When Instagram first introduced the “stories” feature, I spent a lot of time editing and beautifying the stories, only to have them disappear in 24 hours. Naturally, I was upset, because I wanted everyone to see my stories.

The Instagram gods must have heard me because they introduced this amazing feature called “highlights.” Now, my stories could stay on my profile for as long as I wanted!

Let’s learn what these Instagram highlights are, how to create them and add unique covers to them in just 2 minutes!

What Are Instagram Highlights? 

Instagram highlights are just Instagram stories that can be showcased on your profile permanently. This way, people will be able to view them whenever they want! 

Highlights can be found in the form of little circles right under the “edit profile” option. 

Each highlight can hold 100 photos and/ or videos. You can add multiple highlights and even categorize them! 

Let’s say you are a jewelry brand and you post a lot of stories about your products and their pricing. You can create a separate highlight for each type of accessory. For example, one for rings, one for bracelets, one for earrings etc. 

This way, new followers or people who missed your stories can simply watch your Instagram highlights for all the information they need. Categorizing them also makes it easier for your customers to search for a particular accessory. 

Once you finish watching all the photos in a highlight, Instagram will automatically take you to the next highlight. You can also switch through highlights by swiping left and right on those tiny circles. 

How To Add Highlights On Instagram ? 

There are two ways in which you can add highlights on Instagram. 

1. Once you have uploaded a story, click on that, and select the “highlight” button at the bottom right corner. 

2. If you already have some highlights, it will ask you to choose which highlight you want to add this story to. If this is your first highlight, it will ask you to choose a name for it. 
3. Voila! Now your highlight will show up on your profile!

You can also create a highlight right from your profile!

1. Go to your profile, and tap on the + sign. The one that says “new.”

2. Now, you will see an archive of all the stories you have uploaded in the past. Select the ones that you want to add to your new highlight.
3. Tap “next” and your highlight is ready!

That’s it! Now you know how to create Instagram highlights! Your stories will disappear after 24 hours, but your highlights are eternal. Once your story disappears, you will still be able to see the number of views. But you can’t see the list of people who viewed your story. 

Now, moving on to making your highlights aesthetically pleasing..

How To Create Unique Highlight Story Covers 

Did you know that Instagram actually lets you add unique covers to your highlights? They can be anything from a picture to a cute doodle to a plain background with text on it. 

These cute highlight covers not only make your profile more visually pleasing, but they also let your followers know exactly what the highlight is about! 

Here, their highlight covers showcase their skills and let their followers know what each highlight is about. And they look good! A win-win-win, if you ask me. 

Great. Now how do I create and add such cool covers? 

You can use any photo editing software/ website to create your own highlight covers. I will show you how you can create one using Canva.

1. Open Canva and type in “Instagram story” in the search bar. It will show you templates that are the correct size for a story!

2. You will find pre-existing templates that you can edit and use. Or you can create your own by clicking on “create a blank highlight cover.”

3. Once you select “create a blank story,” go to “backgrounds” and add a background of your choice from the options given there. 

4. Now, click on “elements” and select an icon for your highlight cover. You can choose anything- a sticker, geometric shapes, and even frames.

5. If you want to add some text, click on “text” and write whatever you want. You can even choose the font, font size, and font color. Make sure that the icon and text can fit into the little circle of the highlight preview. 
6. Now, download the highlight cover and send it to your phone.
7. Upload it as a story. Then add it to the highlight of your choice. Now it is ready to be made into your highlight cover!

How To Edit Your Highlight Cover 

1. Once you have uploaded your custom highlight cover to your story, you can add stickers or text if you wish. For example, here I have added a sticker depicting books inside the icon I created.

2. Once you have customized it, add it to the highlight of your choice. 
3. Now, long press on the highlight and click on “edit highlight.”

4. It will show you an option to “edit cover.”

5. Click on that and select the custom highlight cover that you just uploaded.

6. Click on “done” and your unique highlight cover has been added! Yay!

7. Repeat these steps for however many highlights you want!

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to go to “story settings” and select the “save to archive” option! This saves all your stories to your archive, making it easier for you to upload them to highlights later!

Tips For Creating Your Instagram Highlight Covers 

1. Stay consistent with your highlight covers. If you decide to use only text on a plain background, do the same for all your covers. If you choose to use icons or stickers, stay consistent with that, too. 

Here, this brand has used simple text on a plain white background. It looks clean and elegant while also getting the job done.

But here, this photographer has just used pictures. This works for them because they are showcasing their skill. So choose what would work for your brand, and then be consistent with that! 

2. Use background colors and fonts that align with your brand. Let’s say light green is your brand image. Using that color as your background would stay in line with your brand.

For example, Netflix’s colors are black and red, so they have used a red background for all their highlight covers. 

3. Be consistent when it comes to organizing your highlights. For example, if you are a fashion brand, you can choose to organize them by products or by collections (such as Spring 2022, Fall 2022). 
4. Finally, highlight only the stories that matter the most. Ask yourself what would be useful for your audience on a long-term basis and then plan accordingly.

That’s it! Now you are ready to create your own unique Instagram highlight covers and rock this thing! A simple thing such as highlight covers can change the entire aesthetic of your profile.

So go on. Give your profile a makeover, and let us know how it goes in the comments below. And don’t forget to share this article!