How to show archive post on instagram


Instagram Archive and 5 clever ways to use it

Have you ever posted a photo on Instagram only to change your mind about sharing it with the public? Obviously, deleting said photo is an option, but there’s also a less radical option. By using Instagram Archive, you can temporarily remove a photo, then put it back on your profile later if you change your mind — the perfect solution for the whimsical photographer.

Instagram Archive is an ingenious little tool, not just for the indecisive among us, but also for when it comes to sharing memories, highlighting Stories, and increasing engagement on your posts. Here’s how to use Archive to your advantage on Instagram.

What is Instagram Archive, and how does it work?

So, what exactly is Instagram Archive? This nifty feature was rolled out in 2017 and enables users to remove photos and videos from their profile without deleting them entirely. With Instagram Archive, you can still see your archived photos, but the rest of the world won’t know they exist.

Instagram Archive stores both Posts and Stories, and while you have to archive posts manually, you can easily adjust your settings so that your Stories are automatically added to Instagram Archive after 24 hours.

How to archive posts on Instagram

  1. Open Instagram and navigate to your profile.
  2. Tap the photo you want to archive.
  3. Select the three dots in the upper-right corner of your post.
  4. Choose Archive.
  5. Your photo will disappear from your profile.

Where to find your archived photos on Instagram

  1. Open Instagram and head to your profile.
  2. Tap the menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner of the screen.
  3. Tap Archive. All of your archived posts will show up here.
  4. Tap on the drop-down arrow at the top of the screen to choose between archived posts or Stories.

How to automatically save Stories to Instagram Story Archive

You can enable automatic archiving of your Stories within your settings on Instagram. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open the Instagram menu on your Instagram profile.
  2. Tap Settings > Privacy > Story.
  3. Scroll down to Saving and toggle on the Save to Archive function. All of your Stories will now be saved in Instagram Archives.

How to put archived posts back on Instagram

Change your mind about a post you’ve archived? Here’s how to add it back to your profile:

  1. Open Instagram and navigate to your profile.
  2. Tap the menu in the upper-right corner.
  3. Tap Archive.
  4. Choose the photo that you want to return to Instagram.
  5. Tap the three dots in the corner of the post.
  6. Tap Show on Profile. The post will be returned to the original location in your Instagram feed.

5 ways to use Instagram Archive to engage your audience

Now that you know the basics of Instagram Archive, here’s how to use it creatively to engage your audience.

1. Highlight your best Stories

The Highlight feature on Instagram is a fabulous way to show off your best Stories right on your profile. Because all of your Stories are automatically archived, it’s easy to create and change your Instagram Story Highlights with a few taps. Here’s how to add archived Stories to your Highlights:

  1. Open Instagram and navigate to the menu from your profile.
  2. Tap Archive and choose Stories from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen.
  3. Scroll through your archived Stories until you find one that you want to add to Highlights.
  4. Tap on the Story and choose Highlight.
  5. Choose the Highlight that you want to add it to, or tap + to create a new Highlight.

2. Post your memories to Stories

Did you know that Instagram keeps track of your post dates so that you can add them as Stories to increase engagement? Your Memories are located in your Instagram Archives under Stories. Depending on how long you’ve been posting to Instagram, you may see one or more Memories. Next to your post, it will say “On This Day – [x] years ago today,” followed by a Share button. To share your post to your Stories, simply tap the button and create your Story.

3. Test different Instagram themes on your account

An Instagram theme is simply a cohesive look for your feed based on a specific style, color, or type of photo. You don’t have to create a theme for your Instagram account in order for it to be successful, but Instagram accounts with recognizable themes often see more engagement and recognition. Want to try it for yourself without harming your account? Decide on a theme and choose the posts that fit within it. Archive the rest. It’s that simple. If you don’t love your new theme, all you have to do is return your archived posts to your feed.

4. Repost photos that didn’t see great engagement

Using Instagram Archive gives us opportunities to increase engagement by using the analytics from an archived post to repost for more engagement. By using Instagram Insights, you can easily see which posts got the least amount of engagement over the past year. Now, maybe those photos were subpar to begin with, but it could also be that you posted the photo at a weird time, your caption was humdrum, or you didn’t make good use of your hashtags. You can test your theory by archiving those posts and creating new posts from the same photos using a different technique to get more engagement.

