How to See Previously Liked Photo & Video Posts on Instagram

Most major social networks make it pretty easy for users to find which posts they've liked. Instagram, however, is one that doesn't.

On Facebook, there's your Activity Log. On Twitter, you've got your Likes tab for all your liked/favorited tweets. On Pinterest, there's also a Likes tab for all your liked pins. On Tumblr, you can access your Likes by clicking on the Account icon on the Dashboard.

On Instagram, it seems as if as soon as you hit that heart button on any photo or video post, it gets lost forever — unless of course you copy the post URL and send it to yourself. Your  previously liked posts actually don't get lost, and there is a hidden place within the app where you can look for them.

It's super easy to find posts you've liked. Follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Instagram account and navigate to your profile by tapping the user icon, located to the far right of the bottom menu.
2. Tap the gear icon in the top right corner of your profile to access your settings.
3. Scroll down a bit and tap the "Posts You've Liked" option under the Account section.
4. View all of your most recent Instagram likes in a thumbnail/grid layout or in a full/feed layout.

That's all there is to it. Instagram has just decided to hide your likes in your account settings rather than directly on your user profile the way many other social networks do.

Being able to access posts you've previously liked is good for a lot of things. Go back to view what you've already liked so you can:

• find new accounts to follow from posts you've liked on the Explore tab;
• read a post's long caption that you didn't have time read when you liked it;
• read more comments that are added to follow along with a discussion on a particular post as additional people see it in their feeds;
• leave a comment of your own on a post that you liked but didn't have time to type something out at the moment; and
• revisit useful information that you want to check out in detail later — like a product, a service, a contest, a workout routine, a recipe, a makeup tutorial or something else.

What you like on Instagram isn't just a friendly gesture to let the poster know that you approve of their post. It's an incredibly helpful way to bookmark things that are interesting and valuable enough to look at again.

According to Instagram, you'll only be able to see the 300 most recent posts (photos and videos) that you've liked. That's still a lot, but if you're an Instagram power user who likes hundreds of posts a day or if you feel the need to look for something you liked several weeks ago, you may be out of luck.

Posts under "Posts You've Liked" will only be displayed if you liked them using the Instagram mobile app. If you liked any posts on the web, they won't show up here. It's unclear if any posts you liked through a third-party Instagram app like Iconosquare will show up, but if it doesn't work for Instagram's own web platform, it's likely that it won't work for third-party apps either.

Lastly, if you commented on a photo or video but didn't also like it, then there's no way to find it again if you lose it. You'll only be able to see posts you've liked by tapping the heart button (or double-tapping the post) in the "Posts You've Liked" section of your profile settings — not posts you've commented on only. So if you want to be able to revisit a post later, make sure you hit that heart button, even if your main intention is to leave a comment.