How to Add Highlights on Instagram from Gallery

Have an incredible photo sitting in your phone’s gallery that you wish you’d added to your Instagram Stories? Great news: you can still turn it into a high-visibility Highlight long after the 24-hour window has closed. This guide will walk you through exactly how to add any picture or video from your camera roll directly into your Instagram Highlights, giving your best content a permanent home on your profile.

Why Are Instagram Highlights So Important Anyway?

Before jumping into the “how,” it’s worth understanding the “why.” Your Instagram Highlights are some of the most valuable real estate on your entire profile. They sit directly below your bio and above your feed, making them one of the first things visitors see. Think of them as a visual menu or a curated welcome packet for your brand or personality.

Unlike regular Stories that vanish after a day, Highlights are permanent collections that allow you to:

• Showcase Your Best Content: Group together your best tutorials, funniest moments, or proudest achievements.
• Organize Information: For businesses, this is huge. You can create Highlights for "FAQs," "Reviews," "Shop," "Services," or a "Menu." This saves you from answering the same questions via DM over and over.
• Tell Your Brand Story: A well-organized set of Highlights guides new followers through who you are, what you do, and what you stand for. It's their first step into your world.
• Drive Traffic: If you have over 10,000 followers or a verified account, you can add links to your Stories. When saved to a Highlight, those links become a permanent traffic source to your website, blog, or product pages.

Essentially, Highlights turn your fleeting, ephemeral Stories into an organized, evergreen library that works for you 24/7. Now, let’s get that content from your gallery into a Highlight collection.

How to Add Content From Your Gallery to a Highlight

Here’s the thing about Instagram: for any piece of content to end up in a Highlight, it must first be posted as a Story. There is no direct "upload from gallery to Highlight" button. But don't worry - this doesn't mean you have to blast an old vacation photo to all of your followers just to archive it.

We'll cover two methods: the standard way for content you want followers to see, and a clever workaround for adding content discreetly.

Method 1: The 'Post and Add' Way (For Public Stories)

Use this method if you’re happy for your followers to see the content on your active Story for the next 24 hours. This is the most straightforward process.

1. Open Instagram and Create a Story: Tap the plus icon at the top of the screen (or swipe right from your feed) to open the Story camera.
2. Select from your Gallery: Tap the gallery icon in the bottom-left corner and choose the photo or video you want to add.
3. Edit Your Story: Add any text, stickers, or music you'd like.
4. Post Your Story: Share it to "Your Story."
5. Add to a Highlight: Now, immediately view the live Story you just posted. In the bottom-right corner, you’ll see an icon labeled "Highlight" with a heart inside a circle. Tap on it.
6. Choose Your Highlight: A menu will pop up showing your existing Highlights. You can either tap one to add your Story to it, or you can tap "New" to create a brand-new one. If you create a new one, you'll be asked to give it a name.

That's it! The content is now saved to your chosen Highlight and will stay on your profile even after the Story itself disappears in 24 hours.

Method 2: The 'Invisible Story' Trick (For Discreet Uploading)

What if you want to add a bunch of photos from a past event to a Highlight without flooding your followers' Story feed? This is where you can post a Story that almost nobody - or absolutely nobody - sees.

The 'Close Friends' Strategy

This is the easiest discreet method. You just post the Story to your Close Friends list, which you can temporarily modify to include just one trusted person or even just your own backup account.

1. Edit Your Close Friends List (Optional): Go to your profile, tap the three-line menu in the top-right, and select "Close Friends." Here, you can remove everyone and add just one person, ensuring only they will see the Story.
2. Create Your Story: Follow steps 1-3 from the previous method to select and edit a photo or video from your gallery.
3. Share to Close Friends: Instead of tapping "Your Story," tap the green "Close Friends" button.
4. Add to Highlight: Even though it was only shared with your Close Friends, the Story is now active. View it yourself by tapping on your profile picture (it will have a green ring around it). Tap the "Highlight" icon in the corner and add it to a new or existing Highlight, just as you would with a public story.
5. Restore Your List: When you're done, remember to edit your 'Close Friends' list back to normal. The content in your Highlight will remain publicly visible on your profile.

