Social Media Instagram How to Add Highlights on Instagram Keep your stories viewable for longer than 24 hours by Elise Moreau Freelance Contributor Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others. our editorial process Facebook Twitter Elise Moreau Updated on December 02, 2020 The Ultimate Guide to Instagram The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Introduction Instagram Basics How to Use Instagram Instagram Tips for Beginners Check Messages on Instagram Add or Change an Instagram Background Search Instagram for Tags and Users Add Music to Instagram Video Use Instagram Video Chat Try Instagram Shopping Get Verified on Instagram Clear Search History on Instagram Posting on Instagram The Best Time to Post Save a Draft of a Post Repost an Instagram Story See Previously Liked Posts Post a GIF to Instagram Add Multiple Photos to Stories Save Instagram Videos How to Quickly Repost Photos Saving Photos Deleting Photos and Videos View Saved Posts With Instagram Collections Working With Followers Mute Someone on Instagram See Who Unfollowed You on Instagram Block Someone On Instagram Unblock Someone on Instagram See Who Viewed You Great Tools to Track Comments Remove Followers on Instagram Tips to Get a Shoutout on Instagram Attract More Instagram Followers Delete 'Suggestions for You' IG Tips & Tricks Instagram Tips and Tricks to Try Add Highlights on Instagram Learn About Instagram Direct Use Instagram's Close Friends Feature How to Delete or Deactivate Your Account Reactivate Your Account Reset Your Password Get Started With Location Tagging How to Repost Shoot Videos with Instagram Video Understanding IG Privacy & Security Hide Your Story on Instagram Does IG Send Screenshot Notifications? Make Your Instagram Account Private See Who Saved Your Instagram Posts Download Everything IG Knows About You Manage Multiple Instagram Accounts Hiding Photos Rather Than Deleting Them How to View Private Instagram Accounts Engaging Users on Instagram Start an Instagram Live Video How to Sell on Instagram Use an Instagram Creator Account Make Money as an Instagram Influencer How to Get More Likes Things You Should Definitely Do Get on the Instagram Explore Page The Best Instagram Apps to Boost Engagement How to Make a Poll Instagram Extras: Captions & More Steal These: The Best Instagram Captions Discover the Best Instagram Filters Have Fun With Instagram Hashtags Use Emoji Hashtags on IG The Easy Way to Track IG Hashtags How to Use the IG Questions Sticker Using Instagram on Other Platforms Can You Get Instagram on Apple Watch? Use Instagram on a PC or Mac Get Instagram for iPad What is the Galaxy S10 Instagram Mode? View Instagram on the Web Online Connect Instagram to Facebook Tools for Posting From the Desktop Tweet Share Email Instagram stories are short photo and video posts that appear in full screen, slideshow format for up to 24 hours in the stories feed. If you want to keep a particular story visible for longer than that 24-period, you can add it as Instagram story Highlights to your profile until you decide to remove it. What Are Highlights on Instagram? Highlights are essentially stories you pin to the top of your Instagram profile for an indefinite period of time. Any story you post will appear in your followers' feeds for 24 hours, then automatically disappear. However, if you add a story to your Highlights, anyone who visits your profile will see it as a circular icon above your main feed, even after it disappears from their main stories feed. Highlights don't have to contain just one story and can be a collection of stories. You can add up to 100 photo or video stories to a single Highlight. There's also no limit to the number of Highlights you can add to your profile. Until you manually remove a Highlight from your profile, it remains there indefinitely. Just like regular stories, you're able to see who's viewed your Highlights. Any users you've allowed to view your stories can also view your Highlights, meaning if your Instagram profile isn't private, anyone can see your stories as well as your Highlights. To customize your story privacy settings, navigate to your profile, tap the menu icon in the right, tap Settings > Privacy > Story, then tap Hide Story From to select followers you don't want to see your stories. Why Use Instagram Highlights? Highlights are ideal for content you want to keep around longer than 24 hours but doesn't fit the constraints of standard photo and video posts (such as the need to crop them). They're also ideal for casual content situations where you're not exactly looking to attract likes and comments. Stories that capture memorable moments or mean something to you are perfect for Highlighting on your profile. Anyone who visits your profile will see your Highlights and can tap them to catch a glimpse of your favorite stories. There are two main ways you can create a Highlight: From your profile by accessing your story archive.From your existing live stories (within 24 hours of it being posted). You can view Highlights on profiles via Instagram.com, but you can't post them from the web. The following instructions will show you how to post Highlights via the Instagram app for iOS and Android. Screenshots are provided for the iOS version, but Android users can follow along with a near identical app. How to Post an Instagram Highlight From Your Profile You can easily post a Highlight from your Instagram profile. Once posted, the Highlight will appear on your profile. On the Instagram app, tap the profile icon in the bottom menu. Tap the Story Highlights label above your grid of posts. Tap the plus sign (+) labeled "New." A grid of your most recently archived stories will appear (along with the dates when they were posted). Tap the circle in the bottom of one or multiple stories to add a checkmark to those you want to include in a single Highlight. Don't see any of your previously posted stories here? You might need to enable story archiving. To do this, tap the menu icon in the top right corner of your profile, then tap Settings > Privacy > Story. Under Saving, make sure Save to Archive is turned on so it appears blue. Tap Next once you've selected the stories you want to add to a single Highlight. Optionally, to customize your cover image, tap Edit Cover and name your Highlight by typing something into the field below the cover. If you don't rename it, its name will appear as "Highlights" by default. Tap Add in the top right. It should appear on your profile. How to Post an Instagram Highlight From Your Stories You can add a story to your Highlights as you're posting a new story. This takes the extra step out of Highlighting the story after it's already been posted. To start composing a new story, tap Your Story in the stories feed on your home tab, tap your profile photo on your profile, or swipe right from the home tab. Tap the white button at the bottom to capture your story or the photo/video preview thumbnail in the bottom left to upload an existing photo or video. On the preview of your story, tap the Highlight button in the bottom right. Type in an optional name for your Highlight, then tap Add. Tap View on Profile to see it on your profile, or tap Done. How to Edit or Remove an Instagram Highlight Editing your story gives you the opportunity to change the cover photo to a custom one and add more stories as needed. Since Highlights remain on your profile indefinitely, you're going to want to know how to remove them when they're no longer relevant. To edit an existing Highlight on your profile, tap the Highlight to view it, then tap the three dots labeled "More" in the bottom right corner. Tap Edit Highlight. Tap Edit Cover to select a new image from your device as a cover image, rename the Highlight in the Name field, and tap Archive to add more stories from your archive. Tap Done to update your Highlight. When you're ready to remove the Highlight from your profile, tap the Highlight to view it, then tap the three dots labeled "More" in the bottom right corner. Tap Remove from Highlight. Tap Remove again to confirm it. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! 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