How to create Instagram Stories

Millions of people use Instagram Stories daily to connect with their followers through one of their favorite Android apps. Some users like to share special moments with their families and friends, while others like to share their pet’s antics. There are endless possibilities for using one of Instagram’s most popular features on your smartphone or brand-new Amazon Fire tablet. If you’re a business owner or Influencer, they’re also great for promoting products to generate more leads and sales. If you’re a creator, you can quickly get more eyes on your new project and even get instant feedback from your followers.

Instagram Stories are easy to use, and you’re already halfway there if you can take a picture or record a video on your smartphone. While adding stickers, effects, filters, and other things can get complicated, they’re certainly not necessary when posting a Story. However, if you want to use these advanced features, we’ll review them in greater detail below to help your Stories stand out.

How do Instagram Stories work?

You’re probably wondering what makes an Instagram Story different from a post that shows in your feed. As mentioned above, Stories don’t show in your home feed by default, although they can be shared once posted. However, they are similar to home feed posts in that you can post a photo, multiple photos, or a video up to 60 seconds in length.

Additionally, Stories disappear from your profile, home feed, and direct message inbox after 24 hours, never to be seen again (at least by the public). If you want to preserve them, you can add them to your profile as a story highlight. Each highlight consists of a group of Stories and appears below your profile photo.

When you post a story, it will be evident to all Instagram users by the colorful ring that appears around your profile picture. When that circle is visible, anyone can tap your profile picture from their home feed or direct message inbox to go directly to your Stories. From there, viewers can browse through them in a slideshow format, navigating back and forth with a tap on either side of their mobile device. Anyone following you will also see your profile picture at the top row of their home feed, and they can also tap there to see your Stories.

How to create an Instagram Story

1. Open the Instagram app on your device.
2. On your home feed, tap the “plus” icon at the top of the screen or swipe right.

3. Tap “Story” at the bottom of the screen if it’s not already selected.
4. There are three ways to add content to your Story:
   • Tap the white circle at the bottom of the screen to take a photo.
   • Tap and hold the white circle at the bottom of the screen to record a video.
   • Swipe up anywhere on the screen to open your device’s image gallery and tap to select one. Tap “Gallery” to switch to another folder on your device.

5. If you opt to take a live photo or record a video, you can also swipe right on the white circle to cycle through and apply live effects. You can tap the “Switch Camera” icon (with the two arrows) in the bottom right corner to flip to the back camera.
6. Once you’ve taken a photo or video or chosen one from your device, you can use the creative tools at the top of the screen for text, stickers, effects, drawing, and muting videos. In addition, you can swipe left and right on the screen to cycle through and apply filters.

7. Before posting your Story, you can save it to your phone by tapping the three dots in the screen’s top right corner and “Save.”
8. Once you’re ready to post, tap “Your Story” or “Close friends” (if you’ve set up this list) at the bottom of the screen.

Using more capture modes on Instagram

If you’re in a rush or aren’t looking for anything special, the above method of posting a Story will work just fine. However, if you’re looking for something different or more creative, one of the below capture modes may better suit your needs.

In live camera mode, you’ll see five capture options on the left-hand side of the screen. You can tap the flash icon at the top center of the screen to set it to on, automatic, or off.

Create

Create lets you post a story without adding a photo or video from the start.

1. Tap “Create” on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Tap the screen to type in your desired text.
3. Alternately, swipe the white circle at the bottom of the screen to cycle through the other options: shoutouts, GIFs, templates, on this day, questions, countdown, and quizzes.

4. Most options allow you to change the background color using the colored circle in the bottom right corner of the screen.
5. Once you’re happy with your selection, tap “Next” at the top right of the screen.
6. Use the creative tools at the top of the screen to add text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story before posting.

Boomerang

Boomerang quickly captures multiple photos one after the other (known as a burst), puts them all together, and then loops them forward and backward.

1. Tap “Boomerang” on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Tap the white circle at the bottom of the screen or swipe right on the white circle to cycle through and apply live effects before tapping.
3. Slightly move your camera as it quickly captures a burst of photos.
4. Once captured, you’ll see a live preview on your device.

5. Tap the infinity icon at the top of the screen to adjust your Boomerang; you can change its movement by choosing classic, slowmo, duo, and echo.
6. Use the creative tools at the top of the screen to add text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story before posting.

Layout

Layout lets you add up to six photos to a single story. You can choose one of five grid options featuring two grids for two photos, two grids for four photos, and one grid for six photos.

1. Tap “Layout” on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Once selected, tap the grid icon underneath “Layout” to open up the grid selection.
3. Tap the white circle at the bottom of the screen to start taking photos, or swipe right on the white circle to cycle through and apply live effects beforehand.
4. You can also add photos from your gallery by tapping the plus sign in the bottom left corner of the screen.

5. To remove a photo, tap it once, and a trash can icon will appear as an overlay. Tap it again to remove it.
6. Once you’ve added all photos, tap the “plus” button at the bottom of the screen.
7. Use the creative tools at the top of the screen to add text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story before posting.

Hands-free

Hands-free makes it easy to take a photo without having to hold your phone. There’s no need to tap and hold the white circle at the bottom of the screen while recording.

1. Tap “Hands-free” on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Tap the white circle at the bottom of the screen once to start recording immediately, or tap and hold it to start a three-second timer, after which it will start recording. You can also swipe right on the white circle to cycle through and apply live effects before you start recording.

