How to Add a Post to a Highlight on Instagram

Want to turn your best content into a permanent showcase on your Instagram profile? Highlights are the perfect way to keep your top-performing Stories, important information, and brand-defining moments easily accessible long after the initial 24 hours have passed. This guide will walk you through exactly how to add any post or Story to your Highlights, including the best method for adding content from your archives without having to post it to your active Story first.

First, Why Should You Bother With Instagram Highlights?

Before an Instagram user decides to follow you, they almost always visit your profile. Your Highlights sit directly below your bio, acting like a navigation bar for your brand. They are one of the first things a potential follower sees, giving you a powerful opportunity to control the narrative and guide their experience. Think of them as curated collections that can:

• Showcase Your Best Stuff: Compile your best products, top-rated services, or glowing customer testimonials in one easy-to-find place.
• Answer Common Questions: Create a Highlight for FAQs, shipping information, or how to work with you. This saves you time answering DMs and provides immediate value to your audience.
• Tell Your Brand Story: Use Highlights to share your mission, introduce your team, or provide a behind-the-scenes look at your process.
• Drive Traffic: If you have over 10,000 followers (or a verified account), you can add swipe-up links in your Stories. Archiving these Stories in a Highlight preserves those valuable conversion points.

A well-organized set of Highlights makes your profile look professional, polished, and incredibly helpful - all key ingredients for turning a casual visitor into a loyal follower.

Method 1: The Basics - Adding a Current Story to a Highlight

This is the most straightforward method. When you have a Story that is currently live (within its 24-hour window) and you realize it’s a keeper, you can add it directly to a Highlight.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. View Your Active Story: Open Instagram and tap on your profile picture in the top-left corner to watch your current Story.
2. Find the Highlight Button: While viewing the specific Story slide you want to save, look at the bottom of the screen. You'll see an icon that says "Highlight" with a heart inside a circle. Tap on it.
3. Choose or Create a Highlight: A menu will pop up. From here, you can either add the Story to an existing Highlight by tapping on it, or you can create a new one by tapping "New."
4. Name Your New Highlight (If Applicable): If you chose "New," you'll be prompted to give your Highlight a name. Keep it short, clear, and descriptive (e.g., "Reviews," "FAQs," "Services"). Then, tap "Add."

That's it! The Story is now saved to that Highlight and will remain on your profile until you decide to remove it.

Method 2: The Pro Move - Adding Content From Your Archive (Without Reposting to Your Story)

This is where social media managers and savvy creators save tons of time and effort. You likely have months or even years of great content saved in your Instagram archive. The good news is, you can pull any of that content and add it to a Highlight without having to bother your current followers with a repost.

First, let's make sure your archive feature is turned on.

How to Check Your Story Archive Settings:

1. Go to your Instagram profile and tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner.
2. Tap "Settings and Privacy."
3. Scroll down to the "Your app and media" section and tap "Archiving and downloading."
4. Make sure the "Save story to archive" toggle is switched on. It’s usually on by default, but it's always a good idea to double-check.

With archiving enabled, Instagram automatically saves all your Stories after they expire. Now you have a library of content ready to be curated into Highlights at any time.

Step-by-Step: Adding an Archived Story to a Highlight

1. Go to Your Archive: From your profile, tap the hamburger menu again and select "Archive." You might land on your Posts Archive first. If so, tap the dropdown menu at the top and select "Stories Archive."
2. Find Your Content: Scroll through your past Stories to find the one you want to add. The archive is organized chronologically, and you can also toggle a calendar view to find content from a specific date.
3. Select the Story: Tap on the old Story you want to add to a Highlight.
4. Add to Highlight: Just like with a live Story, tap the "Highlight" icon at the bottom of the screen.
5. Choose Where It Goes: Select the existing Highlight you want to add it to, or tap "New" to create a new one. Name it, and you're all set.

But What About Adding a Feed Post to a Highlight?