5. Reuse photos without seeming repetitive

Like most social media platforms, the lifespan of a single Instagram post can be pretty short. You may see engagement for a few days, but after that, your views, likes, and comments will probably tank, and you will have to create a new post for your followers to enjoy. If you’re running out of new photos to post, you can reuse some old photos you particularly like by archiving them and posting them again? Not only does this breathe new life into your photos, but it frees up more of your time.

Ready to kick your Instagram game up a notch? It’s time to show off your best work, encourage engagement, and attract new followers, all with Instagram Archive.

This was about:
  • Instagram
  • Stories
Tara Schatz

Travel writer. Photographer. Lover of dogs and the outdoors.

How To Archive or Unarchive Instagram Posts

Rather than users deleting content and losing the company’s potential revenue, Instagram offers a way to save it for later. It’s also beneficial to personal users because they can quickly bring up seasonal images or posts and adjust them. Rather than delete the post entirely, you can now archive it to remove it from the public’s eye. You can still view the post privately to use at a later date, but nobody else sees it. Live streams and stories get archived automatically, but this content is about “Instagram Posts.” Lets’ get started.

Using Instagram Archive for Posts

The Instagram “archive” feature contains a section for stories, live streams, and posts. The Instagram “Posts” category has an opt-in feature that you must use manually. Instagram does not automatically archive old or deleted posts like other systems—just stories and live streams.

How to Access Instagram Archives to View Your Posts

When you archive a post, it remains there until you manually delete it or un-archive it. As previously mentioned, Instagram Archive gets split between posts, stories, and live content. You’ll want to view your posts.

To access the Instagram archive:

  1. Open “Instagram,” then tap your “profile icon” in the bottom-right section.
  2. Select the “hamburger icon” (three horizontal lines) menu in the top-right section.
  3. Choose “Archive.”
  4. The “Archive” menu appears, showing your stories by default. To see your archived posts, tap on the “downward arrowhead” next to “Stories Archive” and select “Posts archive.”
  5. Your archived posts now appear.

As mentioned above, the archive is for you only and is not publicly viewable.

How to Archive Instagram Posts

  1. From the “Home” page, tap on your “profile icon” in the bottom-right section.
  2. Select “Posts” at the top next to your profile thumbnail.
  3. Choose the post to archive.
  4. Tap on the “vertical ellipsis” (three vertical dots) in the top-right section of the post.
  5. Choose “Archive” in the list of options that appear. This action removes the post from your profile. Followers and the public cannot view it anymore.

Your Instagram post now appears in your archives for later use.

How to Unarchive Instagram Posts

Unarchiving Instagram posts is very straightforward when you want to bring a post out of hibernation and back into your profile. Go into your Instagram archive and select the option to show it on your profile again. There is no restore option, just the choice to place the archived post on your profile. Essentially, that is the same thing in this situation.

  1. Open “Instagram” on your “profile page.” Select the “hamburger icon” (three horizontal lines) menu in the top right section.
  2. Choose “Archive.”
  3. Tap on the “downward arrowhead” next to “Stories Archive” and select “Posts Archive.”
  4. Choose the post you want to unarchive and select the “horizontal ellipsis” (three horizontal dots) menu icon.
  5. Select “Show on Profile” from the listed options.

The post now becomes active once more and is publicly viewable.

If you prefer to delete your archived post instead of making it public again, you can do it by selecting “Delete” instead of “Show on Profile. Your post gets deleted forever and is not recoverable. Sometimes that’s a good thing!


In closing, the Instagram archive feature is a neat idea that gives you control over what others see, whether for personal use or business. While we are gradually adjusting to the temporal nature of online life, some things are worth keeping for the longer term. If you don’t keep those memories close, at least you can preserve them on Instagram.

For social media savvy businesses, this is a way of using posts and media multiple times or for seasonal offers that repeat annually or regularly. Why create a Christmas offer each year if you can archive and tweak it and then make it public again? As for personal use, the Instagram archive feature lets you store posts or images you might want to reuse later, hold onto for personal reference, or even adjust them.

