Generally, content posted on Instagram is displayed in the order it was published. But,sometimes, you may want to change the order of photos or videos in a carousel post or story or even on your profile. Thankfully, it’s possible to rearrange photos on Instagram in some situations without deleting them permanently, as you’ll see in this tutorial.
Also read:How to Create and Use an Instagram Avatar
How to Rearrange Photos in a Carousel Story While Publishing
You cannot arrange a story carousel once it has been published. But you can change the order while publishing. Also, this only works for photos and videos that you add from the Gallery that are not taken with the Camera.
- In the Instagram app, tap on the “Your Story” button to create a story.
- Press the “Select” button and tap on the photos in the order that you want to publish them.
- You will see the numbers 1, 2, 3, and more on the selected photos. If you accidentally select the wrong photo, tap on it again to deselect it.
- Once you select the photos, tap on the “Next” button at the bottom. You can also rearrange the stories on this screen on Android.
- Touch and hold a photo thumbnail at the bottom and drag it to change its position. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work on iPhone.
- Press the “Next” button to publish the stories.
Also read:How to Download Instagram Stories to Your PC
How to Rearrange Photos in a Carousel Post While Publishing
- In the Instagram app, tap on the “Add” (+) icon at the top.
- Select “Post” from the menu. You will be taken to the post creation screen automatically.
- Tap on the “Select Multiple” button.
- Start tapping on the photos or videos in the order that you want them to appear in the Carousel post. If a photo appears in the wrong position, tap on it to deselect it, then select it at the correct position.
- Tap on the “Next” button to edit the picture or video by adding effects to it.
- You can also rearrange the items. For that, touch and hold the thumbnail and drag it to the new position.
- Press the “Next” button to add a caption and other things to the post.
Also read:How to Add Links to Your Instagram Stories
How to Rearrange Photos in a Carousel Post After Publishing
Instagram doesn’t offer a direct way to change the order of photos in an Instagram carousel post. However, a workaround will let you reorder the carousel after it’s published. For that, you will need to make use of Instagram’s “Recently deleted” or trash folder.
- Launch the Instagram app and open the carousel post to edit.
- Tap on the three-dot icon at the top.
- Select “Edit” from the menu. Do NOT tap on “Delete.”
- Slightly swipe up on the carousel post to see the “Trash” icon in the upper-left corner on each of the photos.
- Delete all the photos that you want to rearrange by tapping on the “Trash” icon. A confirmation box will appear when you tap on Trash. Press the “Delete” option.
Note: you must keep at least two pictures in the carousel post while you are doing this. Check our guide that explains in detail how to delete one photo from Instagram.
- Tap on the “Done” button to save the changes.
- Go to your Instagram profile screen and tap on the three-bar icon.
- Select “Your activity” from the menu.
Tip: if you don’t see the “Your activity” option, go to “Settings→ Account→ Recently deleted.”
- Go to “Recently deleted” and find all your deleted photos and videos from the past 30 days.
- Restore the photos in the order that you want them to show up in the carousel, as each photo will restore to the end of the carousel.
- Tap on the first photo you want to restore.
- Press the three-dot icon on the photo and choose “Restore” from the menu.
Similarly, restore other pictures and videos to the carousel in the same way
Also read:Use Instagram Collab to Create a Collaborative Post or Reel
How to Rearrange Existing Posts in Profile
Currently, Instagram doesn’t allow users to rearrange the order of published posts for public view. The good news is that Instagram will soon let users rearrange posts on their feed.
Until then, however, you can only sort posts for personal use from oldest to newest or for specific dates using the “Your activity” feature. This could come in handy if you want to delete posts in bulk or find a post from a specific date. Please note that others will not see any change on your feed. You will be doing everything in the background.
Alternatively, you can archive various posts. That way the selected photos will disappear from your feed without being deleted, and the rest of the photos will be arranged via your preferences.
Method 1: Sort Posts
- Launch the Instagram app on your Android phone or iPhone.
- Go to your profile screen.
- Tap on the three-bar icon and select “Your activity” from the menu.
Note: if you can’t see the “Your activity” option, please update the Instagram app on your phone.
- Tap on “Photos and videos.”
- Select “Posts.”
- Press the “Sort & filter” option and select “Sort by” followed by ”Oldest to newest” to arrange the posts in an order of the published date, or tap on the “Start” and “End date” options and enter the desired dates for your posts
- Tap the “Apply” button.
Also read:How to Use “Add Yours” Stickers in Instagram Stories
Method 2: Archive Posts
- Go to your profile screen in the Instagram app.
- Open the post you want to archive.
- Tap on the three-dot icon on the post.
- Select “Archive” from the menu. The post will be archived.
Tip: To unarchive a post, tap on the three-bar icon on your profile screen. Go to “Your activity → Archive → Posts archive.” Select the post to unarchive and hit the “Unarchive” button.
Also read:Why Is Activity Status Not Showing on Instagram?
Organize Instagram
At some point, Instagram may introduce native features to allow users to rearrange photos in stories, posts and their profile after publishing, but for now these are your options when it comes to curating your photo grid and carousels. With regard to managing things on Instagram, learn how to use highlights. Also, learn how to add photos to Instagram Reels.
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