To delete a story you’ve posted, open it, tap More (the three dots at the bottom right) and choose Delete (Instagram Help). It disappears from your profile and from your followers’ story tray right away. It isn’t gone for good yet: deleted stories wait in Recently deleted, where you can still restore them for a while.
Delete a story you posted
- Tap your profile picture, or Your story at the top of the feed, to open your story.
- Go to the photo or video you want to remove.
- Tap More (three dots) at the bottom right.
- Tap Delete, then Delete again to confirm (Lilach Bullock).
The steps are the same on iPhone and Android. Guides disagree on whether instagram.com shows a Delete option for stories, so use the app.
Delete a story from your archive
If Save story to archive is on, every story you share is kept in your archive after 24 hours, and only you can see it there (Instagram).
- Go to your profile, tap the menu (three lines) and open Archive.
- Switch to Stories archive at the top.
- Open the story, tap More, then Delete (Tailwind).
A story you delete from the archive is also removed from the other places you shared it on Instagram, such as highlights (Instagram Help).
Take a story out of a highlight only
To keep the story but drop it from a highlight, open the highlight, go to that story, tap More and choose Remove from highlight. The story stays in your archive. To remove the whole highlight, press and hold it on your profile and choose Delete highlight. Our guides on hiding highlights and deleting highlights go into more detail.
Restore a deleted story
- Go to your profile, tap the menu and open Your activity.
- Tap Recently deleted.
- Select the story, tap More and choose Restore, or Delete to remove it for good (Reportei).
When Instagram launched Recently deleted, it said deleted stories that aren’t in your archive stay there for up to 24 hours, and everything else is removed automatically after 30 days. Instagram may ask you to confirm that you’re the account holder before you restore or delete something (Instagram).
Turn the story archive on or off
Go to your profile, tap the menu, open Archiving and downloading and switch Save story to archive on or off. With it off, your stories aren’t kept after 24 hours, and a deleted story only stays in Recently deleted for up to 24 hours.
What deleting can’t undo
Deleting removes the story from Instagram, but not the screenshots, screen recordings or downloads someone made while it was up (Lilach Bullock).
Stories that mention you are a different case. You can’t remove your username from someone else’s story, only report it (Instagram Help). See how to remove a tag on Instagram for posts that tag you.
FAQ
Can I delete an Instagram story on a computer?
Use the app. Guides disagree on whether instagram.com offers Delete for stories.
Does deleting a story remove it from my highlights?
Deleting it from your archive does. If you delete a live story that’s also in a highlight, check the highlight afterwards; guides don’t agree on what happens.
How long can I get a deleted story back?
Up to 24 hours if the story isn’t in your archive, and up to 30 days otherwise, from Recently deleted.