This is a common question, and there's a specific workflow for it. You cannot add a regular feed post directly to an Instagram Highlight. A Highlight is, by definition, a collection of Stories. So, to get a feed post into a Highlight, you first need to share it to your Story.

Here’s the workaround smart marketers use:

1. Navigate to the feed post (photo or Reel) you want to feature.
2. Tap the paper airplane icon (Share button) below the post.
3. Select "Add to story." This will open the Story editor with your post embedded.
4. Customize it! Don't just post a plain screenshot. Add relevant text, a GIF, or a poll sticker to make it engaging and provide context for why you’re sharing it.
5. Share it to your Story.

Once it has been posted as a Story, you can either add it to a Highlight while it's active (Method 1) or wait for it to expire and then add it from your archive (Method 2). The second option is often better, as it allows you to build out your Highlights behind the scenes without your audience knowing you’re in the middle of a profile refresh.

Pro Tip: If you absolutely don't want a particular Story to be seen by your entire audience, you can share it with your "Close Friends" list only. After it expires and moves to your archive, you can then add it to a public Highlight on your main profile.

Level Up: Editing and Customizing Your Highlights

Adding content is just the first step. To create a truly magnetic profile, you need to make your Highlights look cohesive and professional.

Designing Your Highlight Covers

The default cover for a Highlight is just a cropped version of one of the Stories inside it, which often looks messy. Custom covers are essential for a clean, branded look. You can easily design these for free using tools like Canva. Just create a simple square graphic (1080x1920px is the standard Story dimension) with an icon or branding that represents the content within.

How to Change a Highlight Cover Without Posting to Your Story

Many people mistakenly believe you have to upload your cover graphic to your Story feed. You don’t!

1. Go to your profile and press and hold the Highlight you want to edit.
2. A menu will pop up. Select "Edit Highlight."
3. At the very top of the next screen, tap "Edit Cover."
4. Instead of selecting one of the Stories, tap the image icon on the far left. This will open your phone's photo library.
5. Select the cover image you designed, adjust the positioning if needed, and tap "Done."

Organizing and Naming

From that same "Edit Highlight" screen, you can also:

• Change the Title: Tap the "Title" field to give your Highlight a new name.
• Add or Remove Content: Under the "Selected" tab, you can uncheck any Stories you no longer want included. Tapping the "Add" tab will take you back to your archive to add more.

Strategic Ideas for Your First Highlights

Not sure what to put in your Highlights? Start with content that serves your audience and supports your business goals. Here are a few essential ideas that work for almost anyone:

• About Me/Us: Introduce yourself or your team. Share your mission, vision, and what makes your brand unique.
• Reviews: Screenshot and share positive reviews, testimonials, or user-generated content (UGC). Social proof is incredibly persuasive.
• FAQs: What questions do you get asked all the time? Answer them in a series of Stories and save them here.
• Products/Services: Create a dedicated Highlight for each of your key offerings. Show them in action, list the features, and link to where people can buy.
• Tutorials: Teach your audience something valuable. A 'how-to' Highlight positions you as an expert and builds trust.
• Behind the Scenes (BTS): Show your followers what a day in the life looks like, how your products are made, or the fun culture of your team. It humanizes your brand.

Remember to update your Highlights regularly, removing outdated information and adding fresh content to keep them relevant.

Final Thoughts

Instagram Highlights transform your profile from a simple content feed into a valuable resource for your community. By knowing how to strategically add posts from your archive, customize their look, and curate them with your audience in mind, you can create an engaging and professional first impression that encourages visitors to stick around, learn more, and ultimately hit that "Follow" button.

While getting your Highlights perfectly organized is a great way to put your best foot forward, the daily work of creating great content, planning your calendar, and managing engagement is what builds a brand over time. At Postbase, we specialize in making that part of the job feel simpler. We built our platform with a visual-first approach, so you can plan content for Instagram, TikTok, and more with an intuitive calendar, and our all-in-one inbox lets you manage all your comments and DMs without frantically switching between apps.