How to Make a Highlight on Instagram

Instagram Highlights transform your temporary Stories into a permanent collection on your profile, acting as trailers for your brand. They are one of the most valuable, and often underused, pieces of real estate on your Instagram account. This guide provides everything you need to know about creating, customizing, and strategically using Instagram Highlights to make a powerful first impression.

What Are Instagram Highlights? The 'Best Of' Collection for Your Profile

Think of Instagram Highlights as the curated, best-of-the-best collections of your past Instagram Stories. They live permanently on your profile, right below your bio and before your feed, organized into categories you create. While a regular Story vanishes after 24 hours, adding it to a Highlight saves it for as long as you want. Anyone who visits your profile can tap on them to see a curated sequence of your chosen content.

Why should you spend time on this feature? Because Highlights serve several powerful functions:

• Strong First Impressions: New visitors often check your bio and then your Highlights. This is your chance to immediately show them what you're about, what you offer, and why they should follow you.
• Profile Navigation: Highlights work like a website's navigation menu. You can guide followers to important information like your services, best-selling products, frequently asked questions, or customer reviews.
• Showcasing Your Brand: They are a perfect medium for expressing your brand's personality, sharing behind-the-scenes content, and building a deeper connection with your audience.
• Information Hub: Provide evergreen information that your followers might regularly seek, like your business hours, contact info, or step-by-step tutorials, reducing the number of DMs asking the same questions.

How to Make an Instagram Highlight: Two Easy Methods

There are two primary ways to create an Instagram Highlight: you can either save a Story while it's still live or pull one from your archive after it has expired. Let's walk through both methods.

Method 1: From Your Active Story

This is the quickest way to add content to a Highlight. If you just posted a Story and know you want to save it permanently, follow these steps:

1. Open Instagram and tap on your profile picture in the top-left corner to view your current Story.
2. While watching the specific Story slide you want to save, look at the bottom of the screen. Tap the "Highlight" icon (it looks like a heart inside a circle).
3. A menu will pop up showing your existing Highlights. You can either tap on an existing Highlight to add the Story to it, or you can tap "New" to create a new one.
4. If you choose "New," you'll be prompted to give your Highlight a name (you have up to 15 characters, so keep it concise).
5. After naming it, tap "Add." That's it! The Story is now saved to that Highlight on your profile.

Method 2: From Your Story Archive

What if the Story you want to highlight has already expired? No problem. As long as you have the Story Archive feature enabled, Instagram automatically saves all your Stories for you. This archive is private - only you can see it. You can pull content from it anytime to create new Highlights or add to existing ones.

First, Make Sure Your Archive Is Turned On

Before you count on this method, take ten seconds to confirm your settings. Most accounts have this on by default, but it's always good to check.

1. Go to your Instagram profile and tap the three-line menu (the "hamburger" icon) in the top-right corner.
2. Select "Settings and Privacy."
3. Scroll down to the "Your app and media" section and tap "Archiving and downloading."
4. Make sure the toggle for "Save story to archive" is switched on (it should be blue).

With that confirmed, you're ready to build Highlights from your entire Story history.

Steps to Create a Highlight from the Archive:

1. Go to your Instagram profile page.
2. Beneath your bio, you’ll see the "Story Highlights" section. Tap the "+" icon labeled "New."
3. This will open your Story Archive, a reverse-chronological grid of all your past Stories. Tap to select all the Stories you want to include in this specific Highlight. A blue checkmark will appear on the ones you've selected.
4. Once you've chosen all your content, tap "Next" in the top-right corner.
5. Now, you'll be prompted to give your Highlight compilation a name. This title appears below the Highlight circle on your profile.
6. Next, you can set the cover image. Tap "Edit Cover." By default, Instagram will use the first Story you selected as the cover, but you can scroll through the selected Stories to pick a different one or upload a custom image from your gallery (more on that next!).
7. After finalizing the name and cover, tap "Add" (on iPhone) or "Done" (on Android). The new Highlight will instantly appear on your profile.

