How to Create Instagram Story Highlights

Your Instagram profile is the digital front door to your brand, and Story Highlights are the organized, high-value welcome mat that invites people inside. They transform fleeting, 24-hour Stories into a permanent collection that tells your brand’s story, answers questions, and guides new followers exactly where you want them to go. This guide shows you everything you need to know about creating, customizing, and strategically using Instagram Story Highlights to grow your brand.

What Are Instagram Story Highlights (And Why They Matter So Much)

In simple terms, Instagram Story Highlights are curated collections of your previously posted Stories that you can save and organize on your profile. Unlike regular Stories that vanish after 24 hours, Highlights live on your profile indefinitely, sitting right below your bio and above your main feed.

But they are much more than just saved content. Think of them as a navigation menu for your brand. When a potential customer lands on your profile for the first time, they give you about three seconds to convince them to stick around. Your bio is the headline, but your Highlights are the bullet points that prove your value. They let you:

• Showcase your brand personality: Use a “Behind the Scenes” Highlight to show the real people and processes that make your brand unique.
• Promote products and services: Create specific Highlights for different product categories, services, tutorials, or new arrivals.
• Build a community: Feature user-generated content (UGC), team introductions, or testimonials from happy customers.
• Answer common questions: An FAQ Highlight can save you immense time in your DMs by proactively answering questions about shipping, pricing, or processes.
• Drive traffic: If you have over 10,000 followers or a verified account, you can use link stickers in your Stories and then save them to a Highlight, creating a permanent set of clickable links on your profile.

Essentially, Highlights turn your best, most valuable story content into an evergreen resource that works for you 24/7, educating and engaging visitors long after the original Story has expired.

How to Create an Instagram Story Highlight: Two Simple Methods

There are two primary ways to create a new Highlight: from an active Story you’ve just posted or by pulling older content from your Story Archive. Before you start, make sure you have the archive setting enabled. You can check by going to your profile > three-line menu > Settings and privacy > Archiving and downloading > and making sure Save story to archive is turned on.

Method 1: Creating a Highlight from an Active Story

This is the quickest way to create a Highlight right after you post a new Story you know you want to feature.

1. Post Your Story: First, create and share your photo or video to your Instagram Story as you normally would.
2. View Your Active Story: Once it's live, tap on your profile picture to watch your story.
3. Tap the "Highlight" Icon: At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a heart icon labeled "Highlight." Tap it.
4. Create Your New Highlight: A menu will pop up allowing you to add the story to an existing Highlight or create a new one. Tap the “New” plus-symbol button.
5. Name It: Give your new Highlight a short, descriptive name (15 characters is the limit before it gets cut off). Think “Services,” “About Us,” or “FAQ.” Then tap “Add.”

That’s it! The new Highlight will now appear on your profile, displaying the story you just added.

Method 2: Creating a Highlight from Your Story Archive

This is the best method for curating a full Highlight with multiple past Stories at once. Since your archive saves everything automatically (if enabled), you can pull from all the content you’ve ever posted.

1. Go to Your Profile: Navigate to your main profile page.
2. Tap the "New" Button: Just below your bio and contact buttons, you'll see a circle with a plus sign labeled “New.” Tap it to start creating a new Highlight.
3. Select Stories from Your Archive: Instagram will now show you your entire Story Archive, with the most recent content first. Scroll through and tap the circle in the corner of each story you want to include in this Highlight. A blue checkmark will appear on the ones you select.
4. Tap "Next": Once you’ve selected all the desired Stories, tap "Next" in the top-right corner.
5. Edit Your Cover and Title: On the next screen, you’ll be prompted to give your Highlight a name. You can also tap “Edit Cover” to choose which story slide will be the thumbnail image or upload a custom cover from your phone (more on this in a bit!).
6. Tap "Add": Once you’re happy with the name and cover, tap "Add" (on iOS) or "Done" (on Android). Your newly curated Highlight now has a permanent spot on your profile.

How to Customize and Manage Your Highlights

Creating Highlights is just the start. Keeping them updated, organized, and on-brand is how you unlock their real power. Here’s how to manage them after they’re live.

