How to Make a Permanent Story on Instagram

Your Instagram Story disappears in 24 hours, but what if its content is too good to let go? You can actually save your best Stories and feature them permanently on your profile for everyone to see. This article walks you through exactly how to make a permanent Story on Instagram using the powerful, built-in Highlights feature.

Instagram Highlights: The Secret to Permanent Stories

You've probably seen those little circles sitting just below the bio on your favorite Instagram profiles. Those are Instagram Highlights, and they are the official way to make a Story permanent. Instead of vanishing after a day, Highlights are curated collections of your past stories that you choose to save and showcase directly on your profile. Think of them as a personal billboard or a video trailer for your brand, business, or personality.

Why are they so important? Because they give new visitors a quick, powerful snapshot of who you are and what you offer. A potential customer doesn't have to scroll through months of feed posts to understand your business. They can just tap on a Highlight labeled "Our Services," "Reviews," or "About Us." For content creators, they're perfect for organizing tutorials, showing off brand partnerships, or sharing your best behind-the-scenes moments. They turn temporary content into an evergreen resource that works for you 24/7.

First Things First: Make Sure Your Stories Are Being Saved

Before you can create a Highlight, you need to make sure Instagram is automatically saving your Stories. Otherwise, once they expire after 24 hours, they’re gone for good. This is all handled by the "Archive" feature, which is usually turned on by default, but it's always smart to double-check. Just follow these simple steps.

• Step 1: Go to your Instagram profile and tap the three horizontal lines (the "hamburger" menu) in the top-right corner.
• Step 2: Tap on "Settings and privacy."
• Step 3: Scroll down to the "Your app and media" section and tap on "Archiving and downloading."
• Step 4: Make sure the toggle for "Save story to archive" is switched on. It should be blue.

Once this is enabled, every Story you post will automatically be saved to your private archive after it disappears from public view. This archive is only visible to you, and it serves as the library from which you'll build your fantastic Highlights.

Method 1: Creating a Highlight from Your Active Story

The quickest way to add a Story to a Highlight is while it's still live (meaning, within its 24-hour window). This is great for when you post something you immediately know is "Highlight-worthy."

Here’s how to do it:

1. View Your Story: Open Instagram and tap on your profile picture at the top left to watch your current Story.
2. Tap 'Highlight': While viewing the specific slide (photo or video) you want to save, look at the bottom of the screen. You'll see an icon that looks like a heart inside a circle labeled "Highlight." Tap it.
3. Choose or Create a Highlight: A menu will pop up.
   • If you have existing Highlights, you can tap on one to add your story to that collection.
   • To create a brand new one, tap the "New" button with the + sign.
4. Name Your New Highlight: If you tapped "New," you'll be prompted to give your Highlight a name. This will be the text that appears beneath the circle on your profile. Keep it short and descriptive! Then, tap "Add."

That's it! The Story is now saved to that Highlight and will remain on your profile, even after the original 24-hour Story expires.

Method 2: Building Highlights from Your Story Archive

This is the most common and versatile way to create and manage your Highlights. It allows you to go back in time and build curated collections from all the Stories you've ever posted (as long as your archive setting was turned on). This method is perfect for batching your work and creating several thematically-organized Highlights at once.

Here's the step-by-step process:

1. Go to Your Profile: Open the Instagram app and navigate to your main profile page.
2. Find the 'New' Button: Look directly below your bio and follower counts. You should see a circle with a + sign in it, labeled "New." Tap it. (If you already have Highlights, it will be the first circle on the left).
3. Select from Your Archive: Tapping "New" will take you directly to your Story Archive. Here, you'll see all your past Stories neatly organized by date. Tap the small circle in the corner of any Story to select it for your new Highlight. You can select as many as you want. A blue checkmark will appear on the ones you've chosen.
4. Tap 'Next': Once you've selected all the content for this Highlight, tap the "Next" button in the upper right.
5. Edit Your Cover and Name: This is where you give your Highlight its identity.
   • Name: Tap on the text field to give your Highlight a title (e.g., "About Me," "FAQs," "Products").
   • Cover: Tap "Edit Cover." You can then scroll through the Stories you’ve selected and choose one to be the thumbnail image. You can also pinch and zoom to crop it perfectly within the circle. If you have a custom cover image saved to your phone's camera roll, you can tap the image icon to select it instead.
6. Finish Up: Once you're happy with the name and cover, tap "Add" (on iPhone) or "Done" (on Android). Your newly created Highlight will now appear on your profile!

