Instagram offers countless unique features to share content in a social media world. 

But its Stories feature takes the spotlight for its simple content-sharing feature with a 24-hour timeframe. Making sharing daily snippets easy-peasy. 

So, naturally, it has kicked off right after its launch. Taking the popularity spotlight among the other social media features. 

Now, there’s something more that gives it the popularity. That is, its archiving option. So, users can archive the stories and view them later. 

But sometimes users don’t really want to keep some of their stories. So, they can simply unarchive them from the lot. 

Now, even though the process is quite simple, knowing the how-tos to archive and unarchive the stories can help users to navigate this feature in a jiffy. 

So, in this blog, I have delved into the steps on how to unarchive a story on Instagram by highlighting— 

  • The basics of the Instagram story archive, 
  • Steps to archive and unarchive these stories,
  • Troubleshooting methods, and more. 

Stay tuned! 

What Is Instagram Story Archive? 

What Is Instagram Story Archive

Before diving into the steps, let’s look at the basic characteristics of an Instagram story archive.

For instance, the Story Archive is a specific feature of Instagram that allows users to store and privately view their posted stories. 

That is, when the toggle for archiving the Instagram Stories is turned on, it allows users to check the expired stories, share them as new ones, and add them to the highlights. 

So, it creates a collection of the stories that have already been posted and disappeared after the 24-hour timeframe. Making it easier for users to find older stories from the lot. 

Key Differences Between Archiving And Deleting 

Now, even though it seems similar, archiving the stories and deleting them is not the same. That is, archived stories can be recovered from the archived collection. 

But deleted stories are usually unrecoverable. So, once the user deletes the stories, they can no longer recover them from any collections. 

Moreover, archiving the stories allows users to remove them from the grid. But these stories can be privately viewed by the users. 

But deleting the stories permanently removes them. So, users cannot view them or bring them back for resharing options. 

How To Access Archived Stories On Instagram? 

If you have the toggle to archive the stories turned on, then you can access them by simply following these steps— 

  • Open the Instagram app and go to your profile from the bottom right corner. 
  • Then, click on the hamburger menu at the top right corner. From the menu, scroll down to the Your Activity option. 
  • After that, select the Archive option. And then choose the Stories from the dropdown menu under the option. 
  • This will open the entire Archived Stories collection. 
  • Finally, you can scroll down the collection to view all the past stories in order. Moreover, you can reshare some older stories and edit them or add to the highlights. 

How To Unarchive A Story On Instagram? 

How To Unarchive A Story On Instagram

Generally, there is no direct option to unarchive the Stories on Instagram. But users can work their way around to remove a specific story from the Archived collection. 

So, here is how you can unofficially unarchive a story on Instagram— 

  • Open Instagram and go to your Profile at the bottom right corner. 
  • Then, click on the hamburger menu at the top right-hand corner of the profile page. This will open the main menu for the Profile. 
  • From the menu, scroll down to Your Activity and choose the Archive option from the drop down menu. 
  • After that, select the Stories Archive from the top toggle and scroll through the previously posted stories on your profile. 
  • Then, find the specific story and click on the 3 dots next to the story and choose one of the options from the drop-down menu. 
  • That is, choose either to Share, Add to Highlight, or Save Story. 
  • Finally, you can restore the story from the archive by including it in a highlight, resharing it, or save the story in your device. 

Key Differences Between Unarchiving Stories And Posts 

Unlike the auto-archiving feature of Stories, users can manually archive the Posts.

This is because archiving the posts changes the grid view, engagement metrics, and saves the data from the public repository to the public collection of the users. 

So, the key difference between unarchiving stories and posts on Instagram is that Stories cannot be directly unarchived.

But the archived posts can be unarchived and restored back in the profile grid. 

So, unarchiving the Posts on Instagram can help in restoring the saved posts and redesign the grid for the public view of the profile. 

How To Troubleshoot Common Issues? 

How To Troubleshoot Common Issues

Since there is no direct method to unarchive the Stories on Instagram, users often face common challenges while trying the process. 

So, here are some common troubleshooting methods for the issues that users often face— 

  • If you can’t find your archived stories, you need to check whether the toggle for auto-archiving of the stories is turned on or not. 
  • Also, you need to ensure that the option at the top of the Archive folder says Stories Archived and not Posts Archived. So, change the option at the top to find the entire stories collection. 
  • If the issues persist, it is better to restart the app and start the process from square one to ensure you are following the steps properly. 
  • Moreover, you can clear the cache files of the Instagram app to help the app run smoothly without facing any glitches. 
  • Finally, if you are unable to find the options mentioned in the steps, update the app to use the latest version and follow the steps accordingly. 

Now, with this simple guide, anyone can unarchive their stories and posts on Instagram without any issues.

So, why wait any longer? Take this guide and reshare, save, or highlight your favorite stories on Instagram! 

FAQs 

Here, I have brought you a complete list of all the common questions around Instagram’s unarchive feature. 

1. Can I Edit An Archived Story Before Unarchiving It? 

Unfortunately no. Instagram usually does not allow users to directly edit the archived Instagram story. But there is a way around the method to edit the story. 
That is, users need to unarchive the story and reshare it to their current story. Then, they can edit the story by adding music, GIFs, and text. Revamping the old story into a new one. 

2. Why Can’t I See My Archived Stories? 

Generally, when the toggle for the Save Story to Archive is turned off, users cannot check their archived stories. So, you need to fix the toggle before posting further stories to keep them archived. 
Alternatively, if there is a glitch in the app. Then, you might not be able to view the archived stories temporarily. So, try restarting the app or refreshing its cache files. 

3. Can I Unarchive A Story Into A Highlight Directly? 

Yes, absolutely. You can unarchive a story and add it to a highlight by choosing the option from the settings. That is, you need to go to your Profile settings and open the menu. 
Then, from the Archive folder, choose the Stories Archive option and unarchive the specific story that you want. After that, select the story and click on Add to Highlight option. 
This way, the unarchived story will be added to the specific highlight on the Instagram page. Also, you can add it to a completely new highlight to create a new thread. 

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Chandrima Banerjee

Chandrima is a seasoned digital marketing professional who works with multiple brands and agencies to create compelling web content for boosting digital presence. With 3 years of experience in SEO, content marketing, and ROI-driven content, she brings effective strategies to life. Outside blogging, you can find her scrolling Instagram, obsessing over Google's algorithm changes, and keeping up with current content trends.

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