Instagram Highlights are an incredible way to showcase your best moments and organize your stories into easily accessible collections. But what happens when the order of your highlights doesn’t match your aesthetic or priorities? Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t allow you to drag and drop highlights into your preferred order—but don’t worry! There’s a simple workaround to reorder your Instagram highlights.
What Are Instagram Highlights, and How Are They Arranged?
Instagram Highlights are permanent story collections displayed just under your bio on your profile page. Unlike regular stories that disappear after 24 hours, highlights stay visible indefinitely, making them a great tool to feature key content like product launches, customer testimonials, or behind-the-scenes moments.
By default, Instagram highlights are arranged in chronological order. The highlight you most recently updated will appear first, from left to right. Unfortunately, Instagram does not currently offer a feature to rearrange highlights manually. However, there’s a clever Instagram highlight hack that allows you to take control of the order.
How to Reorder Instagram Highlights?
To rearrange your highlights, follow these simple steps:
- Go to Your Profile: Open the Instagram app and navigate to your profile.
- Select the Highlight You Want to Move: Tap on the highlight you want to reorder.
- Tap the “More” Button: Look for the three-dot menu in the bottom-right corner of the screen and tap it.
- Edit the Highlight: Select “Edit Highlight” from the menu options.
- Add a Temporary Story: In the “Stories” tab, choose a random archived story and add it to the highlight. Tap “Done.”
- Refresh the Highlight Position: The highlight you just edited will now appear first in the row under your bio.
- Remove the Temporary Story: Go back to the same highlight, unselect the temporary story you added, and save the changes. This will not affect the new order.
Repeat this process for all highlights, starting with the one you want to appear last and working backward toward the first.
Tips for Organizing Your Instagram Highlights
To make the most of your highlights, follow these tips:
1. Use Consistent Highlight Covers
Your Instagram highlight covers should be visually appealing and match your overall aesthetic. Use tools like Canva to design covers with consistent fonts, colors, or icons that reflect the content inside.
2. Group Related Stories
Organize your highlights by theme, such as:
- Product Launches
- Customer Reviews
- Travel Adventures
- FAQs
- Behind-the-Scenes Content
3. Update Regularly
Keep your highlights fresh by adding new content or retiring outdated stories. A regularly updated highlight reel signals that your account is active and engaging.
4. Engage With Your Audience
Use highlights to feature interactive story elements like polls, quizzes, or question stickers. These elements encourage engagement and keep followers coming back to your profile.
Common Issues When Reordering Instagram Highlights (and How to Fix Them)
Here are some common problems you may encounter when trying to reorder highlights and how to resolve them:
- Stories Archive Not Turned On: Ensure the “Save Story to Archive” setting is enabled in your account. Without archived stories, you won’t be able to add older stories to highlights.
- Highlight Order Not Updating: Make sure your app is updated to the latest version. If the problem persists, log out and log back in or restart your device.
- Reached the Highlight Limit: Instagram allows up to 100 stories per highlight. If you reach this limit, consider creating a new highlight or trimming older content.
How to Make Your Instagram Highlights Stand Out
Beyond reordering your highlights, here are ways to make them more engaging and professional:
1. Focus on High-Value Content
Feature content that resonates with your audience, such as user-generated content, product tutorials, or event highlights.
2. Create a Narrative Flow
Structure your highlights to tell a story. For instance, a fashion brand could create highlights for “New Arrivals,” “Styling Tips,” and “Customer Favorites.”
3. Incorporate Text Overlays and Music
Adding text overlays or background music to your stories can make your highlights more interactive and memorable.
4. Leverage Analytics
Review story insights to determine which content performs best. Use this data to decide what to include in your highlights.
Why Should You Reorder Instagram Highlights?
Reorganizing your highlights can improve your Instagram profile aesthetic, showcase your most important content, and help your followers find the information they’re looking for.