How to extract a post or story from the archive on Instagram

Instagram* allows you to save not only stories, but also posts. But how do you unzip a post? We understand in a series of short instructions.

Why archive posts on Instagram*

Post archiving is a useful tool that allows you to save posts, live broadcasts and stories in a separate section. Only the owner of the account can see it, the content in the archive is not available for viewing by other users of the social network.

In everyday life, the function is useful if you need to remove irrelevant posts, which, for some reason, it is a pity to delete permanently. Commercial accounts can use the tool more broadly. For example, as part of an advertising campaign, they can temporarily hide all publications in order to post one big post with a promotion. It attracts attention, conveys a sense of scale and creates intrigue.

Posts can be hidden in order to temporarily place such ads in the profile old. In order not to delete old posts, it's easier to hide them.

What about stories? They are automatically saved to archives, from where it is convenient to pull them out later to save to your phone, repost or send to highlights. For more information on how albums work in general, read the separate article “How to add and change Instagram Highlights*”.

How to work with archives and restore posts - we will tell further in small and visual instructions.

How to save a post to the Instagram archive*

When archiving, the post will be saved with all comments, hashtags, tags and publication date. It will be hidden from your feed and the feed of other users, only you will see it in a special section.

How to send a post to the archive:

  1. We go into the application and click on the post in our feed or profile.
  2. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
  3. Select "Archive" from the list.
  4. Done, the post has been hidden from the profile and archived.
How to archive photos on Instagram*

The application interface on iPhone and Android is the same, so this instruction (and all subsequent ones) is relevant for any phone.

How to save stories to the Instagram archive*

The social network automatically sends stories to the archive 24 hours after publication. But if they are not displayed in the "Archive" section, then saving must be re-enabled. There are two ways: through the settings and while browsing.

Enable saving stories through the settings:

  1. Go to the application settings through the profile.
  2. Select "Privacy".
  3. Clicking in a new window on the "History" item.
  4. Activate the "Save stories to archive" function.
How to set up archiving of stories on Instagram* through the menu

Enable saving stories through the view menu:

  1. Watch your stories.
  2. Click on the three dots "More" in the lower right corner.
  3. Select "History Settings".
  4. Activate the "Save stories to archive" item.
How to set up archiving of Instagram stories* quickly

How to recover a deleted post on Instagram*

Recently, deleted posts are stored for 30 days, during which time they can be pulled back. But for this you will need to verify your identity using a special code that will be sent to your email.

How to get back a deleted post on Instagram *:

  1. Go to Settings and select "Account".
  2. Click on "Recently Deleted" at the very end of the list.
  3. Select a post and click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
  4. Click "Restore" or "Delete" (then it will be permanently deleted).
  5. We agree with the restoration.
  6. We confirm the identity: a code will be sent to the mail, which will have to be entered in the application.
  7. After confirmation, you will need to click on the post again and click "Restore" again.
  8. Done: The post is back in the feed.
How to find deleted posts on Instagram* How to get back a deleted post on Instagram*

How to extract a post from Instagram archive*

After unzipping, the post will return to the feed with all comments and the same publication date as it was. It will take the place in the feed where it was previously, i.e. it will not be re-published. As I said above, the social network does not delete posts - it rather hides them in the archive with a further opportunity to return everything as it was.

How to restore photos from the archive on Instagram *:

  1. Go to your profile and click on the icon with three stripes in the upper right corner.
  2. Click on the "Archive" item.
  3. We get to the menu "Archive of publications" and click on the post.
  4. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
  5. Click "Show in profile".

You can also remove a post from the archive on Instagram* by clicking "Delete". Then the post will go to the trash, where it will be stored for 30 calendar days. See above for instructions on returning posts.

How to unarchive a post on Instagram*

There are more opportunities for unarchiving stories: you can re-publish as a repost, send to a post, save to Actual or upload to your phone in the gallery.

How to download stories from the archive:

  1. In the "Archive" menu, click on "Archive of publications" at the top and select "Archive of stories".
  2. Select a story and click on "More" in the lower right corner.
  3. Click "Save Video" or "Save Photo".
  4. The file has been saved to the phone.
How to download old stories from the Instagram archive*

For more information on how to download stories, read the guide “How to download stories from Instagram*”.

