Instagram (Insta) is a popular SNS for sharing photos and videos, widely used by many. Among its features, Stories, commonly referred to as "stories," are particularly popular.
This feature allows drafts to be saved before posting, but sometimes, carefully crafted story drafts may suddenly vanish.
In this article, Instagram story drafts we’ll explain in detail how to safely save them and restore lost drafts. Additionally, we’ll introduce easy-to-use software for recovering deleted DMs.
Instagram allows editing stories to be saved as drafts. However, improper use of this feature can lead to unexpected issues. First, let’s review how to use it and where drafts are stored.
To save an in-progress Insta story, tap the "x" in the top-left corner of the editing screen and select "Save draft." This temporarily stores your work for later editing or posting.
Note that drafts are automatically deleted after 7 days, so be sure to complete edits or posts promptly if needed.
For both iPhone and Android, saved story drafts can be viewed and selected under "Drafts" at the top of the creation screen. However, they cannot be selected if the 7-day storage period has passed or if manually deleted.
If a draft is deleted or the storage period expires, restoration is generally impossible.
Within the storage period, restoring Insta story drafts is straightforward. Here’s how:
First, open the story creation screen. Tap the "+" on your profile icon in the top-left of the feed or profile page, or select "Stories" from the "+" in the top-right of the profile page.
Then, tap "Drafts" at the top, select the saved draft, and restore it.
Related to the above, let’s also cover how to restore important Insta DMs (direct messages) if accidentally deleted.
There are several methods, but the simplest and most functional is using UltData for iOS, a data recovery tool. It is safe, powerful, and reliable iOS data recovery software. Restores/extracts over 35 types of data, including LINE/Instagram photos, videos, music, messages, notes, and more.
As an example, here’s a summary of the steps to restore Insta DMs using this software:
Download, install and launch UltData for iOS. Select the device to connect.
Connect the device and scan for "Instagram."
From the scan results, select the Insta data to restore. Execute the restoration.
Here are answers to frequently asked questions about Insta’s draft feature.
It might be due to time elapsed. Drafts will be automatically deleted once their storage period (7 days) expires.
Drafts are saved for 7 days, after which they are automatically removed by the app.
You can save an unlimited number of drafts, but it’s recommended to keep the number moderate, as it may affect app performance or device storage capacity.
What do you think? Instagram story drafts disappearing isn’t something to fear if you understand the simple mechanism or recovery methods. Use the tips shared in this article to make Instagram even more convenient.
If you also want to recover deleted data like DMs, UltData for iOS might make it easy. Download it for free and effortlessly preview recoverable data—no hesitation needed. It’s sure to become your favorite tool, so give it a try!
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