What Happens When You Archive a Post on Instagram?

By Mehvish Updated August 30, 2024 Reviewed & Updated by Atish Rajasekharan

Quick Tips

Archiving an Instagram post hides it from your profile grid but doesn’t delete it.
Only you can see your archived posts, along with their original likes and comments.
Archived posts can be easily unarchived and put back on your profile grid.

What Happens When You Archive Instagram Post?

Archiving differs from deleting a post, which deletes the post permanently. Unarchiving a post means showing the post back on the Instagram profile.

Visibility of posts or reels: Archiving a post will hide it from your profile grid. That is, your followers cannot see the post when they visit your Instagram profile. However, you can easily see the archived posts in the Archived section of your profile, which is inaccessible to anyone else except you.
Likes, comments, and caption: When you archive an Instagram post, its likes, comments, and caption are retained. You can check them under each archived post from the Archived section. Moreover, when you unarchive a post on Instagram, all three will reappear on the post.
Place on feed: When you unarchive an Instagram post, it will reappear in its original position in your feed without reposting or republishing. That is, the post will silently reappear.
Account insights: If you have a business or professional Instagram account, archiving will also retain its insight. Like other things, you can check the insights even when you archive the post.

Also Read: How to make a reel with photos on Instagram

How to Archive Instagram Posts

On Android or iPhone

Step 1: Go to the Instagram post you want to archive.

Step 2: Tap on the three-dot icon and select Archive from the menu.

The post will immediately vanish from your profile.

On Desktop

Step 1: Open the Instagram website and click on More at the bottom.

Step 2: Select Your Activity from the menu.

Step 3: Choose the Photos and Videos option and click on Select.

Step 4: Choose the Instagram posts you want to hide.

Step 5: Click on Archive at the bottom.

Note: You can check our guide to learn how to unarchive a post on Instagram to see the steps.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can You Share Archived Instagram Posts?

No, you cannot share archived posts with others. You must unarchive it first to share it.

2. How do you archive multiple Instagram posts?

To archive multiple Instagram posts at once, go to your Instagram profile and tap on the three-bar icon > select Your activity followed by Posts > tap on Select > choose the posts that you want to archive > tap on Archive to archive multiple posts on Instagram.

3. Can you archive Instagram stories?

Instagram stories are archived by default, provided Save to Archive is enabled. You will find it by tapping on the Settings icon on the Camera screen. Then, go to Story and ensure Save story to archive is enabled.

4. How long does the archive last on Instagram?

Archived posts stay archived until you manually unarchive or delete them. They will not be automatically unarchived or deleted from your profile.

5. Can I see someone’s archived posts on Instagram?

No. You cannot see anyone else’s archived posts. That would be unfair and mean that someone else can see yours.