Using Instagram Highlights effectively helps in showcasing your favorite stories prominently on your profile. This guide walks you through the steps to add highlights on Instagram without first adding them to your story feed.
How to Add Highlights on Instagram Without Posting to Your Story
- Open the Instagram app and go to your profile.
- Tap on the three lines in the top right corner to access your settings.
- Scroll down to ‘Who can see your content’ and select Hide Story and Live.
- Under Hide Story, select all your followers to ensure the story is invisible to everyone.
- Return to the Instagram home screen and tap on your profile picture to add a new story.
- Upload the story you want to include in your highlight.
- Tap the right side arrow button at the bottom right corner, then click on the Share button.
- Add your story to Highlights.
- After adding, click Done.
- Your content is now part of your highlights, but since the story was hidden, no one saw it live.
- To finish, revert your story settings by going back to your story privacy settings.
- Deselect all followers from Hide Story From to ensure future stories are visible to your audience as usual.
And there you have it! Follow these steps to keep your Instagram Highlights updated without broadcasting your stories live.
Watch the video version: How To Add Highlights On Instagram Without Adding To Story 2025 (iPhone & Android)
Additional Tips and Information
Instagram Highlights are a perfect tool for keeping your best content visible on your profile longer than Instagram Stories allow. By organizing content into Highlights, you create a visual storytelling option for visitors who interact with your profile. This is particularly valuable for brands or influencers aiming to maintain aesthetic continuity and showcase promotions, product features, or personal projects.
While these steps give you a quick workaround to keep stories away from the public eye while maintaining your Highlights, remember that once you revert your settings, your future stories will again be visible to your followers. This will ensure a normal Instagram Story feed experience, keeping your followers engaged and updated with the latest happenings. Regularly updating Instagram Highlights can also drive more engagement from new and existing followers who visit your profile.