The basic steps to add a post to your Instagram Story
Open Instagram and tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner, or swipe left from your home feed. This takes you to the camera screen for Stories. Take a new photo or video by holding the button, or tap the gallery icon at the bottom left to choose something you already saved. After you've selected or taken your image, you can add text, stickers, or filters by tapping the icons at the top of the screen. Tap "Your Story" at the bottom to post it.
Your Story will appear at the top of your followers' feeds for 24 hours, then disappear. During that time, anyone you follow can view it — unless you've changed your privacy settings to limit who sees it. The post itself doesn't stay on your profile the way a regular feed post does, but Instagram keeps a copy of everything you post, even after it disappears from view.
Key Takeaways
- Stories disappear after 24 hours from your followers' view, but Instagram stores a permanent copy of every Story you post.
- By default, all your followers can see your Story, but you can hide it from specific people or make it visible only to close friends.
- Anyone who views your Story can screenshot it, and Instagram will notify you when they do — but only if they screenshot the Story itself, not if they screenshot your profile.
- Stories you post can be saved to your profile as a "Highlight" so they stay visible longer than 24 hours.
Who can see your Story and how to change that
Your Story is visible to everyone you follow and who follows you, unless you've adjusted your settings. To hide your Story from specific people, go to Settings, then Privacy, then Story. Tap "Hide Story From" and select the accounts you want to exclude. Those people won't see your Story in their feed, but they can still find it if they visit your profile directly — Stories don't disappear from your profile view after 24 hours, only from the top feed carousel.
If you want your Story to be visible only to your close friends, you can post to "Close Friends" instead of "Your Story." To set this up, go to Settings, then Close Friends, and choose which followers you want in that group. When you post a Story, you'll see the option to post to "Close Friends" instead of "Your Story." Only the people in that list will see it.
What Instagram does with your Story data
Instagram stores every Story you post permanently on its servers, even after it disappears from view. This includes the image or video itself, the text and stickers you added, the date and time you posted it, and information about who viewed it. Instagram uses this data to show you how many people watched your Story and which accounts viewed it — that information appears in a list when you tap on your Story after posting.
Instagram also analyzes your Stories to build a profile of your interests and behavior. This profile is used to target ads to you and to other users. If you post a Story about a product, Instagram notes that, and it may show ads related to that product to you and to people with similar interests. Meta, Instagram's parent company, can also use your Story data for research, to train its algorithms, and to enforce its community guidelines.
Screenshots and what happens when someone takes one
When someone screenshots your Story, Instagram sends you a notification that says who took the screenshot. This only applies to Stories — if someone screenshots a regular feed post or a message, you won't be notified. The notification appears in your direct messages, and you can see it even if you don't open the message thread.
However, Instagram cannot prevent someone from taking a screenshot. They can also use their phone's built-in screen recording to capture your Story without triggering a notification. If you post something you don't want shared, assume it can be captured and shared outside of Instagram.
Saving your Stories as Highlights on your profile
After your Story disappears from the feed after 24 hours, you can save it to your profile as a "Highlight." Highlights appear as circles below your bio and stay visible indefinitely. To create a Highlight, go to your profile, tap the "+" icon below your bio, and select Stories you want to save. You can organize them into groups — for example, a "Travel" Highlight, a "Food" Highlight, or a "Work" Highlight.
Highlights are public by default, meaning anyone who visits your profile can see them. You can make a Highlight private by going to your profile, tapping the three dots on the Highlight, selecting "Edit Highlight," and toggling "Hide from" to choose who can't see it. The Stories inside a Highlight are still subject to the same viewing and screenshot rules as regular Stories.
Deleting a Story before 24 hours are up
If you post a Story and then change your mind, you can delete it before the 24 hours are up. Open your Story by tapping your profile picture at the top of your feed, then tap and hold on the Story you want to delete. A menu will appear with the option to delete it. Once you delete it, it will no longer be visible to anyone, and Instagram will stop storing viewing data for that Story.
Deleting a Story does not erase it from Instagram's servers if someone has already taken a screenshot or saved it. It only removes it from public view. If you've saved the Story as a Highlight, deleting the original Story will also remove it from the Highlight.
The difference between Stories and regular feed posts
Stories disappear after 24 hours and appear at the top of your followers' feeds in a carousel. Regular feed posts stay on your profile indefinitely and appear in the main feed in chronological order. Stories are meant to be casual and temporary, while feed posts are more permanent and formal. However, Instagram treats both the same way for data collection — it stores everything, analyzes it, and uses it for advertising.
Stories also have different privacy options than feed posts. You can hide a Story from specific people or post it only to close friends, but you cannot do the same with a regular feed post — you can only make a feed post public or private to all followers. Stories also notify you when someone takes a screenshot, while feed posts do not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone see that I viewed their Story?
Yes. When you view someone's Story, your account name appears in their list of viewers. They can see your name, your profile picture, and the time you viewed it. If you don't want someone to know you viewed their Story, you can mute them so their Stories don't appear in your feed, but they can still see you viewed it if you go to their profile and watch it directly.
What happens to my Story if I deactivate my Instagram account?
If you deactivate your account, your Stories disappear from your followers' feeds when ready. However, Instagram keeps a copy of them on its servers. If you reactivate your account within 30 days, your Stories will not return — they are deleted permanently after 30 days of deactivation.
Can I edit a Story after I post it?
No. Once you post a Story, you cannot edit the text, stickers, or filters. You can only delete it and post a new one. If you want to make changes, delete the original Story and create a new one with the corrections.
Do Stories posted to Close Friends show up on my profile?
Stories posted to Close Friends do not appear in the carousel at the top of your followers' feeds, and they do not appear on your profile. Only the people in your Close Friends list can see them. After 24 hours, they disappear from view, but Instagram still stores them.
Can I see who took a screenshot of my Story if I delete it?
If you delete a Story, you can no longer see the list of people who viewed it or took screenshots of it. The viewing data is deleted along with the Story. If someone took a screenshot before you deleted it, they still have the image, but you won't have a record of who took it.