If you are reading this, chances are you are looking for ways to put highlights on Instagram without adding to the story. Well, it is possible and we are going to show you how.
While Instagram highlights are introduced as a feature to immortalise ephemeral stories, many users use the feature as a tool to categorise and showcase their work, aesthetics, personal brand, or products to anyone visiting their profile, at any time.
in this guide, we will share two innovative ways to put highlights on Instagram without adding to the story. But, before that, you might be interested in knowing how to hide the Instagram Following and Followers list.
How to put highlights on Instagram without adding to the story
There's no direct method provided to add highlights without first posting them to your story. However, a clever workaround exists that involves adjusting your Close Friends list, then sharing to this list and directly adding the story to the highlights.
Here are the detailed steps:
- First, tailor your Close Friends list to include only users who won’t view your stories, like celebrity accounts.
- After doing so, post your stories exclusively to your Close Friends list.
- From there, you can directly add this story to your highlights.
After 24 hours, once your stories expire, you can revert your Close Friends list to its original setup. You can modify it again in case you need to put highlights on Instagram without adding to the story in the future.
An alternate method
Another workaround exists that involves quickly deleting your stories after posting and later restoring them for highlight inclusion. To put highlights on Instagram without adding to the story using this method, follow these steps:
- Post the photos you wish to add to your highlights to your Instagram story. Immediately after posting, delete them so your followers do not see them. Then, wait 24 hours for Instagram to automatically archive your stories.
- After 24 hours, you navigate to your profile, tap on the hamburger menu (the three lines) in the top right, and select "Your Activity." In the "Recently Deleted" section, you can see the stories you deleted after posting.
- Finally, restore all the photos you wish to. Afterwards, you can go to your profile, tap on "New" under the Highlights section, and you'll be able to select the restored stories to add to a new or existing highlight.
It's crucial to wait 24 hours before attempting to restore the deleted content. If you restore them from the "Recently Deleted" before this period elapses, they will reappear in your stories, visible to your followers.
With that, we are wrapping up our guide on how to put highlights on Instagram without adding to the story. Before heading off, you might want to know how many close friends you can have on Instagram.