Last March, Instagram announced that it had tested Drafts for Instagram Stories. Now all Instagram users can save drafts of their Instagram stories…
In March 2021, Instagram announced a new option to save unfinished stories as drafts. Alessandro Paluzzi shared screenshots suggesting that Instagram is working on a new pop-up that allows users to save their stories as drafts or delete them and start over with a new story.
The screenshot shows that if a user tries to exit in the middle of creating a story, Instagram will display a dialog that gives the user three options:
- Option 1: Users can delete the story and start a new one. This erases all previous changes made to the story and the user cannot recover them once they are clicked;
- Option 2: “Save Draft” allows users to save their story changes to draft. It does not publish the story, but keeps it as a draft for the user to come back to later;
- Option 3: Clears the “Cancel” dialog box and allows users to return to story creation. This button is useful when a user accidentally presses the back button while working on a story.
and done. From July 2021, this feature is available which can be especially useful for community managers who want to publish posts at optimum times. Until now, all users could save their stories were by downloading them to their devices or through a third-party application. But these tools are not native to Instagram and generally not very practical.
With your drafts in the app, you’ll be able to view them as they would appear to users. You’ll also be able to use all of Instagram’s features in your draft creation process, and post it directly through the app.
The option is enabled when you exit Story Composer halfway through. When you choose to save Draft Stories, a new notification will pop up notifying you that Draft Stories are deleted one week after saving. The option gives you the added possibility of creating more complete and detailed compositions, which you can then share with your audience at the best of times.
And in other good news, Instagram Stories drafts are now available to everyone around the world. They will be rescued for seven days before disappearing.
How do I save a story as a draft on Instagram?
The Instagram story draft feature works the same way you save drafts for posts and Instagram reels.
To create an Instagram story draft:
- add a new story;
- Apply filters or effects of your choice;
- Then press the X button in the upper left corner to exit the story. If the feature is available, you should see a new “Save draft” option in the Delete media pop-up;
- Tap “Save Draft” to save an unpublished story to draft and post it later at a convenient time.
Note that Instagram story drafts are permanently deleted after 7 days. The app also displays the number of days after which you will no longer be able to access your saved drafts. So make sure to post your draft story within seven days, otherwise it will be permanently deleted.