Ever since Instagram introduced the stories feature on the platform following Snapchat, it has been all the hype there. The users of the platform love the freedom that comes with it: the freedom of uploading anything they like because it ultimately disappears after 24 hours.
The stories now give us a look into the small and big updates of the daily lives of people that we follow here. To add a cherry to the pie, the launch of the story reaction reply feature often works as the best conversation-starters between friends that live in different cities and haven’t met for a long time.
Many of us open Instagram every morning like a newspaper, curious to explore if something new or interesting is going on in the lives of people we’re connected with. However, you must agree that mornings also happen to be the busiest time of our days. We need to get up, freshen up, make our beds, make and eat breakfast, and get started with the day.
Suppose while brushing your teeth, you opened one Instagram story but got busy for a couple of minutes. And when you return to Instagram, bam! Most of the stories have already been viewed once. Perhaps there was something interesting or noteworthy in one of them that you might want to reply to, but how would you figure it out now?
Well, before you start panicking early in the morning, take a deep breath and let us handle it. Remember how an Instagram story has a time period of 24 hours? Well, this means that you can still check these stories and reply accordingly because they’re still present on the profile of those who have uploaded them.
But if you’ve missed the whole thing, you might not even know whose stories you’ve missed. And checking the profile of every single user you follow is no convenient solution, is it?
Well, there’s one another way as well. By doing it, you’ll be able to see all the stories uploaded by the people you follow in the last 24 hours, even after they’ve been viewed by you once.
In our blog today, we’re going to talk about how to see recently viewed stories on Instagram.
So, if you’re looking for the answer to this issue, stay with us till the end to learn all about how it’s done and more.
How to See Recently Viewed Stories on Instagram
Step 1: Open the Instagram app on your smartphone and log in to your account.
Step 2: You’ll find yourself on the Home tab first. Here, right under the Instagram icon on top, you’ll find the Stories section, with the stories uploaded by users you follow chronologically (from the latest to the oldest).
You’ll notice that the ones next to your profile picture thumbnail, and a couple of those on its right, have pink circles around them. This indicates that these stories haven’t been viewed by you yet.
Step 3: In order to look for stories that have already been viewed by you, place your finger on the rightmost corner of this section and swipe left. Keep swiping left until all profile thumbnails with pink circles disappear and those with grey circles appear.
Step 4: It is these grey circled stories that you’ve already watched. In order to re-watch them all, pick the first grey-circled thumbnail and tap on it to view this first story.
That’s all! You needn’t do anything more; just keep watching as one story is played after another until you re-watch all the stories posted by your friends in the last 24 hours.
What About the Muted Stories?
You might already be familiar with how, once you mute a user’s stories, anything they upload would not appear in a pink circle on the top of your profile. However, as you swipe left like we had asked you in the last section, you’ll see all the stories of these users all the way back to this section.
Only their profile picture thumbnails will have a tinted appearance to differentiate from the rest of the watched stories. Moreover, their story will not be played for you automatically like the others; you’d have to tap on them voluntarily in order to see them.
How to View Your Own Stories on Instagram
Now that you’ve figured out the secret of re-watching the stories of the people you follow all in one place let’s talk a little about your own stories. We know most of you might not need any help doing this, but for some of you, it might not be that easy.
For those users, here’s how you can check your own Instagram story:
When you open the Instagram app on your smartphone and land on the Home tab, navigate your profile picture’s thumbnail on the top-left corner of the screen. If this icon has a ring around it, it means you have uploaded a story/stories within the last 24 hours. In that case, tap on this thumbnail, and all your stories will be viewed in full display one-by-one (in case there were more than one of those).
How to See Your Own Instagram Stories That Are Older Than 24 Hours
While viewing your own story seems quite straightforward on Instagram, what about the stories that you uploaded more than 24 hours ago? Where do those stories go, and how can you view them again? Well, all the stories you’ve ever posted on the platform are saved in your Stories Archive, and in the step-by-step guide that follows, we’ll tell you exactly how you can find them. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Open the Instagram app on your smartphone and log into your account using your credentials if you haven’t already.
Step 2: From the Home tab that you’re taken to, tap on the thumbnail of your profile picture in the bottom-right corner of your screen to go to your Profile tab.
Step 3: Once you’re on your Profile tab, navigate the hamburger icon on the top right corner for your screen and tap on it.
Step 4: Upon doing that, a menu will scroll up from the bottom with multiple actionable options listed on it. The third option here would be of Archive, with a circular arrow surrounding the needles of a clock. Tap on this icon, and you’ll be taken to your Stories Archive. Here, you’ll see the collection of all the stories you’ve posted to date, arranged in chronological order (from latest to oldest).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I show my past stories to another Instagram user personally?
Yes, you can. In order to do it, you’ll first have to go to your Stories Archive and select the story that you want to send to this person, and tap on it to view it in full display. When you do that, you’ll see three icons at the bottom-right corner of the screen, the first one of which is of Share.
Tap on it, and you’ll be taken to another tab with the story in full view. Here, at the rightmost corner in the bottom, you’ll see a white, right-facing arrow; tap on it. On doing so, you’ll see a scroll-up menu with three sharing options, the last one being of Message; tap on it, and you’ll be asked to select the user whom you want to send it. Tap the Send button next to their name, and this story will be sent to their DMs.
Is there a limit to how many stories I can post on Instagram in a day?
Yes, there is. Instagram has confirmed that you cannot post more than 100 stories within the span of 24 hours. Once this limit has been crossed, you’ll have to wait for the first story to expire in order to add more of them. Alternatively, you could also delete some older stories that all your followers might have already to add new ones.
Also Read:
