Every now and then, we all need to delete an Instagram post. Maybe you uploaded a photo to the wrong account, or you’re going through a break-up and want to eradicate the evidence. Perhaps it’s as simple as using a filter you now regret! It’s easy to delete an Instagram post. We’ll guide you through the steps and even give you a special tip: deleting an Instagram post doesn’t have to be a permanent decision. There are ways to recover hidden posts!
Delete An Instagram Post
- First, log into your account. Of course, being on your own account is the only way to delete an Instagram post.
- Tap the profile button on the bottom right to bring you to your profile.
- Next, select the photo you want to delete.
- Click the three dots in the top right corner.
- Now click “Delete”. It’s hard to miss, being bright red!
- If you’re sure you want to delete it, click delete again. It’s good that Instagram double checks with you, in case you accidentally hit delete the first time!
Now, your Instagram post is officially deleted! If you do it like, be aware that there aren’t ways to recover the photo. Only delete a photo using this method if you’re sure that you want it gone forever.
Why Delete Instagram Posts
Besides the obvious reasons of you don’t want it there anymore, there are lots of reasons people will delete Instagram posts.
One great reason is to have a fresh start. If you’re taking your Instagram seriously, there might come a time when you look back at your first few Instagram photos and cringe! In fact, it might even be holding people back from following your account.
Of course, you want your Instagram to be as beautiful as possible. If you have mediocre photos hanging around on there, it might be a good idea to delete some to create an all-new vibe on your Instagram!
For example, @literaryhistory deleted her very original Instagram photos to start over with this cozy autumnal Instagram theme. She only has 167 posts on Instagram now. It means when anyone has a scroll through her photos, they only see photographs that she is proud of!
On another note, celebrities have pioneered the trend of deleting all your Instagram posts as a statement. It is a technique known for creating buzz, generally used just before launching a new project, album, or campaign. Celebrities like Taylor Swift, Lauren Aquilina, Richard Koci Hernandez, Dove Cameron, Blake Lively, and Miley Cyrus.
All of these celebrities have their different reasons for going on a deleting spree, but the trend quickly picked up, and now lots of people do it, not just celebrities.
Deleting your Instagram photos serves as a fresh start. A lot of users use this as a chance to reinvent yourself. Social media is such a defining platform for both teens and adults. What you post on Instagram gives people a glimpse of who you are as a person. While some people use their Instagram as a memory book for all their photos, others tend to use it as an online art gallery.
If a photo they took doesn’t represent them anymore, they can easily delete it. In fact, Ellie Moore, high schooler, has an alarm on her phone every month for deleting her Instagram photos. She, personally, uses Instagram as a snapshot into her current life. It’s fair to say that some people don’t want old photos following them around everywhere, and that’s perfectly okay!
Archive Instagram Posts
However, if you don’t want to delete an Instagram post forever, you can archive your posts.
If you want your Instagram to be a momentous scapbook, like Ellie Moore, but don’t want to get rid of your memories, then archiving your Instagram posts is the best option for you.
In fact, people like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift probably archived their Instagram posts, too. It’s unfathomable to think that these celebrities would easily say goodbye to years and years of memories from tour, recording, travelling and hanging out with their celebrity friends.
Archiving Instagram posts means that they disappear from your Instagram profile, but you can access them in a private archive folder.
The added bonus of this is that Instagram keeps all the likes, comments and other data on the photo. So if you want to bring back onto your feed later, it’ll look like it never left and still be as popular as it was when you archived it!
How to archive Instagram posts:
- Log into your Instagram account and go to your profile.
- Choose the post you want to archive and click the option dots in the right hand corner.
- Click archive.
- The post will disappear from your page.
- Next, go back to your Instagram profile and click the three lines in the top right.
- Click “Archive”.
- You can visit the archive for your posts or stories. All of your Instagram stories will be archived here after their 24 hours is up. Any Instagram posts you’ve chosen to archive will gather here, too.
- If you want to put any photo back on your feed, click the photo, then the option dots.
- Click ‘Show on profile’. It will appear back on your page!
Archiving is the best option if you aren’t sure whether you want a completely clean slate or not. In fact, many people probably didn’t know about archiving and therefore, might have lost a lot of Instagram memories!
Bulk Deleting And Archiving
If you want to make a Miley Cyrus move and delete or archive all your Instagram photos in one go, it’s unfortunately not that easy. Instagram doesn’t yet have an easy way to bulk delete or archive posts.
There are third party apps that are designed for this. However, be careful with third party apps, especially ones that ask for your username and password. Always have your two-factor authentication on just in case a company does attempt to hack into your account! Two well reviewed third party apps include Cleaner for Ins (for IOS) and Cleaner for Instagram (for Android).
Cleaner for Ins is popular and well-received. It’s only available on IOS.
This app specializes in bulk everything: unfollowing, unliking, blocking followers and of course, deleting Instagram posts. It’s free to use and easy. You can delete all the photos you want in one click!
For Android users, the alternative is Cleaner For Instagram. With this free version of app, you can delete five Instagram posts at once. You’ll need to pay for the upgrade to delete any more than that at once. Of course, five at a time is still much quicker than labourously deleting them one by one through the Instagram app!
How To Delete An Instagram Story Post And IGTV Video
Of course, we won’t leave you without the knowledge of how to delete other Instagram content such as stories and IGTV videos.
Deleting Instagram stories is as easy as deleting a post. Open your live Instagram story. On the frame you want to delete, click the option dots.
Again, Instagram will check you’re sure before it gets removed forever.
Remember that Instagram stories delete automatically after 24 hours anyway. Once they’re gone from your story, they live in your archive. If you delete a live Instagram story, it won’t go to your archives. Once in your archive, you can delete them from there as well if you really don’t want to see it anymore. Of course, this deletes that story from your story highlights, too, if you’ve saved them there also.
In fact, Instagram now has a feature which shows you “Memories”. On this day, one, two or five years ago, Instagram will show you a post or story when you visit your archive. So, it’s worth visiting your archive every day to see where you were 365 days ago! This is a great feature for tracking your progress on Instagram in terms of creative style, engagement and photography.
On the other hand, we’ll share how to delete an IGTV video. Wait until it’s finished uploading then click the three option dots again! Click “Delete” and follow the same steps as before. Deleting Instagram content isn’t complicated at all! Now you’re very clued up on it and will be well equipped for deleting a single one-off post or bulk deleting your Instagram photos in order to create a blank canvas for yourself.