How to Delete an Story on Instagram (2023)

Posted an Instagram Story with a terrible background? Or, perhaps you’ve changed your mind right after posting a Story and now want to remove it from your profile. 

Well, whatever your reason is, you can always delete any Story on Instagram. 

In this article, we’re going to show you how to delete an story on Instagram quickly following some simple steps.

So, without further ado, let’s dig in!  

Can You Delete an Instagram Story?

Yes, you can delete a Instagram story easily.

Just like any video, post, or reel on Instagram, you can delete any Instagram stories even after publishing them.

It’s true that Instagram Story stays live only for 24 hours, but this 24 hours is long enough to see what you’ve posted. 

So, if you’ve shared a Story that reveals some private details of yours or is simply not good enough to share, you can delete it easily without any second thought.

How to Delete an Story on Instagram After Posting

The steps to delete an Instagram Story after posting are straightforward and will take less than a minute to complete. Here’s how you can do that: 

Step 1: Open the Story in your Instagram app. 

Step 2: Tap on the three-dot menu icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. 

Step 3: A menu will appear on your screen; from there, tap Delete. 

Step 4: Again, tap Delete to confirm the process. 

That’s it! If you follow this easy-peasy process, your published story will be deleted from the platform instantly.

Here’s a reminder: If one of your followers is viewing the story while you’re deleting it, it won’t be removed immediately from that follower’s screen. When they swipe that story or close it, it will be removed permanently. Even if they reopen your Instagram Story, the deleted story will no longer be available. 

How to Delete an Instagram Story From Draft

Before 2021 Instagram users could only save their reels and posts as drafts. But the good news is, now you can also save Instagram Story as a draft and share it whenever you want. With the story daft feature, you can even edit the story whenever suits you and upload it later. 

And if you have already saved a few Stories as drafts but changed your mind about uploading them, you can delete them too. Here’s how you can do that: 

Step 1: Open your Instagram app and swipe right to open the Story feature. You can also tap on the Your Story option in your feed. 

Step 2: Once you’ve opened the Story tab, tap on the gallery icon. Or, in the Story tab, swipe up the screen to open the gallery.  

Step 3: Now tap on the Drafts option, located beside the Gallery option. 

Step 4: Now, look for the story you wish to delete from the drafts section. 

Step 5: Tap the < button located at the top left side of your screen. A popup menu will appear on your screen.

Step 6: From the menu, select Delete Draft. 

Step 7: Another confirmation box will pop up on your screen. From the box, select Delete again. 

That’s it! Your saved story will be deleted permanently from the drafts section. 

Now instead of deleting Stories one by one, you can bulk-delete them by following the steps below: 

1. First, follow the same process we’ve mentioned above to open the draft section. 
2. On the drafts section, tap on the Select button located at the upper right corner of your screen. 
3. Now tap on all the stories you wish to delete at once. 
4. Then tap on the Delete button at the bottom of your screen. 
5. Tap Delete again to complete the process. 

Here’s a reminder: Stories stay saved as drafts only for seven days. After that, the drafts will be automatically deleted. So make sure to edit or publish the drafted stories before they expire. 

How to Delete an Instagram Story From Archive

If your Instagram Story is not live anymore, it will automatically get saved in your archive. None of your followers or any other Instagram user can see your archive unless you post them as a Highlight. 

However, if you want to get rid of all the evidence of a particular Story, you can delete it from the archive. Here’s how you can do that: 

Step 1: Head to your Instagram profile page. 

Step 2: Tap the three horizontal lines button to open the menu. 

Step 3: From the menu, tap on archive. 

Step 4: Select the Story You wish to delete. 

Step 5: Tap the three horizontal dots or the More button. 

Step 6: Tap Delete. 

Step 7. Again tap Delete to confirm the process 

Remember, the deleted story from your archive list will leave a copy in the Recently deleted section. Make sure to delete the post from there as well.

How to Delete an Instagram Story Highlight

If you highlight a Story on Instagram, it will stay permanently on your profile page. In case, if you want to delete a story from your story highlight as well, then follow the steps mentioned below:

Step 1: Open the Instagram app and go to your profile.

Step 2: If you wish to delete a single Story from a particular Highlight, tap the highlight and look for that specific story.  

Step 3: Once you’ve found the story, tap on the More button at the bottom of your screen. 

Step 4: Now tap on the option Remove from Highlight. 

Step 5. Now press on Remove Photo or Remove Video to complete the process. 

Instead of deleting Stories individually, you can delete the entire Highlight category at once. 

Here’s how you can do that:

1. Select the Highlight you want to delete and long press it. 
2. Tap on Delete Highlight.
3. Once again, tap the Delete button to confirm. 

How Long Does an Instagram Story Last?

24 hours. 

Photos or videos, no matter what you share on your Instagram Story, it will disappear from your profile after 24 hours. 

However, Instagram Stories can last forever if you add them as Highlights. 

How Long Do Instagram Stories Stay in The Archive?

Instagram Stories can stay in the archive permanently unless you delete them from there. 

Instagram’s archive feature is a great way to save your content for more than 24 hours. As your stories stay intact on the archive, you don’t have to worry about downloading your old Stories. 

On the Instagram archive, you can privately view, share, and re-download your past Stories whenever you wish. 

Why Can’t You Delete Your Instagram Story?

If you cannot delete your story, then maybe Instagram is facing a technical error. With more than billions of active users, it’s natural to have a few glitches every now and then.

So, if you’re facing such an issue, try closing your Instagram app. You can also uninstall and reinstall it. 

Sometimes due to poor network connections, you are unable to delete your Instagram story. To fix it, try switching between your mobile data and Wi-Fi. 

If nothing works out, open the Play Store or Apple Store app on your device, and see if your Instagram app needs an update. After updating the app, restart it. Now you’ll be able to delete the story without any hassle.  

Wrapping Up

That’s it! Now you know everything about how to delete a Story on Instagram. So, go ahead and try out the steps yourself. 

Next time when you mistakenly post a Story with a hazy background or unwanted details, don’t feel shy to delete it. 

Before signing off, we hope this guide was helpful. However, if you have any questions, don’t forget to leave them down below.