Beyond the Default: Creating Custom Highlight Covers That Stand Out

Functionality is great, but aesthetics matter. Custom Highlight covers create a cohesive, branded, and professional look for your profile. Instead of the default cropped image from a Story, you use a set of coordinated graphics or icons. This small detail instantly elevates your profile's appearance and makes it easier for users to navigate.

Step 1: Design Your Cover Graphics

The first step is to create the images you'll use. You don't need to be a graphic designer to make beautiful covers.

• Use a simple design tool. Apps like Canva or Adobe Express are perfect for this. They have pre-sized Instagram Story templates (1080x1920 pixels) that you can start with.
• Keep the key element centered. Instagram crops the cover image into a circle. Make sure your main icon, symbol, or text is right in the middle of your 1080x1920 canvas so nothing important gets cut off.
• Stay on-brand. Use your brand fonts, colors, and iconography. Consistency here makes your whole profile look more polished and recognizable. Think simple and clean - a single icon on a solid background often works best.
• Design for clarity. The goal is for someone to quickly understand what the Highlight is about. An "About" Highlight could have an icon of a person, "Reviews" a star or speech bubble, and "Shop" a shopping cart.

Once you've designed your set of covers, save them to your phone's camera roll.

Step 2: Add and Set Your Custom Covers

You might be tempted to upload the cover directly to your live Story to set it, but there's a much easier way that doesn't clutter your Story for your followers.

1. Tap and hold the Highlight you want to update on your profile.
2. A menu will appear. Select "Edit Highlight."
3. On the next screen, at the very top of the page, tap the blue text that says "Edit Cover."
4. At the bottom of the "Edit Cover" screen, you’ll see a row of images from the Stories within that Highlight. To the far left is an image/gallery icon. Tap it.
5. This opens your phone's photo library. Select the custom cover graphic you designed for this Highlight.
6. Use your fingers to pinch and zoom to position the graphic perfectly inside the circular preview frame.
7. Once it's centered, tap "Done" in the top-right corner. Then tap "Done" again.

Repeat this process for all your Highlights to give your profile a complete, and on-brand refresh.

Strategic Highlight Ideas for Brands and Creators

Now that you know the mechanics, what should you actually put in your Highlights? The key is to think about what a new visitor would want to know. Here are some strategic category ideas for different types of accounts:

For E-commerce Brands:

• New In: Showcase your latest products.
• Best-Sellers: Guide customers to your most popular items.
• Reviews: Build social proof by sharing screenshots of customer testimonials.
• How to Use: Post tutorials or user-generated content showing your product in action.
• FAQs: Answer common questions about shipping, returns, and materials.

For Service-Based Businesses (Coaches, Consultants, Designers):

• Services: Briefly explain each of your service packages.
• Portfolio: A visual showcase of your best work.
• Testimonials: Compile glowing reviews and video testimonials from clients.
• Process: Walk potential clients through your working process from start to finish.
• Book a Call: A simple Highlight with a link or instructions on how to book an appointment with you.

For Content Creators & Personal Brands:

• About Me: Introduce yourself, share your story, and tell people what your content is about.
• Tutorials: Save your educational content, tips, and tricks.
• My Gear/Tools: Answer the common "what do you use?" questions and use affiliate links where possible.
• Press/Features: Highlight any articles, podcast interviews, or features about you.
• Q&As: Save the answers from "Ask Me Anything" sessions.

Final Thoughts

Instagram Highlights are small but mighty. They offer a unique opportunity to curate your best content, guide your audience, and communicate your brand's value proposition the moment someone lands on your page. By creating well-organized categories with beautiful, on-brand covers, you transform your profile from a simple photo grid into a helpful and engaging resource for both new and existing followers.

Of course, great Highlights start with great Stories. Keeping a steady flow of engaging content is essential for having fresh material to draw from. With Postbase, we simplify the challenge of content creation. Our visual calendar lets you plan and schedule your social media content - including the Stories that will feed your next best Highlight - all in one place. We designed our entire platform with today's visual, video-first social media landscape in mind, helping you stay consistent so you always have premium content ready for your profile's showcase.