The 'Hide Story From Everyone' Strategy

If you want to be extra sneaky and ensure nobody sees your Story, you can use Instagram's privacy settings to hide your story from every single one of your followers temporarily.

1. Go to your Privacy Settings. Tap your Profile Icon >, Tap the Hamburger menu bar (☰) in the top-right corner. Tap Settings and Privacy. Scroll down until you see Hide Story and Live. Tap on it.
2. Hide Your Story from everyone. A list of your followers will appear. You can go down the list and select everyone to hide your Story from. Once you've selected all your followers, tap "Done." Post your Story, add it to the Highlight, and then go back and un-hide your Stories by deselecting your followers.

Making Your Highlights Look Professional and Planned

Just adding content isn’t enough. To make your highlights truly effective, you need to have a polished and strategic presentation.

Design Custom Highlight Covers

The default highlight cover is just a cropped version of a story inside - it often looks blurry or chaotic. Creating custom covers elevates your profile's look instantly.

• Use Canva: The easiest way to create covers is with a free tool like Canva. Search for an "Instagram Story Template," which has the perfect dimensions (1080x1920 px).
• Establish a Style: Use your brand’s colors and a consistent set of icons to keep everything cohesive. The main design component - an icon or a single word - should be centered so it doesn’t get cut off.
• Upload Your Custom Cover: Press and hold on any Highlight and select 'Edit Highlight.' On the next screen, tap 'Edit Cover.' Then, tap the gallery icon at the bottom of the screen to select your custom-crafted design from your camera roll. Adjust it as needed and tap 'Done'.

Strategize Your Highlight Categories

Less is more. A cluttered profile with 15 different Highlights is hard to navigate. Stick to 5-8 essential categories that provide the most important information to new visitors. Put yourself in their shoes: what are they looking for right away?

• Services/Products: Showcase what you sell.
• About Us: Introduce yourself or your team members.
• Reviews/Testimonials: Provide valuable social proof.
• FAQs: Answer your most common questions.
• Behind the Scenes: Showcase your process and brand personality.

Keep Your Highlights Current

Periodically, perhaps once a quarter, review your Highlights to remove outdated content like old promotions or irrelevant stories. An updated profile shows visitors that your brand is active and current.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Sometimes things don't go according to plan. Here are a few quick fixes for common problems.

"I can't find my old Stories in my Archive!"

Instagram only saves your Stories if you have the auto-archive feature enabled. To check this, go to your Profile >, Tap the menu icon (☰) >, Archive. Once there, tap the three dots (...) in the top right, select "Settings," and make sure "Save story to archive" is toggled on.

"My Highlight cover is blurry after uploading!"

This usually means the dimensions are incorrect. Make sure you are using a 1080x1920 pixel canvas. Instagram still crops the image into a circle, so keep your main design element centered with plenty of space around it to avoid it getting cut off.

"I've reached the 100-story limit in my Highlight!"

Yes, Instagram limits each Highlight collection to 100 photos or videos. Once you reach the limit, you cannot add any more content to it. The best solution is to create a sequel, like "FAQs Pt. 2" or "Reviews (2024)".

Final Thoughts

Getting photos from your gallery into your Instagram Highlights is easy once you understand they must first exist as a Story. By using standard sharing or clever privacy tricks like the "Close Friends" list, you can control who sees this content before it's saved as a permanent feature on your profile, keeping your feed neat and organized.

Well-organized Highlights are a key part of a larger content strategy that includes posts, Reels, and other profile elements. Planning your content ensures you establish a strong brand identity. By strategically using your Highlights, you turn your profile into a valuable and easy-to-navigate resource for your followers.