Salo and Jöback opened the show with a cover of Adele's "Skyfall", while the interval acts included a duet by Salo and Jöback titled "Sing Me Out" and Hasse Andersson performing his Melodifestivalen 2015 entry "Guld och gröna skogar". Recurring interval acts that were also part of the show included Jonas Gardell's schlager school and Helena Bergström's portrayals of the characters Lasse and Marianne.

The final took place on 12 March 2016 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, hosted by Gina Dirawi and William Spetz.