How to do archive posts on Instagram (updated for 2025)
You need your Instagram grid to show clearly what you and your business are about. One of the best ways of doing this is by regularly reviewing and curating your feed, removing posts that no longer serve you. Here’s your two-step guide (yes, it’s super easy!) on how to do archive posts on Instagram.
HOW TO ARCHIVE INSTAGRAM POSTS
There are just two steps to archive Instagram posts for the best Instagram feed layout:
1. Inside the Instagram app, open the post you want to archive and click on the three dots on the top right of the post. This will bring up a new menu.
2. Select the archive option with a clock and anticlockwise arrow. Your post will instantly disappear from your Instagram grid and magically re-appear in your archive, where only you can see it. You can also archive Stories and Lives.
HOW TO SEE ARCHIVED POSTS ON INSTAGRAM
When you’re organising your Instagram feed grid, you may want to look back at what you’ve hidden. Here’s how to see archived posts on Instagram:
- Click your profile photo on the bottom right to go to your profile.
- Click the hamburger menu on the top right.
- Under the ‘How you use Instagram’ heading, click ‘Archive’.
- From the top of the screen, choose from the drop-down menu: Stories, posts or Live archives.
HOW TO UNARCHIVE A POST ON INSTAGRAM
If at any point, you want your post to return to the grid, you can reverse the process easily. Here’s how:
1. Click on your profile photo so you can see the hamburger menu.
2. Click on the hamburger menu + select ‘Archive’.
3. Select ‘Posts Archive’ and the post you want to return to your Instagram grid.
4. Click the three dots on the top right of the post you’re unarchiving.
5. Select ‘Show on profile’ to return this post to your grid. It will reappear in date order, with all of its likes and comments.
How to archive all Instagram posts
When you want a complete restart on your Instagram account without creating a fresh one, you can mass archive Instagram posts. As easy as it is to archive a single post, it’s not something you want to repeat 50 or hundreds of times! This process allows you to easily archive all your posts in one go or archive multiple posts at once.
Here’s how to archive all Instagram posts:
- Click your profile photo on the bottom right of the screen to go to your profile.
- Click the hamburger menu on the top right.
- In the ‘How you use Instagram’ section, click ‘Your activity’.
- In the ‘Content You’ve Shared’ section, click ‘Posts’. (There are also options for Reels + Highlights).
- You’ll see all your posts, which you can sort oldest / newest and filter by date from dropdown menus at the top of the screen. Click the blue ‘Select’ button on the top right and select each photo you want to archive. When complete, select ‘Archive’ at the bottom of the screen. There’s also an option to delete your files.
- A pop-up checks you really want to archive these posts. Confirm by clicking on the red ‘Archive’ text or select Cancel.
3 reasons to archive Instagram posts
- EVERGREEN: You may want to remove posts with a sell-by date, including posts where you’re launching a product, announcing a sale or pointing to an upcoming event. Once the time has passed, these posts have little value to new visitors to your profile. Archiving these posts cleans up your grid for newcomers, but allows you to still reference them.
- CONSISTENT BRANDING: Most of us share posts from time to time that are off brand. Perhaps the colours are too shouty or we messed up a font size and when it’s in the middle of your grid, it shows. Archiving these posts cleans up your grid and makes it more aesthetically pleasing, while keeping it tucked away.
- REBRANDING OR PIVOTING: Archiving most or all old posts is essential when you’re changing your offers or who you help. Even if you’re simply updating your products or services, it’s a good idea to archive posts that reference the old ones, to avoid confusion. You’ll often notice fashion houses remove all posts from previous collections to make room for the latest season.
Who can see archived Instagram posts?
Posts that are archived are only able to be seen by the account owner. They’re especially useful when you want to create Story highlights on a particular theme – just go into your Story archive and add the relevant Stories which expire after 24 hours.
HOW TO CURATE YOUR INSTAGRAM FEED
Now that you know how to move Instagram posts into the archive and back again, have a good look at your grid. What does it say about you or your business? If someone glanced at the photos without reading the captions, would that give a clear picture of what you have to offer and your style – especially for creative businesses?
The top dozen or so posts are what a potential follower looks at when choosing to follow you or not, alongside your profile photo, name and description. The top of your Instagram grid effectively is part of your profile. If there are posts that are particularly important, you can pin up to three at the top of your feed. On my Instagram feed, I have who I am, ways of working with me and my lead magnet, listing 22 places you can promote yourself.
For the rest of the feed, remove any that detract from the main message or style of your grid to leave behind a well curated feed that tells visitors in a few seconds what’s on offer. If your feed has a pattern, it may take a couple of rounds of changes to curate your feed so that it maintains an aesthetic look and shows only the very best of your work. You might want to do this when you’ve updated your brand or feed colours and are phasing in the new palette.
You could even try archiving some of the colours or content in your grid to test the look. If you don’t like it, just un-archive the posts In fact, any time you want to curate or freshen your Instagram feed, you can use the archiving feature, knowing you can always return a post if you change your mind.
