Restore deleted Instagram posts if the idea of losing them permanently scares you

Prior to discovering ‘Recently Deleted’ feature accidentally, I believed there was no easy way of recovering deleted Instagram posts but I must tell you that I was highly mistaken. The photo & video sharing app holds your content that have been deleted for 30 days and between those days if you change your mind about a picture or video you too quickly threw out you can get them back.

How to restore deleted Instagram posts through the Recently Deleted folder

There’s already an archive in the app to keep posts without making them being publicly available, and with rollout of Recently Deleted feature, Instagram is allowing folks to keep their content as an option, even if they want to initially delete them. Though the app makers might not admit it, the reality is the platform benefits from having more content, and thereby more data, on users. So, the more it can nudge people to keep their posts, the better it is for the service.

Launch the Instagram app on your iPhone. Tap the profile icon at the bottom and then, select Menu (3 horizontal bars). Choose Your Story option from the Menu.

Instagram Your Activity
Instagram Your Activity

When directed to a new screen, locate the Recently Deleted option. It is visible at the bottom of the screen.

Recently deleted on IG
Recently deleted on IG

Here, you can view and manage the content you’ve recently deleted. Tap the Photos or videos you would like to restore to the app.

Choose Photos or videos
Choose Photos or videos

Tap the Menu (3 horizontal dots) in the upper-right corner. Select the Restore option to recover the photos and videos.

Restore Deleted posts on Instagram
Restore Deleted posts on Instagram

That’s how you can recover photos, videos, reels and even Instagram Stories if the idea of losing them permanently scares the hell out of you.

Where is recently deleted on Instagram?

Earlier, the Recently Deleted folder was visible under Account settings. However, with a new update, it moves to the Your Story section of the Instagram Menu.

How long do things stay in recently deleted Instagram?

Photos or videos that land inside the ‘Recently deleted’ section are automatically removed 30 days later, or up to 24 hours for stories that aren’t in your stories archive. As such, you can access deleted material from your account within this time limit and restore it, if required

When you don’t see the content you’d like to restore in Recently deleted, the content may be older than 30 days or 24 hours for Stories.