To create Instagram Story Highlights, go to your profile, tap New (or Story highlight), choose the stories you want to keep, add a name and cover, then tap Done. Highlights stay on your profile after the original stories expire, until you remove them. Anyone can see public highlights, which is why tools like the InstaPv tool for public profiles can display them without a login.
Key Takeaways
- Highlights let your stories stay on your profile for longer than 24 hours.
- You can create a highlight from your profile or straight from a story you’ve posted.
- Each highlight has a name and a cover image that appear under your bio.
- The people who can see your stories can also see your highlights.
- You can edit, reorder content in, or delete a highlight at any time.
What Are Instagram Story Highlights?
Highlights are collections of stories pinned under your bio as small circles. Instagram describes them as a way to share your Stories for more than 24 hours, and says stories added as highlights remain visible until you remove them.
Regular stories vanish after a day, so highlights are where you keep the ones worth revisiting. If you want the full comparison, read our explainer on Instagram highlights vs stories.
How to Create a Highlight From Your Profile
This is the most common method and works well when you want to group several stories at once. The steps below follow Instagram’s own instructions, although button labels can vary slightly between app versions.
- Open the Instagram app and go to your profile.
- Tap New under your bio. If you don’t see it, tap Story highlights first.
- Select the stories you want to include, then tap Next.
- Type a short name for the highlight.
- Choose a cover photo, then tap Done.
Your new highlight appears as a circle on your profile straight away. Visitors tap it to watch the stories inside in order.
Where older stories come from
When you pick stories for a highlight, Instagram shows ones you’ve posted in the past from your story archive. If older stories are missing, check your archive settings in the app, because stories that weren’t saved there may not be available to add.
How to Add a Story to a Highlight While It’s Live
You don’t have to wait for a story to expire. While your story is still active, open it and look for the Highlight option near the bottom of the screen.
- Tap Highlight on your active story.
- Choose an existing highlight or tap New to start one.
- Name the new highlight if needed and confirm.
This method is quicker for ongoing series, such as adding each day of a trip to a “Travel” highlight as you go.
How to Edit or Delete a Highlight
Highlights are easy to tidy up later. Open the highlight, tap More (the three dots), and choose Edit highlight to rename it, change the cover or add and remove stories.
To remove a single story, open it inside the highlight, tap More, then choose the option to remove it from the highlight. To delete the whole collection, press and hold the highlight circle on your profile and select the delete option.
| Task | Where to start | What you can change |
|---|---|---|
| Create a highlight | Profile, then New | Stories, name, cover |
| Add a live story | Your active story, then Highlight | Which highlight it joins |
| Edit a highlight | Open highlight, then More | Name, cover, stories inside |
| Remove one story | Story inside the highlight, then More | That single story only |
| Delete a highlight | Press and hold the circle on your profile | The entire collection |
Ideas for Useful Highlights
The best highlights answer questions a visitor would otherwise have to ask. Think of them as the menu of your profile.
- Personal accounts: trips, hobbies, pets, recipes or a “Best of” year.
- Small businesses: menus, prices, opening hours, reviews and how to order.
- Creators: tutorials, behind-the-scenes clips, FAQs and collaborations.
- Community groups: upcoming events, rules and past meet-ups.
Tips for clean highlight covers
Matching covers make a profile look organised. Use simple icons or solid colours, keep the important part in the centre, and choose short names that fit under the circle without being cut off.
Put your most important highlight first. Visitors usually tap the leftmost circles before scrolling sideways to see the rest.
Who Can See Your Highlights?
Instagram says that people you’ve allowed to see your story can also see your highlights. On a public account, that means anyone, including people browsing without an account through a viewer such as Insta PV. On a private account, only your approved followers can view them.
Stories you shared only with your Close Friends list follow different audience rules; our guide to Close Friends stories explains how that list works. Before pinning anything permanent, run through our Instagram privacy settings checklist to confirm your account is set up the way you want.
Curious how your highlights look to outsiders? You can view Instagram highlights anonymously on a public account with InstaPv to check what a stranger sees. For more articles like this, visit our Reels & Highlights section, and our Privacy & Safety guides cover protecting your account.
Safety note: Highlights stay up long after a story would normally disappear, so avoid pinning anything that reveals your home address, school, daily routine or travel plans in real time. Ask friends before saving stories that show them, and never share your password with apps promising “highlight tricks”.
We also explain Instagram Reels Length and Formats Guide in a separate, step-by-step guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do Instagram highlights last?
Highlights don’t expire. Instagram says stories added as highlights remain visible until you remove them, even though the original story disappeared after 24 hours. You can delete a single story from a highlight or remove the entire highlight from your profile whenever you like, using the More menu or by pressing and holding the circle.
Can I add old stories to a highlight?
Usually, yes. When you create or edit a highlight, Instagram lets you choose from stories you’ve posted before, which come from your story archive. If an older story doesn’t appear in the list, check your archive settings in the app, since stories that weren’t saved there may not be available to add.
Does Instagram notify people when I create a highlight?
Creating a highlight simply adds a new circle to your profile, where visitors can spot it. Because highlights are made from stories you’ve already shared, people who saw those stories may recognise the content. Anyone allowed to see your stories can open your highlights whenever they visit your profile.
Can I hide a highlight from certain people?
Highlights follow your story audience, so anyone who can see your stories can also see your highlights. To limit who sees them, review your story settings, make your account private, or remove the highlight altogether. Our privacy checklist explains the main settings that control who can view your content.