Adding to, Removing from, or Deleting a Highlight

• To add more Stories to an existing Highlight: Tap and hold the Highlight you want to edit, then select “Edit Highlight.” Go to the “Stories” tab, and you’ll be taken back to your archive, where you can select more stories to add. Tap "Done" to save your changes.
• To remove a Story from a Highlight: Follow the same steps. Tap and hold, select “Edit Highlight,” go to the “Stories” tab, and simply uncheck the stories you no longer want to feature.
• To delete an entire Highlight: Tap and hold the Highlight you want to remove, then tap “Delete Highlight” and confirm. Be careful, as this action is permanent. (Though the stories will still be safe in your archive).

Designing Stunning Custom Highlight Covers

A polished profile uses custom covers for a clean, consistent, and professional look. Generic story frames look messy and unprofessional. Well-designed covers act as visual cues, helping users navigate your content quickly.

Steps to Create and Upload a Custom Cover:

1. Design Your Icons: Use a tool like Canva to create your covers. Start with an Instagram Story template (1080 x 1920 pixels). Find or create simple icons that represent each Highlight category (e.g., a shopping bag for "Shop," a question mark for "FAQ"). Use your brand colors and fonts to keep everything consistent. Remember, the icon needs to be centered because Instagram will crop it into a circle.
2. Save and Upload: Save your designs to your phone’s camera roll.
3. Set the New Cover: This is the best part - you no longer have to post the cover image to your Story first! Just tap and hold the Highlight you want to update and select “Edit Highlight.” Then, tap “Edit Cover.” At the bottom, tap the image icon to access your phone’s photo library. Select your newly created cover image, adjust the crop so your icon is centered, and tap “Done.”

Repeat this for all your Highlights to give your profile an immediate visual upgrade. This small detail communicates professionalism and shows you care about your brand presentation.

Strategic Highlight Ideas for Your Business or Brand

Not sure what to put in your Highlights? Think about the first five things you'd want a new follower to know about you. Here are some category-specific ideas to get you started:

For E-commerce and Product-Based Businesses:

• Shop: A collection showcasing your best-selling or new products.
• Reviews: Screenshots of DMs, posts, or emails from happy customers. Social proof is powerful.
• UGC: Feature content created by your customers using your products.
• Tutorials: Show people how to use or style your products.
• In Action: A video-heavy highlight showing your product out in the real world.
• FAQ: Answer top questions about shipping, returns, sizing, or materials.

For Service Providers (Coaches, Freelancers, Consultants):

• Services: A breakdown of your different offerings and packages.
• Testimonials: Don’t just tell people you're great, show them what past clients have said. Video testimonials are especially effective.
• Start Here: The perfect onboarding Highlight for new followers, guiding them on what to expect.
• Process: Walk people through what it's like to work with you, from initial contact to final delivery.
• Freebies: A collection of your free resources, lead magnets, or valuable tips to build authority and trust.

For Content Creators and Influencers:

• About Me: Tell your story! Share who you are, what you do, and why you do it.
• Links: Use link stickers to create a collection of all the things you get asked about, like your blog, other social channels, or affiliate links.
• Partnerships: Showcase some of your favorite brand collaborations.
• Q&A: Collect your answers from past Q&A sessions so new followers can get to know you.
• Press: Did you get featured on a podcast or in an article? Save it here!

Final Thoughts

Instagram Story Highlights are one of the most underutilized features on the platform. They are your chance to make a lasting first impression, tell a deeper brand story, and guide followers on their journey with you. By thoughtfully curating your best content into organized, visually appealing collections, you create a valuable resource that serves your audience and your business nonstop.

Planning out the Stories that will eventually feed into your Highlights is just as important as the creation process itself. At Postbase, we designed our visual content calendar with this exact workflow in mind. By mapping out our Stories and Reels alongside our feed posts, we can build a cohesive content strategy and ensure we always have thumb-stopping content ready to create our next great Highlight collection. Building a strong brand profile becomes much easier when you can see your entire strategy - from Stories to Reels to posts - all in one place.