How to Restart Instagram Reels

Your Instagram Reel is ninety percent finished, but the audio is suddenly out of sync, a sticker won't disappear, or you’ve simply decided the whole concept needs a do-over. Whatever the reason, you just want to restart without losing every single clip you've already trimmed and arranged. This guide walks you through the different ways you can restart an Instagram Reel, whether you’re working on a new idea, trying to fix a glitchy draft, or just want to start a saved project from scratch.

What Does "Restarting" a Reel Actually Mean?

Before we get into the step-by-step instructions, it’s important to clarify one thing: Instagram doesn't have a universal "restart" button. The concept of "restarting" means something different depending on where you are in the creative process. For creators, it usually falls into one of three scenarios:

• Starting over from a blank slate: Discarding all your current changes in the editor to begin fresh with a new idea.
• Resetting a saved draft: Keeping your selected video clips but removing all the edits, text, audio, and effects to try a new editing approach.
• Fixing a persistent glitch: Finding a way to "reboot" an editing session when the app becomes buggy, like when audio de-syncs or elements get stuck on screen.

Each of these situations requires a different method. We’ll cover the simplest options first and then move on to more advanced strategies for saving your work and troubleshooting common problems that make you want to hit the reset button in the first place.

Method 1: The Quickest Reset for a New, Unsaved Reel

This is the simplest form of restarting and applies when you’re actively working in the Reels editor but haven’t saved a draft yet. You've added a few clips, maybe some text, but decided it’s not working and want a completely blank canvas.

Here’s how to do it:

1. While in the Reels editor, tap the 'X' icon in the top-left corner of your screen.
2. Instagram will present you with a pop-up menu with a few options.
3. Tap on "Start Over." This will immediately close the editor and discard every single change you made in that session - the clips, the trims, the text, everything.

Be careful with this one. Unlike saving a draft, this action is permanent. If you think you might want to salvage any part of your work, it’s always better to use the "Save Draft" option instead and come back to it later.

Method 2: How to Re-Edit a Saved Reel Draft

What if you have a draft saved from a previous session that you want to reimagine? Maybe the original edit feels stale, or a new trending audio has inspired you to take it in a different direction. Here, "restarting" doesn't mean deleting the whole thing, but rather stripping it back to its core components - the clips - so you can edit freely again.

Step 1: Find Your Reel Drafts

First, you need to locate where your drafts are stored. They aren't in your main camera roll, they live directly inside the Instagram app.

1. Open Instagram and go to your Profile page.
2. Tap on the Reels tab (the clapperboard icon) in the middle of your profile grid.
3. The first and usually largest box will be a folder labeled "Drafts." Tap it to see all your saved Reels projects.

Step 2: Choose Your "Restart" Approach

Once you've opened the draft you want to work on, you have two main ways to start over while keeping your original video files.

A) Manually Undoing Your Edits (The "Keep Everything" Method)

This approach is best if you want to keep the same collection of clips but get rid of all the layers you added on top. It’s a bit tedious, but it gives you total control.

• Remove stickers and text: Long-press on any text, sticker, or poll element on the screen. An option to edit the duration will appear at the bottom, and a small trash can icon will pop up. Drag the unwanted element to the trash can. Repeat for all elements.
• Change the audio: Tap the music note icon to open the audio library. Here you can remove the current audio or swap it for a different song or sound.
• Adjust or remove clips: Tap the "Edit Video" button at the bottom left. Here, you can tap and hold on individual clips to reorder them, tap a clip and choose "Delete" to remove it, or adjust the start and end points of each one using the handles.

While you can’t reset everything with one tap, this manual method allows you to "rebuild" your Reel from the raw clips saved within your draft.

B) Deleting the Draft and Starting Fresh (The "Clean Slate" Method)

Sometimes, a draft is just too glitchy or cluttered with edits to salvage. In this case, starting with a blank canvas using the same source video clips is often faster and less frustrating.

Important: Before you do this, confirm that the original video files are saved to your phone's camera roll. Never rely on Instagram drafts as your only storage. Once a draft is deleted, it's gone for good.

1. Go to your Reels Drafts folder.
2. Tap "Select" in the top-right corner.
3. Check the circle on the draft (or drafts) you want to remove.
4. Tap the red "Discard" button at the bottom. The app will ask for confirmation. Tap "Discard" again.
5. Go back to the Reels creator and build your Reel from scratch using the clean video files from your camera roll.

The Pro Creator Workflow: Avoid Needing Destructive "Restarts"

Relying solely on Instagram’s drafts system is risky. Crashes, bugs, or accidental deletions can wipe away hours of your work. Professional creators use a safer, more structured workflow to protect their content and make “restarting” a non-issue.

1. Save a "Version 0" of Your Reel

Before you add complex layers like interactive stickers or timed text, complete your basic video edit - trimming clips, arranging their order, and getting the flow right. Once you’re happy with the foundation, go to the final share screen (where you write your caption) and tap the "Download" button (the downward arrow icon) at the top of the Reel. This saves a clean, watermark-free copy of your edited video to your phone. Think of this as your master version. Now, if the app glitches while you add text or effects, you can always discard the draft and start fresh by uploading this nearly finished master version.

2. Edit Your Base Video Externally

For more complex Reels, a great practice is to assemble your core video outside of Instagram. Use an app like CapCut, InShot, or even your phone's built-in movie editor to do the heavy lifting - your cuts, transitions, color grading, and speed adjustments. Export the finished video file. From there, bring that single, polished video clip into Instagram to do what Instagram does best: add trending audio, stickers, polls, and captions. This separates the foundational editing from the platform-specific creative layer, making it far easier to start over on just the Instagram-specific additions without having to re-cut your entire video.

Troubleshooting Common Glitches That Make You Feel Stuck

Often, the urge to restart a Reel comes from a technical bug rather than a creative block. Before deleting your draft, try these quick fixes for common issues:

Glitch: The Audio is Mismatched or Out of Sync

This is one of the most common and infuriating bugs, especially in complex edits.
The Fix: Force quit the Instagram app entirely and then reopen it. This simple act resolves most temporary caching or syncing issues. If that doesn't work, download a version of your work-in-progress, start a new Reel, and upload that video. Sometimes, re-uploading an edited clip forces the audio to re-sync correctly.

Glitch: An Element (Like Text or a GIF) is Frozen on Screen

You’re trying to move or delete a sticker, but it’s completely unresponsive.
The Fix: Again, a quick app restart is your best bet. If the issue persists, try finishing the rest of your edits around it and saving the draft. When you re-open the draft, the stubborn element often becomes interactive again.

Glitch: The "Processing Video" Screen Never Finishes

You're ready to post, but your masterpiece is stuck in digital limbo.
The Fix: This is almost always a connection problem. Tap the back arrow, save your Reel as a draft, disconnect from your Wi-Fi and reconnect, or switch from Wi-Fi to cellular data. Give it a minute or two and then try posting it again. Do not just wait on that processing screen - it rarely resolves on its own.

Final Thoughts

While there isn’t a magical reset button, knowing how to approach restarting an Instagram Reel from scratch or fixing a buggy draft can save you from a lot of creative headaches. By breaking down the process into starting fresh, manually resetting a saved draft, or using a smart workflow that separates your core video work from Instagram-specific touches, you gain a lot more control over your content.

As a team that lives and breathes social media, we know how much effort goes into getting a single Reel just right. That’s why we built Postbase with short-form video as a priority. Once you’ve finally nailed your edit, you can schedule it across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts from a single visual calendar. It helps remove the pre-publishing chaos so you can focus more on creating and less on the last-minute scramble to get your content live.