Can People See Your Instagram Archive?

Any true Instagram fanatic knows that the secret to a killer profile is curation. Being aware of your Instagram ~vibe~ is crucial, as is being able to recognize when content no longer fits that vibe. We all have those blurry, heavily filtered shots from five years ago that we want to disappear from our profile, but there's too much sentiment attached to straight-up delete them. Luckily, now there's a solution: Instagram's new archive feature lets you hide any posts you no longer want to display on your profile, without having to delete them forever. But, I'm sure users have a lot of questions: Where is the archive feature, why is it here, and can other people see your Instagram archive?

"The goal of archive is two-fold: to give you more control to preserve important moments, as well as more flexibility to share any moment knowing you can move it off your profile at any time," a spokesperson for Instagram shared.

So how does this nifty new archive feature work? All you have to do is tap "..." on any post on your profile, then tap "Archive" and voila! — the post is now hidden away in your archive.

The best part? Only you can see your archived posts, so you don't have to worry about any prying eyes trying to look through your old (and potentially embarrassing) content. If you want to view your archived photos, you can access them anytime by tapping the new archive button in the upper right corner of your profile, where they're all stored in one handy spot.

If for some reason you want to move an archived post back to your profile, just tap “...” on the Archived photo and then tap “Show on Profile.” The photo will return to its original spot in your profile grid, like it never disappeared at all. The perfect application for this feature? All those pesky photos of you and your ex! Instead of deleting them outright, you can Archive them and reminisce (or cry over them) at your leisure — and if you end up getting back together with your ex, you can just un-hide them, so it's basically like you never broke up in the first place... right?

It's safe to say that Instagram's latest feature has a ton of uses, and will make curating your Instagram feed easier than ever before. Instead of having to part with old photos that no longer fit the vibe of your Instagram account, you can simply store them away for your eyes only. With the archive feature, Instagram users now have the best of both worlds: a top-notch, well curated public profile, and a private archive for your favorite photographic memories.