How to check your archived posts on instagram

Curating the perfect Instagram grid isn’t a simple process. Sometimes, you need to get rid of old posts to achieve the look you’re going for, but you don’t have to delete your outdated photos into oblivion to get there. You can actually remove posts from your personal feed by saving them in an archive on Instagram. That way, you don’t have to delete posts that you might want to resurrect later. To keep a handle on your pics of Instagram past, you’ll need to know how to view your archived Instagram posts. Thankfully, it’s super simple to check out your throwbacks, and it may inspire you to fully change up your IG ~aesthetic~.

Instagram launched the Post Archive in July 2017, but if you have yet to use it, you won’t have any pictures in your personal Post Archive. (If you share Stories on Instagram, though, they’ll always show up in your archive under Stories Archive.) To archive posts from your Instagram grid, go to your Instagram feed and find a photo you’d rather not have on your grid anymore. After you select the post, tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the post and choose Archive. That will remove it from your grid and add it to your Instagram archive without deleting it entirely. This is where the ability to access your archived Instagram posts comes in.

The process to access those Instagram posts once you’ve archived them is fairly simple. First, go to your Instagram profile. Once you're there, tap the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner of your screen, which will produce a drop-down menu. Select “Archive,” which is the second option in the menu and has a picture of a reverse-arrow clock.

Once you’re in your archive, you may only see your Stories at first and not your archived posts. In order to toggle to the Posts Archive, tap “Stories Archive” at the top of the screen. You’ll see another drop-down menu with three options: “Stories Archive,” “Posts Archive,” and “Live Archive.” You’ll want to choose “Posts Archive.” (The Live Archive is where you’ll be able to find any previous Instagram live streams you’ve done.)

Once you do that, all of the posts you've archived on Instagram will appear on the screen. The coolest part about the feature is each image is still fully edited as it was when you first posted it, and will have all of the likes and comments from when you initially posted it. In other words, nothing about the post has changed aside from the fact it's now private and won’t show up on your feed.

If you're scrolling through your archived content and see a picture you really like, you can always re-post it onto your Instagram grid. To do so, tap the picture in your archive and tap the three dots in the upper right corner. When you do that, two options will appear: “Delete” or “Show on Profile.” Choose the latter to have your post automatically posted back to your grid and removed from your archive. When you post it back to your profile, the un-archived photo won’t show up at the top of your grid. Instead, it'll be posted chronologically according to the original date you posted it.

If you’re in search of old Stories, you can find them in the same place as archived posts. All you need to do is choose "Stories Archive" from the archive menu, and your old pics and vids will be there. When you click into an old Story, you can tap the three dots at the bottom right corner to find the options to delete it, save it, or share it as a post on your grid. You can also re-share it to your Story or save it as a highlight by tapping the respective icons at the bottom of your photo or video.

So the next time you want to freshen up your personal feed, archive away. No need to stress over whether you need to delete a pic for good.

This article was originally published on 07.20.18

After years of writing "LET ME HIDE PHOTOS FROM MY PROFILE" in Instagram's review section on the App Store, the mysterious people behind the social media platform have *finally* heard my pleas. (Bless. 🙏)

Thanks to an absolutely life-changing update, you can archive photos from your IG grid, hiding them permanently or temporarily from your followers. So instead of posting and deleting four times before I get my filtering right (it's an art, people), I can just hide the pic from my profile until I've decided whether or not it's fit for public eyes.

How to Archive Instagram Photos

First, open the photo or video you want to Archive (yes, that's a photo of me and Millie Bobby Brown)(no, I will not actually be archiving it – the world needs to see this content). Click the three dots at the upper right corner of your photo, then tap the "Archive" option.

Immediately, the photo will disappear from your feed and show up in your "Archive" folder. You can view your archives via the little three dashes that appear at the top right corner of your Instagram profile. Click that icon, then select the "Archive" option that pops up.

From there, click the "Archive" option that appears at the top of your screen and select "Posts." The folder will hold all your hidden photos for your obsessive reviewing pleasure.

If you decide that the photo does deserve to live on your prof after all (as Millie does, obviously), tap the three dots again, select "Show on Profile," and BOOM – right back where it started, ready to rack up alllll the likes.

How to Archive Instagram Stories

The Archive feature isn't just for your regular posts – it also saves all of your Instagram Stories automatically (yes, even after 24 hours). To see your Archived Stories, click the "Archive" option from your profile, again. At the top of your screen, it will say "Archive" with a little arrow next to it – tap that, then click "Stories" from the drop-down.

This will open up a folder with ALL your past Stories, which in my case involves leopard print Vans, mirror selfies, and a lot of jewelry.

From there, you can save individual pics and videos to your camera roll OR post them to the Story Highlights section on your profile. Just click the three dots in the top right corner of the screen (shown above), then hit "Create Highlight."

Then you can select which stories you want to appear on your Highlights.

I know I don't say it enough, but Instagram, I love you.

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Kelsey is Seventeen.com's fashion expert and resident Harry Potter nerd. At the office, she spends her day writing about style, beauty, and literally every move Kylie Jenner makes. On the weekends, you can find her sifting through vintage shops and hunting for the perfect burger. Follow her on Instagram at @klstieg.