Instagram Highlights are a powerful feature that allows users to showcase their best Stories beyond the typical 24-hour limit. Whether you’re a brand looking to highlight products, a content creator sharing tutorials, or simply someone who wants to keep special memories accessible on your profile, Highlights offer a customizable and strategic way to make your content evergreen. In this guide, we’ll explore how to create and manage Instagram Highlights, design engaging covers, and use them as a tool for storytelling and marketing.
TL;DR: Instagram Highlights are your mini storytelling hub—handpicked Stories that stay visible on your profile forever. They’re the perfect way to showcase themed content like travel diaries, tutorials, or product snapshots, neatly grouped and instantly accessible. Want them to make a real splash? That’s where buying Instagram followers gives you an edge—more eyes, more followers, more impact. Craft your vibe, amplify your visibility—let your Highlights do the talking!
1. What are Instagram Story Highlights?
Instagram Stories typically disappear after 24 hours, but to help users preserve and showcase select content, Instagram introduced the Highlights feature. Highlights allow you to save and group your Stories into collections that stay permanently on your profile.
Think of Instagram Highlights as folders on your profile—each one can contain a series of Stories related to a specific theme or topic. Once a Story is posted, you can manually add it to a Highlight, or you can enable the Archive feature, which automatically saves your Stories so you can organize them into Highlights later.
Key features of Instagram Highlights include:
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Cover Image: Customize each Highlight with an image or icon that visually represents its content.
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Name: Label each Highlight with a title, much like naming a folder.
Once created, your Highlights appear directly beneath your bio and profile photo, making them one of the first things visitors see on your Instagram profile.
2. How to Create Instagram Highlight?
As mentioned above, you have two ways how to create an Instagram Story Highlights:
- Create Highlight from the active story – Post a story and manually save it in a Highlight
- Create Highlight from archived stories – If you have the Archive option activated, your stories will save automatically in your archive section, and in the future, you can choose which stories to organize in a Highlight.
Let me show you how to create a Highlight with the first option:
Create Highlight from the active story
If you have an active story and you want to make sure this story is added to a Highlight follow these steps:
- Tap on the active story to view it
- Tap the bottom option Highlight
- Tap the plus icon to create a new Highlight
- Enter the name of the new Highlight
- Tap the blue buttons Add
Once you do this, your new Highlight will appear on your profile photo, and your followers will be able to view it even after the 24-hour story lifetime.
Create Highlight from the archived stories
There is a possibility to create highlights from the stories archive as well. Using the story controls and options you can pull the stories you save to archive.
To add Instagram stories from your archive to a highlight and pin them on your profile, follow the steps below:
- Go to your Instagram profile and tap Story Highlights below bio
- Tap the plus icon
- In the new window, tap and select the stories you want to appear in the Highlight and tap Next.
- Tap ‘Edit Cover’ to choose which story will appear as a Highlight icon or upload an icon
- Enter a name for your Highlight
- Tap Add (iPhone) or Done (Android).
3. How to add more stories in a current Highlight
You can add more photos or videos to your highlight at any time by following these steps:
- Go to your profile and hold your finger pressed on the Highlight you want to edit
- Tap Edit Highlight
- Choose the stories you want to add and tap Done
4. How to add Instagram Highlights covers or icons?
The covers and the text of the Instagram Highlights are gaining huge popularity due to the fact that these small icons are the first thing a new visitor to your Instagram profile will see.
You will notice that the cover images are usually those in the stories you’ve selected for that particular Highlight. But this tutorial will show you how to change the Highlights covers without sharing them in a story.
Before you start, please add the icon images in your phone’s camera roll and follow these steps.
- Go to your profile and hold your finger to the Highlight you want to edit
- Tap Edit Highlight
- Tap Edit Cover
- Choose the photo from your camera roll
- Tap Done
That’s it! Now you have your Instagram highlight covers!
Conclusion
Instagram Highlights are more than just a way to preserve your Stories—they’re a powerful tool for personal branding, storytelling, and engaging your audience beyond the 24-hour limit. By thoughtfully organizing and designing your Highlights, you can make your profile more informative, visually appealing, and strategically aligned with your content goals. Whether you’re a business showcasing products or an individual sharing personal moments, Highlights give you the space to leave a lasting impression.
FAQs
1. How long do Instagram Highlights last?
Unlike regular Instagram Stories that disappear after 24 hours, Highlights remain on your profile indefinitely. Once you save a Story to a Highlight, it will stay visible until you decide to delete it manually. This makes Highlights an ideal way to preserve important content such as product launches, tutorials, event recaps, or personal milestones. You can also update or remove Stories from a Highlight anytime to keep it fresh and relevan
2. Can I see who viewed my Instagram Highlights?
Yes — but only for a limited time. Instagram allows you to see who viewed your Highlight for up to 48 hours after the Story was first posted. Once that window passes, the view count and viewer list will disappear, even though the Highlight itself remains visible on your profile. If tracking engagement is important to you, check your views early or use Instagram Insights (available for business and creator accounts) to analyze overall reach and performance trends.
3. How many Instagram Highlights can I have?
There’s no official limit on the number of Highlights you can create, meaning you can add as many as you want to your profile. However, for the best visual experience, it’s recommended to keep your Highlights between 5–10 collections — this prevents your profile from looking cluttered. Each Highlight can hold up to 100 Stories, and if you reach that cap, you can remove older Stories to make room for new ones.
4. What’s the best size and format for Instagram Highlight covers?
To make your Highlights look professional and consistent, create covers in 1080 x 1080 pixels (square, 1:1 aspect ratio). Use simple icons, clean backgrounds, or brand colors for a cohesive appearance. The cover is displayed as a circle on your profile, so keep important elements centered to avoid cropping. You can design these using tools like Canva or Adobe Express, and upload them directly from your camera roll.
5. Can I change or delete Instagram Highlights later?
Yes! You can edit, rename, change the cover, or remove Stories from a Highlight anytime. Simply press and hold the Highlight on your profile and select Edit Highlight. From there, you can update the name, replace the cover image, or remove/add Stories as needed. If you want to delete a Highlight entirely, tap and hold it again, then select Delete Highlight — it won’t affect your archived Stories.