# How to Make Highlights on Instagram (Without Posting a Story)

> How to make Instagram highlights from your story or archive, add highlight covers, edit or reorder them, and make highlights without posting a new story.

Canonical: https://scheduleforyou.com/blog/how-to-make-highlights-on-instagram
Last updated: 2026-10-28

Category: Instagram. 

To make a highlight on Instagram, open your profile and tap **New** (the **+** circle under your bio), choose stories from your archive, tap **Next**, name the highlight and pick a cover, then tap **Add** or **Done**. You can also add a story to a highlight while it's live by tapping **Highlight** at the bottom of the story. Highlights stay on your profile until you remove them, unlike stories, which disappear after 24 hours.

Highlights are built from your **story archive**, so that has to be turned on. Here's everything step by step.

## Before you start: turn on the story archive

Instagram saves expired stories to your archive automatically unless you turned it off.

1. Go to your profile and open the menu.
2. Tap **Archiving and downloading** (under Settings and activity).
3. Make sure **Save story to archive** is on.

Stories you posted while the archive was off aren't saved, so they can't be added to highlights later unless you saved them to your phone.

## Method 1: Create a highlight from your profile

1. Open your profile.
2. Tap **New** (the circle with a **+** below your bio). If you don't see it, tap **+** at the top and choose **Story highlight**.
3. Select one or more stories from your archive.
4. Tap **Next**.
5. Type a name (short names fit best under the circle).
6. Tap **Edit cover** to choose a cover image, or keep the first story.
7. Tap **Add** or **Done**.

## Method 2: Add a story to a highlight while it's live

1. Open your current story.
2. Tap **Highlight** (the heart icon) at the bottom of the screen.
3. Pick an existing highlight, or tap **New** to start one.

This is the quickest way to keep a story you just posted.

## How to make a highlight without posting a story

Highlights have to come from stories, but the story doesn't have to stay visible:

- **Use an old story from your archive.** Method 1 works with any story in your archive, even from years ago.
- **Post to Close Friends.** Share the story to a Close Friends list with only yourself or one trusted person on it, then add it to a highlight. The highlight is visible to everyone who can see your profile.

## Edit, reorder or delete highlights

| What you want | How |
| --- | --- |
| Add more stories | Long-press the highlight, tap **Edit highlight**, then **Stories** or **Archive** |
| Remove one story | Open the highlight, go to that story, tap **More** (three dots), then **Remove from highlight** |
| Change the name or cover | Long-press the highlight, tap **Edit highlight** |
| Reorder highlights | Add a new story to a highlight and it moves to the front; Instagram has no drag-to-reorder |
| Delete a highlight | Long-press it and tap **Delete highlight** (the stories stay in your archive) |

## Highlight covers that look clean

Covers show as small circles, so simple works best: one icon or one word on a plain background in your brand colors. Make covers as a 1080 × 1920 image with the design in the center, post it to Close Friends (or upload it directly in **Edit cover**), and set it as the cover. Keep a matching set so your profile looks consistent.

Good highlight ideas for businesses and creators: **Start here**, **Prices**, **Reviews**, **How it works**, **FAQ**, **New**, and one per product or service.

## Keep highlights fresh with planned stories

Highlights are only as good as the stories feeding them. Planning stories ahead makes that easier: Schedule For You schedules Instagram Stories along with posts and Reels, and the guide to [scheduling Instagram and Facebook Stories](https://scheduleforyou.com/blog/schedule-instagram-and-facebook-stories) explains how. Once a planned story goes live, add it to the right highlight in the app.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can you make a highlight without posting a story?
Not directly, but you can use any story already in your archive, or post a story to a Close Friends list with only you on it and then highlight it.

### Can people see who viewed my highlights?
You can see viewers of a story in a highlight only during the first 48 hours after the story was posted. After that, Instagram doesn't show who viewed it.

### How many highlights can you have on Instagram?
Instagram doesn't set a public limit on the number of highlights. Each highlight can hold up to 100 stories at the time of writing.

### Why can't I see my archived stories when making a highlight?
Story archiving was probably off when you posted them. Turn on Save story to archive so future stories are kept.

### Do highlights notify followers?
No. Creating or editing a highlight doesn't send a notification.

## Related

- [All guides](https://scheduleforyou.com/blog)
- [Pricing](https://scheduleforyou.com/pricing)