3. You can record for up to 60 seconds and let it stop recording on its own, or you can stop it manually by tapping the white circle again.
4. Use the creative tools at the top of the screen to add text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story before posting. Additionally, you can mute your video and swipe left and right on the screen to cycle through and apply filters.

Dual

Dual lets you create stories using both your front and rear camera. You’ll see a view of your front-facing camera in a small window that you can move around the screen while the rear-facing camera takes up the rest of the screen.

1. Tap “Dual” on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Tap the white circle at the bottom of the screen to take a photo or tap and hold to take a video; both cameras will be captured simultaneously.

3. After you’ve captured your photos or videos, use the creative tools at the top of the screen to add text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story before posting. Additionally, you can mute your video and swipe left and right on the screen to cycle through and apply filters.

How to highlight a Story on Instagram

As mentioned above, you can stop a Story from disappearing after 24 hours by highlighting it on your profile. Highlights are also a great way to group similar Stories, such as those only about your pet or those showing off your hobby. Here’s how to do so.

1. Go to your Instagram profile page by tapping your profile picture in the bottom right corner of the screen.
2. Tap the “Plus” sign above “New,” which should show right above your profile feed.
3. On the next screen, you’ll see all of your past Stories. Select one or more to add to your highlights and tap “Next” in the top right corner of the screen.

4. Choose a thumbnail from one of the selected Stories, enter a name for your Story highlights, and tap “Done” in the top right corner of the screen.
5. Your highlights will now show on your profile. You can edit them anytime by tapping and holding the thumbnail and selecting “edit highlight” or “delete highlight.”

How to share an Instagram Story to your home feed

Want to share a recent Story to your home feed so that the whole photo or video shows there and on your profile grid? That’s also possible. Here’s how.

1. Tap your profile picture at the top of the home feed (above “Your story”).
2. Navigate to the Story you’d like to share, and tap “More” in the bottom right corner of the screen.
3. Tap “Share as post.”

4. Crop your photo or video, and tap the arrow at the top right of the screen.
5. Choose a filter, edit your photo or video as needed (like any other home feed post), and tap the arrow at the top right of the screen.
6. Add a caption and any other desired options (e.g., location, mentions), and tap the checkmark at the top right of the screen.

How to tell who has viewed your Instagram Story

You can see who has viewed your Story up to 48 hours after it has been posted. Here’s where to view all of your Stories at a glance and see the username of viewers.

1. Tap your profile picture in the bottom right corner of the screen to get to your profile page.
2. Tap the menu icon at the top right of the screen (also known as the hamburger icon).
3. Tap “Archive” to see your Stories Archive.

4. Tap the Story you want to see the viewer information for.
5. Once you’ve opened the Story, swipe up on the screen.
6. Tap the eyeball next to the Insights icon to see everyone who has viewed your Story thus far.

How to delete an Instagram Story

If you post a Story and change your mind shortly after posting, it can be completely deleted by following the steps below.

Keep in mind that once deleted, the Story will remain in the “Recently deleted” section under “Your activity” for 24 hours, where it can be restored. If left alone, it will be permanently deleted from your account.

1. On the Instagram home feed, tap “Your story” at the top right of the screen; this will open your most recent Story.

2. Tap “More” at the bottom right of the screen.
3. Tap “Delete” at the top of the menu.

If you’d like to delete a Story from your Stories Archive, which is only visible to you, here’s how to do so.

Similarly, once deleted, the Story will remain in the “Recently deleted” section under “Your activity.” However, archived Stories are available for 30 days before being permanently deleted.

1. Tap your profile picture in the bottom right corner of the screen to get to your profile page.
2. Tap the menu icon at the top right of the screen (also known as the hamburger icon).
3. Tap “Archive” to see your Stories Archive.

4. Tap the Story you want to delete.
5. Tap “More” at the bottom right of the screen.
6. Tap “Delete” at the top of the menu.

Note: “Your activity” can also be found via the menu icon on your profile page.

How to disable the Instagram Stories Archive feature

Stories that you create and share are automatically kept in your Stories Archive within the Instagram app (similar to the archive feature in Google Photos). If you’d prefer not to save them, you can disable this feature. Once disabled, your Stories won’t be archived, and you won’t have access to them once they disappear from your profile unless you save them to your phone.

1. Tap your profile picture in the bottom right corner of the screen to get to your profile page.
2. Tap the menu icon at the top right of the screen (also known as the hamburger icon).
3. Tap “Archive” to see your Stories Archive.

4. Tap the three dots at the top right of the screen.
5. Tap “Settings.”
6. Tap the slider next to “Save story to archive” to disable it.

Note: As mentioned above, before posting your Story, you’ll have the option to save it to your phone by tapping the three dots at the top right corner of the screen and tapping “Save.” This is a good step to take if you disable the Stories Archive.

Now you’re an Instagram Story pro!

What started as a simple addition to Instagram with just a few basic features has grown into the massive powerhouse it is now. Filling up the Instagram timeline with pictures from your vacation is a thing of the past. You can now create engaging Stories and highlight them for easy access at the top of your Instagram profile. Don’t just stop at your family vacation; this is your chance to get truly creative. What will you do with your Instagram Stories?