Beyond the Basics: Making Your Highlights Look Amazing

Creating Highlights is one thing, making them an effective and attractive branding tool is another. Poorly organized, sloppy Highlights can make your profile look cluttered. Here’s how to give your permanent Stories a professional polish that strengthens your brand identity.

1. Create Custom Highlight Covers

The single most effective way to make your profile look cohesive and professional is by using custom Highlight covers. Instead of using a random frame from one of your Stories, you create a dedicated set of icons or graphics that align with your brand's colors and style.

• Why it works: It creates a clean, uniform look that instantly communicates professionalism and attention to detail. It turns your Highlights section into a visually appealing navigation menu for your profile.
• How to do it: You don't need to be a graphic designer. User-friendly tools like Canva have thousands of free templates specifically for Instagram Highlight Covers. You can customize them with your brand colors, fonts, and icons. Simply design them, save them to your phone's camera roll, and you're ready to go.
• Pro Tip to Upload: To add a custom cover without posting it publicly as a Story, simply add the cover to a Highlight, then immediately go to "Edit Highlight" >, "Edit Cover" and select the desired image from the camera roll. No one will ever see it in story form, it will just show as your Highlight button.

2. Be Strategic with Your Highlight Names

Space is limited. Instagram only displays the first 10-12 characters of a Highlight's name, so long titles get awkwardly cut off. Keep your names short, clear, and direct.

• Good Examples: "FAQs," "Reviews," "Shop," "Events," "About Us."
• Less Effective Examples: "Frequently Asked Questions," "Some of Our Recent Gigs," "Our Product Catalog." They’re too long.
• Use Emojis: Emojis can add personality and are universally understood, helping you save on character space. For example, a "Reviews" Highlight could be named "Raves ✨" or a services highlight could use a tool emoji like "Tools 🛠️".

3. Organize Your Highlights Thoughtfully

The order of your Highlights matters. Most people read from left to right, so you want your most important information to be on the far left. Place your "call-to-action" Highlights (like "Shop Now," "Book Call," or "Services") or foundational Highlights ("About Us," "Start Here") in those first few spots.

• How ordering works: By default, the most recently updated Highlight appears first (on the far left). To reorder your Highlights, you can use a simple trick: add a temporary new Story to the Highlight you want to move to the first position. Once it moves, you can simply remove that temporary Story, and the Highlight will stay in its new spot.

Strategic Highlight Ideas for Brands and Creators

Stuck on what to put in your Highlights? Think about the questions your audience asks most often or the content that provides the most value. Here are some proven ideas to get you started:

• FAQs: Answer your most common questions once and direct people here forever. It’s a huge time-saver.
• About Me/Us: Introduce yourself, your team, and your mission. Help people connect with the human behind the brand.
• Testimonials/Reviews: Social proof in its most powerful form. A dedicated Highlight of happy client screenshots or video reviews is priceless.
• How To's/Tutorials: Share your expertise and provide genuine value. A bakery might have a "Baking Tips" Highlight, a fitness coach could have "Quick Workouts."
• Behind-the-Scenes: Show the process, the workspace, and the 'making of.' People love feeling like they have insider access.
• Products/Services: Create a separate Highlight for each major product or service category, acting as a mini-catalog right on your profile.
• Events/Promos: Have a sale coming up or attending an event? This is the perfect place to consolidate all the information.

Final Thoughts

Instagram Highlights are a fantastic tool, turning brief moments into a lasting library of content that serves your audience and reinforces your brand. By archiving your stories and curating them into polished, strategic Highlights, you build an invaluable resource on your profile that engages visitors and tells your story long after those first 24 hours have passed.

Building great Highlights is part of a larger content strategy that requires consistent planning and management, particularly when dealing with video-first formats like Reels and Stories. That's why we built Postbase from the ground up for the way social media actually works today. Our visual calendar helps you plan out all your content - including the videos destined for your permanent Stories - in one clean view, while our rock-solid scheduling ensures your content posts reliably every time. It’s a modern, simple tool made for the creators and brands shaping social media right now.