How to Change a Poll Answer on an Instagram Story

We've all been there: casually tapping through Instagram Stories when a poll sticker pops up, and in an instant, your thumb slips and votes for Pineapple on Pizza when you're passionately against it. That moment of panic is real. This guide gets straight to the fix, showing you the simple workaround to retract your vote and correct your answer, and it will also offer some advice for creators who use polls to connect with their audience.

So, Can You Actually Change Your Poll Answer?

Let's get the most important question out of the way first. Officially, Instagram does not have an "edit" button for poll votes. Once you've selected an option, you can't simply tap the other one to swap your answer. From Instagram's perspective, this makes sense. To maintain the integrity of user-generated data, especially for brands and creators doing market research, every vote needs to be counted as a deliberate action.

However, while there's no "edit" feature, there is a way to take back your vote and start over. It requires deleting your original answer and then casting a new one. Think of it less as changing your ballot and more as voiding it and filling out a new one. As long as the Story is still live (within its 24-hour window), you have a chance to make things right.

The Simple Workaround: How to Delete and Revote on a Poll

You accidentally sided with the wrong contestant in a reality TV showdown or voted "No" on a product you absolutely love. No worries. Follow these quick steps to undo your poll vote and recast it correctly.

Step-by-Step Guide to Deleting Your Vote

Correcting your poll answer is surprisingly simple, designed to be intuitive once you know where to look. Here's exactly what to do:

1. Find the Story Again: Navigate back to the Story that contains the poll you voted on. You might find it at the top of your feed or by going directly to the user's profile.
2. View Your Vote: As soon as the Story opens, you'll see the poll results with your selected answer highlighted.
3. Tap Your Voted Answer: Tap directly on the poll option you originally chose. You aren't tapping to vote again, but rather tapping the result that you already submitted.
4. Look for the "Delete Vote" Confirmation: When you tap your previous answer, a small pop-up or a button will appear that says "Delete vote" alongside a small trash can icon. This is the magic button.
5. Confirm the Deletion: Tap "Delete vote." Immediately, the poll results will revert to their non-voted-on state. Your original response is now gone completely from the results.
6. Recast Your New Vote: The poll is now fresh for you. Simply tap the answer you meant to choose all along. Your new vote will be registered, and you'll see the updated live results.

That's it! You've successfully "changed" your answer. Just remember, this process only works while the Story is live. Once it disappears after 24 hours, the poll is closed for good.

From the Creator's POV: What Happens When Someone "Changes" Their Vote?

If you're a marketer, brand owner, or creator using polls to gather feedback, you might be curious about how this affects your results. The good news is, it's a very straightforward process on the backend. Creators don't get a notification like, "Sarah just changed her vote from coffee to tea."

Instead, here's what you see:

• When a user first votes, the total count for their chosen option goes up by one, and their username is added to the list of voters for that option.
• If they use the workaround to delete their vote, your numbers simply adjust in real-time. The count for the original option goes down by one, and their username disappears from that list of voters. It's as if they never voted.
• When they cast their new vote, the count for the second option goes up by one, and they are added to the list for that answer.

The system is dynamic. The poll results you see as a creator are always the most accurate, up-to-the-minute representation of what your audience currently thinks. The process cleans the data on its own, so you can trust that your final tally reflects your voters' final decisions.

Common Reasons You Might Need to Change a Poll Vote

Knowing you're not alone is part of the relief. This happens to everyone, usually for one of a few common reasons.

• The Accidental Tap: This is the number one cause. Instagram Stories are designed for rapid tapping, making it incredibly easy for your thumb to land on the wrong side of the poll sticker before your brain even processes the question.
• You Genuinely Changed Your Mind: Maybe the user provided more context in a later Story slide that changed your opinion, or you just had a moment of reconsideration. It's perfectly okay to think differently a few seconds later.
• You Misread the Question: We've all done it. You blaze through a Story, vote quickly, and then realize the question was asking the opposite of what you thought it was. It might be a question like, "Which product are you least excited about?" and you tapped your favorite one. The delete-and-revote method is a lifesaver for this.
• Group Decisions: Sometimes you're watching Stories with a friend and they shout, "No, not that one!" after you've voted. A silly but very real scenario where you need to switch your vote to keep the peace.

Whatever the reason, the ability to correct a misplaced vote is a small but useful feature of the Instagram user experience.

Best Practices for Creators Using Instagram Polls

If you're on the other side of the screen creating polls, a little strategy goes a long way. Well-designed polls not only get more engagement but also reduce a viewer's need to change their answer, giving you clearer data. Here's how to make your polls more effective.

1. Write with Absolute Clarity

Ambiguity is the enemy of a good poll. If your audience has to guess what you're asking, they might answer incorrectly and feel a need to change it later (or worse, just skip it). Avoid double negatives or overly complex questions.

• Bad Example: "Would you not be against us releasing a blue hat?"
• Good Example: "Should we release a blue hat?" (With "Yes!" and "Maybe a different color" as options).

2. Keep Options Distinct and Simple

Try to present two clearly different options. Polls work best for "this or that" scenarios, yes/no questions, or gauging simple preferences. If the answers are too similar, like "light blue" vs. "sky blue," your results won't be very insightful and can confuse voters.

3. Use Polls to Start Conversations

Polls are brilliant for engagement because they require almost zero-friction participation - just one tap. Use them to:

• Drive Content Decisions: “What should we post about next? A. Workflow Tips, B. Client Horror Stories”
• Get Product Feedback: “Which new t-shirt design is your favorite? A. The Sunrise, B. The Mountain”
• Show Your Brand's Personality: “Serious question... is it too early for holiday music? A. YES, IT'S ONLY NOVEMBER, B. No, play it forever.”

4. Always Follow Up and Share the Results

One of the most powerful things you can do is close the loop. About 20-22 hours after you post a poll, jump back into your Story and share a screenshot of the final results. Thank everyone for participating and maybe add a thought about what you plan to do with the information.

For example: "Wow, 82% of you want workflow tips next! We're on it - look out for a new Reel on Friday covering our top 3 organization hacks."

This simple act makes your audience feel heard and valued. It shows them that their vote wasn't just a random tap but a meaningful contribution that influenced your content, which makes them far more likely to vote on your future polls.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to undo an accidental Instagram poll vote is a small but mighty piece of social media know-how. Though you can't officially "edit" your response, the quick process of deleting and recasting your vote ensures your true opinion gets counted, giving peace of mind to viewers and clean data to creators.

As creators, we understand that weaving engaging elements like polls into your content strategy is easier said than done, especially when you're managing multiple social profiles. We created Postbase for that exact reason. Our platform gives you a visual calendar to plan all your content - including your ideas for Stories - so you can strategically map out when to post polls, Q&As, and other interactive content to keep your community engaged, all without the last-minute stress.