After this little inconvenience, you searched the web for explanations on how to view old stories on Instagram and ended up on this tutorial. That’s right, isn’t it? If so, don’t worry: you have found the right guide. In the upcoming sections, I will explain how to use the Archive function in the Instagram app, which allows you to view your previously published stories when they are no longer accessible to the public after more than 24 hours since their initial sharing.
You’ll see that if you carefully follow the instructions in this tutorial, you won’t go wrong. At this point, all that’s left is for me to wish you a good read and good luck with everything!
Table of Contents
- Preliminary Information
- How to View Your Old Stories on Instagram
- How to View Other People’s Old Stories on Instagram
- How to View Views of Old Stories on Instagram
- How to View Old Stories on Instagram Without Being Seen
Preliminary Information
Before you wonder how to view old stories on Instagram, I must inform you that to accomplish what you are trying to do, you need to have previously enabled the Archive feature for your Instagram stories through the social network app for Android or iOS.
This functionality is used to view “expired” Instagram stories, meaning those that are no longer visible to the public, since more than 24 hours have passed since their initial publication. Additionally, through the Archive, you can save, delete, or even share old stories again using the app on your smartphone and tablet.
Currently, however, it is not possible to act from a PC: at the time of writing, Instagram’s Archive is not available through the social network’s official website or its application for Windows.
Therefore, if you want to activate the Instagram story archive so that it’s available for stories you publish from now on, open the Instagram app, log in to your account (if necessary), and swipe from left to right on the main screen to open the story creation tool.
Once done, press the button with the gear symbol in the top right corner, tap on the Story option, and finally enable the option Save Story in Archive.
How to View Your Old Stories on Instagram
After enabling the Archive, to view old stories on Instagram, launch the social network app and log in to your account, if necessary.
After that, go to your profile section by tapping on the profile picture thumbnail located in the bottom right, then tap the icon ☰ in the top right corner.
Now, press on the Archive option and select Story Archive from the next menu at the top. This way, you will be able to see the stories you published previously, as these will have been automatically archived upon their expiration. Easy, right?
How to View Other People’s Old Stories on Instagram
Are you wondering how to view other people’s old stories on Instagram? In this case, you should know that you cannot see others’ story Archives, as that section is private. However, you can refer to the Highlights section.
This screen is visible from smartphones and tablets, as well as from computers (from the Instagram website and its application for Windows), and contains the stories that the user wants to highlight so that they do not “expire” automatically after 24 hours and can be viewed at any time.
Therefore, go to the profile of the user you are interested in: the highlights, if present, will be visible on the Feed on the profile, marked with the heart icon. On a computer, they can be found under the profile biography.
In both cases, tap on their round icons or the preview images to view them at any time, or at least until the account owner decides to remove them manually.
How to View Views of Old Stories on Instagram
What do you say? Would you like to know how to view views of old stories on Instagram? You can do this easily through the Archive section of the Instagram app.
After reaching it and viewing the Story Archive screen as explained in the previous chapter, swipe up on a story in the Archive and you will see the list of all the people who have viewed it in the section with the eye icon.
However, keep in mind that the list of people who have viewed that particular content may not be available for very old stories, as this information is no longer available for stories that expired more than 48 hours ago.
How to View Old Stories on Instagram Without Being Seen
Do you want to view old stories of a person but don’t want them to know? In this case, as mentioned earlier, since it is not possible to see another user’s Story Archive, you can only view the expired stories added to the Highlights.
If you want to ensure that your username does not appear in the list of people who have viewed a highlighted story on Instagram, you must use another account or wait for some time after the story has been published in the Highlights.
Indeed, as explained in the previous chapter, the list of people who have viewed an Instagram story is no longer available once more than 48 hours have passed since its publication.
Alternatively, if you do not want to wait and do not want to use another Instagram account, you can take advantage of one of the many third-party services or apps that allow you to view Instagram stories anonymously, some of which also support the ability to view highlights.