This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities.
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Generally, if you delete something, it's gone. Instagram, however, stores all your content even after you delete it, so there's a slight possibility you can recover it. This wikiHow will show you how you can recover deleted Instagram posts using a few methods.
Steps
Checking the Recently Deleted Folder on the Mobile App
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1Open Instagram. This app icon looks like a camera icon over a rainbow background that you can find on your Home screen, in the app drawer, or by searching.
- Log in if prompted.
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2Tap your profile image or the silhouette icon. This is in the lower right corner of your screen. Your profile page will open.Advertisement
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3Tap ☰. This three-line menu button is in the top right corner of your screen.
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4Tap Settings. It's the first option in the menu next to a gear icon.
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5Tap Account. You'll see this near the middle of the menu next to a silhouette icon.
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6Tap Recently Deleted. This is near the bottom of the menu (if you don't see this option, you may not have the most recent version of the app and should update).
- You can also access this option using the ≡ menu on your profile page. Tap on the ≡ icon, then navigate to to Your activity> Recently Deleted.
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7Tap the thumbnail that you want to restore. You'll be able to see all your photos, Stories, reels, IGTV videos, and video posts here.
- Tap Restore to restore it to your profile.[1]
Checking the Instagram Archive Feature
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1Open Instagram. This app icon looks like a camera icon over a rainbow background that you can find on your Home screen, in the app drawer, or by searching.
- Since its introduction in 2017, the archive feature is the default action to removing/hiding posts instead of deleting them. You might be able to find your old content here.
- Log in if prompted.
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2
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3Tap ☰. A menu will slide out.
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4Tap Archive. A list of your archived Stories will appear.
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5Tap the Stories Archive drop-down. A menu will drop down and you can choose Stories Archive or Posts Archive.
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6Tap an image to view it. You'll see a list of all the content you've archived, and tapping one will open it with more details and options.
- Your post and all its original comments will load[2] .
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7Tap ⋮. You'll see this at the top of the post.
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8Tap Show on Profile to unarchive the post. It will appear back in your Instagram timeline where it originally was.
Checking Your Phone Gallery on Android
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1Open My Files. This app icon looks like a folder, and you'll most likely find this on one of your Home screens, in the app drawer, or by searching.
- You'll only find an Instagram album if you enabled the feature in Instagram to save your posts locally.[3]
- You'll only find the videos/photos you took with the Instagram app camera, not the entire post that you created. You also will not find pictures you uploaded from your default camera roll into Instagram here.
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2Tap Internal Storage. You'll see this listed below "Recent files" and "Categories."
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3Tap Pictures. You might have to scroll down to see this.
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4Tap Instagram. You'll see all the pictures you took from the Instagram app.
Checking Your Phone Gallery on iPhone and iPad
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1Open Photos. This app icon looks like a multicolored flower. You can find this app on your home screen or by searching.
- You'll only find an Instagram album if you enabled the feature in Instagram to save your posts locally.[4]
- You'll only find the videos/photos you took with the Instagram app camera, not the entire post that you created. You also will not find pictures you uploaded from your default camera roll into Instagram here.
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2Tap the albums icon at the bottom of your screen. It's usually the second from the right icon next to "Search."[5]
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3Tap the Instagram album. You'll see all the pictures and videos you took from the Instagram app, but you won't find a copy of the entire post.
References
About This Article
1. Open Instagram.
2. Tap your profile image or silhouette.
3. Tap the three-line menu icon.
4. Tap Archive.
5. Tap the Stories Archive drop-down and select either Stories Archive or Posts Archive.
6. Tap an image to view it.
7. Tap the three-dot menu icon.
8. Tap Show on Profile.