If you are an Instagram aficionado, you will no doubt know how important stories are when it comes to interacting with your followers. According to TechJury, 70% of Instagram users watch stories every day and 15% to 25% of people swipe on the links in branded stories.
As you can see, it is a good idea to make use of the stories feature, especially if you are running a business account or trying to become an influencer. But if you don’t want a long-term record of the stories, how can you delete them? We explore this and more down below.
Why Instagram Stories are Important
Instagram stories are important because they are the only feature that can really show you how active and engaged your followers are. Other posting features are aimed at engaging and reaching more of Instagram’s 2 billion active users, but stories are most often seen by those who already follow you.
Stories are more likely to engage your followers and result in interaction. Furthermore, because they are temporary in nature (unless saved to a highlight collection), stories allow you to experiment with your content and analyze your followers’ reactions.
Of course, every now and then, you may post a story that you wish to get rid of. Thankfully, it is very easy to do this.
How to Delete Instagram Stories While They Are Active
Once you post a story, it will be active for 24 hours. After this point, it will be automatically archived. So, if there’s a story that you’re not too fond of, you can simply wait for it to disappear. However, if you want to get rid of it more quickly, you can delete an active post from your story.
- You can do this by opening the Instagram app and viewing your story
- Once your story is open, press the More button, which looks like three dots
- This will open a menu where you can select the Delete option
This will remove the story and prevent it from being archived.
How to Delete an Instagram Story from Your Archive
What about a story post that has already been archived? While archived posts are not visible to your followers, you will be able to find them in your archive.
You can delete an archived Instagram story by following these basic steps:
- Open Instagram and navigate to your profile
- Open the menu by pressing the icon that looks like three horizontal lines
- Press Archive
- Select the menu icon that looks like three dots
- Press Delete and then Confirm
Once you do this, the story in question will be removed from your archives.
How to Delete a Story on Instagram Highlights
Once you have added stories to a highlight collection, your followers will be able to view them at any time. You can remove posts from these collections if you want to; when you do so, they will be archived once more.
- All you have to do is open your highlight
- Press More
- Tap Edit Highlight
- Once in this menu, you will be able to add or remove posts from your highlight collection
Posts that are removed will be put back into your archive. If you want to remove them entirely, follow the steps listed above.
FAQs
Can I recover stories that I have deleted?
Yes, thanks to the Recently Deleted feature, you can recover deleted posts for up to 30 days after initial deletion. After 30 days, items in this folder are removed permanently.
The only exception to this is stories. Recently deleted stories are kept in the Recently Deleted folder for 24 hours before they are removed permanently. You can recover any items from this folder by entering it, pressing on the item in question, and press the three-dot icon and then Restore.
What are stickers on Instagram stories?
Stickers are dynamic graphic features that you can add to image and video-based story posts. Some of these stickers are interactive and allow your followers to ask questions, vote on issues, and show their approval.
Can I add clickable links to Instagram stories?
You can add clickable links to your Instagram stories by swiping up from the bottom and choosing the link sticker. Add your link and a title to the sticker if you want to personalize it. Once you add it to your story, your followers will be able to click the link directly.
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