Yes, you can rearrange your Instagram Story highlights by dragging them to new positions on your profile

Instagram Story highlights appear on your profile below your bio, and you control their order entirely. You can move them around whenever you want—there's no limit to how many times you rearrange them, and the changes take effect when ready. The process takes about 30 seconds and works the same way on both iPhone and Android.

The highlights stay in the order you set them until you move them again. If you delete a highlight, the remaining ones shift to fill the gap. If you create a new highlight, it appears at the end of the line by default, but you can move it anywhere you want right away.

Key Takeaways

  • Open your profile, tap and hold any highlight, then drag it left or right to reorder it among your other highlights.
  • You can rearrange highlights as often as you want, and the new order shows to everyone who visits your profile when ready.
  • New highlights you create always appear at the end of the row, but you can move them to the front or middle right after creating them.
  • Rearranging highlights does not affect the stories inside them or notify your followers that you made a change.

Step-by-step: moving a highlight to a new position

Start by opening Instagram and going to your own profile. Tap your profile picture in the bottom right corner, then look at the row of circular highlight icons below your bio. These are your Story highlights.

Press and hold your finger on the highlight you want to move. Do not tap it—hold it down for a moment until the highlight becomes slightly raised or highlighted on screen. While still holding, drag your finger left or right to the position where you want it to go. The other highlights will shift out of the way as you drag. Release your finger when the highlight is in the spot you want.

That's the entire process. The highlight is now in its new position, and anyone who visits your profile will see it in the new order. You do not need to save anything or confirm the change.

What happens when you create a new highlight

When you create a new Story highlight for the first time, Instagram automatically places it at the far right end of your highlight row. This is true whether you create it from a story you just posted or from an older story you're archiving.

You can move it when ready using the same drag-and-hold method. Many people move new highlights to the front or to a specific spot in their lineup right after creating them, so the order matches their preference from the start.

Rearranging highlights on different devices

The drag-and-hold method works identically on iPhone and Android. The only difference is the exact feel of the hold—on some Android phones, you might see a slight visual change or vibration when you've held long enough to set up the drag mode, but the action is the same.

You cannot rearrange highlights from a web browser on a computer. If you try to access Instagram on a desktop, you'll see your highlights in their current order, but you won't be able to move them. You must use the mobile app on a phone to rearrange.

Why you might want to rearrange your highlights

Most people put their most important or most-viewed highlights at the front of the row, since those are the first ones people see when they land on your profile. If you run a business, you might put highlights about products, services, or pricing first, followed by behind-the-scenes or personal content.

Some people rearrange highlights by theme or category—for example, grouping travel highlights together, or putting all work-related highlights on one side. Others change the order seasonally or based on what's currently relevant to their audience.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

The most common mistake is tapping the highlight instead of holding it. A single tap opens the highlight to view the stories inside it. If that happens, just back out and try again with a longer hold before dragging. You need to hold for about one second before dragging begins.

Another mistake is dragging too quickly and releasing before the highlight lands in the spot you intended. If this happens, just repeat the process—there's no penalty for moving a highlight multiple times. You can also undo a move by dragging the highlight back to where it was.

On some phones, if you're moving a highlight all the way to the far left or far right, it can be tricky to see exactly where it will land because the screen space is tight. Drag slowly and watch the other highlights shift to see where your highlight will end up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do my followers get notified when I rearrange my highlights?

No. Rearranging highlights does not send any notification to your followers, and it does not show up in anyone's activity feed. The change is visible only to people who visit your profile and look at your highlight row.

Can I rearrange highlights if I have a lot of them?

Yes. If you have many highlights, they scroll horizontally on your profile—you can swipe left to see more. You can rearrange any of them using the same drag-and-hold method, even if they're not currently visible on screen. Just scroll to find the one you want to move, then drag it.

What if I accidentally delete a highlight while trying to rearrange it?

Deleting a highlight requires a separate action—you have to tap and hold, then select "Delete" from a menu. straightforward dragging will not delete it. If you do delete a highlight by mistake, the stories inside it are archived, not lost. You can create a new highlight and add those archived stories back to it.

Can I rearrange highlights on a business or creator account?

Yes. The rearrange feature works the same way on personal, business, and creator accounts. There are no restrictions based on account type.

If I rearrange highlights, do the stories inside them change order too?

No. Rearranging the highlight itself does not change the order of the stories inside it. The stories within each highlight stay in the order they were added (newest first, by default). You would need to edit the highlight separately if you wanted to change the story order inside it.