How to add a story from the archive to the Feature:

  1. In the "Stories archive" menu, click on the story and select "Add to Feature".
  2. In a new window, select existing folders or create a new one.
  3. Done: story saved in highlights.
How to save old stories in Instagram Hot*

How to send a story to a post:

  1. In the "Stories archive" menu, click on the story and click on the "More" item.
  2. Select the item "Share in the publication."
  3. Crop the photo and click "Next".
  4. Editing a post: applying filters, writing text, tagging people, adding hashtags, and so on.
  5. We publish a finished post from stories in our profile.
How to send old stories to an Instagram post*

How to get a story from the archive on Instagram* and publish it again:

  1. In the "Stories Archive" menu, click on the story and click on the "More" item.
  2. Select "Share".
  3. Editing a story: adding a signature, stickers and, if necessary, deleting the "Memories" badge.
  4. Publishing.
How to re-post old stories on Instagram*

In conclusion

Is it possible to return photos to Instagram* from a computer? Unfortunately, the social network site does not have a menu with archives of publications. Therefore, even if you switch to mobile layout, you will not be able to access the archives. Of course, you can install an Android emulator on your computer, download the application from Google Play and go into it, but it seems easier to use the phone.

On the other hand, posting from a computer is often convenient, especially if you have to type a lot of text on the keyboard and regularly make interactive stories. These opportunities are provided by the delayed posting service SMMplanner - where you can also put many posts and stories into postponement at once, which frees up a lot of time.

We can customize all aspects of a post: text, photo, video, hashtags, tags, comments. You can even upload a video and make a story with full functionality (stickers, polls, gifs, etc.)

Of course, the service will be useful primarily for SMM-persons and those who maintain several accounts and cross-post to several social networks at once. In any case, try it - the first week is free, and during this time it will become clear for sure whether you need such wide functionality or not.

Archive on Instagram: where did it go, how to view the archive of stories and photos

After the next Instagram update, some users lost the archive from the settings. If this is the first time you hear about the archive, a small note is a place where you can transfer posts, stories and live broadcasts so that they are visible only to you.

This article will tell you how to find an archive and how to restore a publication from an archive.

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Read also: 25 most common mistakes on Instagram

The archive is located in the profile menu. Click on the 3 horizontal lines, the menu opens. Between the settings and statistics there should be an item "Archive".

If not present, solutions:

1. Update the application. Usually this is enough for the "Archive" item to return to the menu.

2. For some users, the archive has moved to the "Your activity" item. Open the profile menu, go to the activity, scroll down - there should be an item "Archive". It can also be displayed simultaneously in the profile menu and in the "Your activity" menu.

3. If none of the methods helped, we make it easier. We go to the profile menu, then to "Settings". In the search bar, write the word "Archive".

Interesting: 33 Instagram post ideas

How to return a post or story from the archive

There are 3 types of archive in the Archive section. By default, archived stories are displayed. If you click on the checkbox, all views will be displayed.

How to return stories. Stories cannot be returned from the archive, because stories are only stored for 24 hours. To keep them longer and be visible to other users, they can be placed in the actual. But a story from the archive can be shared with contacts in Direct, and it can also be posted as a new story memory.

To share a story, find it in the archive, open it, then click "More" to bring up the menu. To send to Direct, click "Send" and select a contact.

To place it as a story-memories, select the “Share” item in the menu. Instagram automatically puts down the date of the memory, that is, when the story was posted for the first time.

How to return a post from the archive. Open the archive of publications, click on the post. Then 3 dots in the upper right corner, select "Show in profile" in the menu.

*You may find that the post never appeared on the profile, although it disappeared from the archive. What to do in this case is to exit Instagram, remove it from the background (that is, close it completely). Then re-enter the application. The post will appear on the account page.

Recording of the live broadcast can be downloaded from the archive to the device or uploaded to the profile.

Conclusion

The temporary disappearance of the archive on Instagram from the menu is due to the update of the application and the fact that for some users this item has moved to another section (Your activity). Perhaps the social network is testing where it is better to place the archive. Please note that this item may appear differently for users of iOS and Android devices.


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