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How to Unarchive a Story on Instagram: 3 Easy Ways

Stories have no unarchive button, so to get one back you share it again, add it to a highlight or save it to your phone. Here's how to unarchive a story on Instagram all three ways, plus how to put an archived post back on your profile.

Quick answer

Go to your profile, tap ☰, then Archive. Tap the story, then Share to post it again for 24 hours, or Highlight to keep it on your profile.

For a post, tap Stories archive at the top and pick Posts archive. Open the post, tap ⋯ and tap Show on profile.

Can You Unarchive a Story on Instagram?

Not with one button. When a story disappears after 24 hours, Instagram saves it in your archive, where only you can see it. To get it out, you can:

  • Share it again. It goes back on your story for 24 hours.
  • Add it to a highlight. It stays on your profile until you remove it.
  • Save it to your phone. Then you can post it anywhere.

How to Unarchive a Story on Instagram by Sharing It Again

Checked November 2026 against Instagram's help page on sharing from your archive.

  1. Step 1: Open Instagram. Tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner.

  2. Step 2: Tap the three lines (☰) in the top-right corner.

  3. Step 3: Under How you use Instagram, tap Archive.

    Don't see Archive? Tap Your activity, then Archived.

  4. Step 4: Your old stories show up with their dates. Tap the one you want.

  5. Step 5: Tap Share at the bottom of the screen.

  6. Step 6: Tap Your story, then follow the steps on the screen to post it.

    Or pick a friend instead, to send it to them in a chat.

That's how to unarchive a story on Instagram the quick way. It goes back on your story for 24 hours, just like a new one.

Free tool

Instagram Highlight Cover Maker

Turning old stories into highlights? Make a matching cover for each one: pick an icon, letters or an emoji and your colors, or tap a theme pack for a whole set.
Make highlight covers

Add an Archived Story to a Highlight

A highlight keeps stories on your profile until you remove them. Do steps 1 to 4 above, then:

  1. Step 5: Tap Highlight at the bottom of the story.

    Don't see it? Tap ⋯ first, then Highlight.

  2. Step 6: Tap New to start a highlight. Or tap one you already have, and you're done.

  3. Step 7: Type a name for your highlight, then tap Add.

    It shows on your profile, under your bio.

Want covers that match? Make them with the highlight cover maker, save them to your phone, then press and hold the highlight on your profile and tap Edit highlight to change its cover (Instagram's highlights help).

Save an Archived Story to Your Phone

Do steps 1 to 4 above, then:

  1. Step 5: Tap ⋯ (Options) in the bottom-right corner of the story.

  2. Step 6: Tap Save photo. For a video, it says Save video.

    It goes into your phone's photos.

How to See Archived Posts on Instagram

Archived posts live in the same place as your old stories (Instagram's archive help):

  1. Step 1: Open Instagram. Tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner.

  2. Step 2: Tap the three lines (☰) in the top-right corner.

  3. Step 3: Under How you use Instagram, tap Archive.

    Don't see Archive? Tap Your activity, then Archived.

  4. Step 4: Tap Stories archive at the top of the screen. Then tap Posts archive.

Your archived posts show up in a grid. Only you can see them, and they keep all their likes and comments.

How to Unarchive a Post on Instagram

Open your Posts archive with steps 1 to 4 just above, then:

  1. Step 5: Tap the post you want to show again.

  2. Step 6: Tap ⋯ (Options) in the top-right corner.

  3. Step 7: Tap Show on profile.

    On Android, tap Show on profile again to confirm.

That's how to unarchive a post on Instagram. It goes back to its old spot on your profile, with all its likes and comments (Instagram's help page).

How to Unarchive a Highlight on Instagram

Highlights don't go to your archive, so there's nothing to unarchive. If a highlight is gone, one of these happened:

  • You deleted the highlight. Its stories are usually still in your Stories archive. Add them to a new highlight with the steps above.
  • You deleted the stories. Look in Recently deleted. Instagram keeps deleted stories there for 30 days, or up to 24 hours if they weren't in your archive (what happens to deleted content).

To get a deleted story back:

  1. Step 1: Open Instagram. Tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner.

  2. Step 2: Tap the three lines (☰) in the top-right corner.

  3. Step 3: Under How you use Instagram, tap Your activity.

  4. Step 4: Under Removed and archived content, tap Recently deleted.

    Not there? Then you haven't deleted anything lately.

  5. Step 5: At the top, tap Stories. Then tap the story you want back.

  6. Step 6: Tap Options, then Restore. Tap Restore again to confirm.

Why Can't I Find My Archived Stories?

  • Archiving was off. Instagram only saves stories when Save story to archive is on, and it's on unless you turned it off. To check, open Archived under Your activity, tap Options in the top right, then Settings.
  • You deleted them. Check Recently deleted, above.
  • Your account doesn't have it. Instagram says the Stories archive and Highlights aren't available for every account.
  • You're on a computer. The archive only works in the Instagram app on a phone or iPad.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you unarchive a story on Instagram?

Not with one button, but you can get it back three ways. Open your archive and tap the story, then tap Share to post it again for 24 hours, add it to a highlight to keep it on your profile, or save it to your phone.

How to unarchive a story on Instagram without posting it again?

Add it to a highlight. Open the story in your archive, tap Highlight, then pick a highlight or tap New and make one. It shows on your profile without going back on your story.

How to see archived posts on Instagram?

Go to your profile, tap the three lines (☰), then Archive. Tap Stories archive at the top and pick Posts archive. If you don't see Archive, tap Your activity, then Archived.

How to unarchive a highlight on Instagram?

Highlights don't get archived, so there's nothing to unarchive. If you deleted a highlight, add its stories to a new highlight from your Stories archive. If you deleted the stories too, look in Recently deleted: Instagram keeps them there for 30 days, or up to 24 hours if they weren't in your archive.

Where does an unarchived post go?

Back to its old spot on your profile, with all its likes and comments. It doesn't show up as a new post.

Can I unarchive stories or posts on a computer?

No. The archive only works in the Instagram app for iPhone, iPad and Android.

Who can see my archived stories?

Only you. Instagram keeps them private unless you share them again or add them to a highlight.

Wrapping Up 👋

Now you know how to unarchive a story on Instagram: open your archive, then share the story again, add it to a highlight or save it to your phone. For posts, Show on profile puts them right back where they were.

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