You can delete a highlight in three taps from your profile

Open Instagram and go to your profile. Tap and hold on the highlight you want to remove — the circle with the cover image will show a menu with a trash icon. Tap the trash icon, then confirm the deletion. The highlight disappears from your profile immediately, but the stories that were in it stay in your archive.

Deleting a highlight is permanent. Once you confirm, you cannot undo it. The individual stories inside the highlight are not deleted — they move back to your archive where they stay for 24 hours after they originally posted, or longer if you manually saved them.

Key Takeaways

  • Tap and hold a highlight on your profile to see the delete option.
  • Deleting a highlight does not delete the stories inside it — they return to your archive.
  • You can also delete a highlight from within the highlight itself by tapping the three dots at the top.
  • Stories in a deleted highlight stay in your archive for 24 hours after they originally posted, unless you saved them longer.

Delete a highlight from your profile grid

This is the fastest way if you can see the highlight on your profile. Open Instagram and navigate to your profile by tapping your profile picture in the bottom right corner. Scroll down to see your highlights — they appear as circles below your bio and follower count.

Press and hold on the highlight circle you want to delete. A small menu will pop up with options. Tap the trash can icon. Instagram will ask you to confirm — tap "Delete" again. The highlight is now gone from your profile.

The process takes the same amount of time whether you have one highlight or twenty. Instagram shows all your highlights in the same row, so you can delete multiple highlights one after another without navigating away from your profile.

Delete a highlight from inside the highlight

If you are already viewing a highlight, you can delete it without going back to your profile. Open the highlight by tapping it. At the top of the screen, you will see three dots in the upper right corner. Tap those three dots.

A menu appears with several options. Tap "Delete Highlight." Confirm the deletion when Instagram asks. The highlight closes and you return to your profile, where the highlight no longer appears.

This method is useful if you are scrolling through your highlights and decide you want to remove one without backing out to your profile grid first.

What happens to the stories inside a deleted highlight

When you delete a highlight, the stories do not disappear. They return to your story archive, where they remain for 24 hours after they originally posted. If you saved the stories to your archive before they expired, they stay there indefinitely until you manually delete them.

To find archived stories, go to your profile and tap the three lines in the top right corner. Tap "Archive," then tap "Stories." You will see all your archived stories in reverse chronological order. You can add them back to a highlight, share them again, or delete them individually from here.

Stories that were never manually saved will disappear from your archive 24 hours after they originally posted, even if they were in a highlight. The highlight itself does not extend their archive time.

Recreate a highlight with the same stories

If you deleted a highlight by mistake and want to rebuild it, you can create a new highlight and add the stories back. Go to your profile and tap the plus sign next to your bio. Tap "Create Highlight." Name the highlight and choose a cover image.

Tap "Add Stories" and select the stories that were in the original highlight. You can find them in your archive if they have not expired yet. Once you add them, tap "Done" and the new highlight appears on your profile. This recreates the highlight but with a new creation date.

The new highlight will show today's date as its creation date, not the date of the original highlight. The stories inside keep their original dates, but the highlight itself is treated as newly created.

Highlights you cannot delete

You can only delete highlights that you created. If someone else created a highlight featuring your story, you cannot delete it from their profile. You can, however, remove your own story from their highlight by going to your story settings and choosing not to allow it in highlights.

If you want to prevent your stories from appearing in other people's highlights going forward, go to your profile settings, tap "Privacy," then tap "Story." Toggle off "Allow Sharing" to prevent others from adding your stories to their highlights.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does deleting a highlight notify the people who viewed it?

No. Deleting a highlight does not send any notification to people who watched the stories or viewed the highlight. They simply will not see it on your profile anymore if they visit.

Can I recover a deleted highlight?

No, deleted highlights cannot be recovered. However, the stories inside the highlight are still in your archive for 24 hours after they originally posted, so you can create a new highlight and add them back if you act quickly.

What if my highlight stories have already expired from the archive?

Once stories expire from your archive, they are gone permanently. You cannot add them back to a highlight. Only stories you manually saved to your archive stay longer than 24 hours.

Can I delete just one story from a highlight without deleting the whole highlight?

Yes. Open the highlight, tap the three dots at the top, and tap "Edit Highlight." You will see all the stories in it. Tap the X on any story you want to remove, then tap "Done." The story is removed from the highlight but stays in your archive.

Why does Instagram ask me to confirm the deletion?

The confirmation step prevents accidental deletion. Once you confirm, the action is permanent and cannot be undone, so Instagram makes you tap twice to be sure.