Stories are posts that have a limited broadcast time of only 24 hours in the feed, after which they are not deleted, but sent to the Instagram Stories archive. In this article, we will explain how the service works, where to find it, and how to view the archive.
What is Instagram’s archive of stories and where can it be found?
Publications in the Stories feed have a limited broadcast time. After 24 hours, they do not disappear from view, but move to an archive list, provided that automatic story saving is activated.
The archive stores all the stories you have published since registering on the social network. This important function will not let you lose colorful content that is very dear to you. It would be very unpleasant if a high-quality and beautiful photo or video was permanently deleted.
It should be remembered that only those publications that have lasted in the main feed for more than 24 hours will be stored in the archive. If you delete the content before this period expires, the story will not be saved.
Where is the archive list located? Backup files can be found at any time, they are in open access, but only for the page owner in the service. Outsiders will not be able to view stories. To access the archive, you will need to:
- Launch the mobile app on your device.
- Enter your login and password, log in to your account.
- Go to your personal page by clicking on the person icon on the bottom panel of the workspace.
- Find the button in the form of three parallel lines in the upper corner and click on it.
- A pop-up window will appear on the screen, where you need to click on the clock icon with the corresponding caption.
- This will take you to the archive catalog, where all your publications are stored.
It should be noted that the location of the main elements may differ on different operating systems and smartphones.
How to create an archive
Each story will be automatically saved to the archive after 24 hours and the end of the broadcast in the feed.
As for all other publications, photos, and videos that are not posted in the story feed, you will have to manually add them to the archive. The automatic archiving function only applies to short posts. Here is a brief guide on how to add a story to the archive list:
- Login to your account with your username and password. This will take you to the main menu of the service with the news feed.
- Go to your personal page where your publications are located.
- Select the desired photo or video.
- Click on the ellipsis button on the top panel.
- In the new menu, click on the archiving option.
- The process will take only a few seconds, after which the post will be in the archive.
You need to follow this algorithm for each publication you want to save.
If you want to archive content on Instagram through your computer, you will face some difficulties. The web version of the social network does not have this function, and it is impossible to access the archive. The official Windows application, starting from version 8 of the operating system, solves the problem, but in this case, only publications are displayed in the archive, and not stories. To add stories to the archive from a PC, you need to:
- Log in to the social network.
- Go to your personal page.
- You will see an indicator in the form of a clock face on the top panel to switch to the archive lists.
- To add an image or video, select and open the desired content.
- Click on the ellipsis button and select the archiving option.
- Done.
Note. To have access to all functional capabilities on a PC, you can use the mobile version of Instagram by downloading an Android emulator or installing additional extensions on your browser.
How to delete archive stories
You can adjust the necessary publication in the archive at any time, edit it, and repost it in the news feed. In this case, the post will be displayed with a reminder label, which can be removed using the standard tools of the social network. If you decide to delete a story on Instagram from the archive, follow these steps:
- Go to your social network page.
- Find the button in the form of three lines.
- Open the archive section.
- A list of all saved stories will be displayed on the screen. Select the unnecessary one and click on it.
- In the new window, find the button in the form of three dots.
- Select the option to delete the publication.
The procedure is similar for the application on a personal computer. Thus, you can delete not only stories from the feed but also all saved photos and videos from the archive. It should be remembered that after this, the content cannot be restored, so think carefully before taking action.
Set up automatic archiving
It is important to remember that the automatic saving function of materials to the storage may be disabled on your mobile device and in the application. In this case, it is necessary to activate it:
- Go to your social network page.
- Click on the button in the form of three parallel lines on the top panel of the workspace.
- Find the settings section, displayed as a gear.
- Click on the privacy tab.
- Open the stories item.
- At the very bottom, set the checkbox for saving data to the archive to the active position.
- Save changes.
After this, all your stories will be directed to the storage by default.
No archive icon, what to do?
If you cannot find the archive section in the mobile application and the corresponding icon is simply missing, there are several reasons for this failure:
- The smartphone has outdated software, update the operating system.
- An outdated version of the Instagram utility is used on the phone. To solve the problem, install the latest version of the program or download it again and launch it.
- Instagram bugs and crashes are not excluded, try again in a few minutes.
- An old phone that does not support the latest update. Try logging into your account from a more modern device.
Note. If the problem is not resolved on its own, contact the technical support service of the social network.
The article explains how to view old stories in Instagram’s archive. It should be noted that all stories after 24 hours of broadcast are not deleted by the service, but are automatically saved in the archive, provided that the archiving function is enabled.