05 Aug Everything You Need to Know to Elevate Your Instagram Highlights

Instagram Highlights serve as a warm welcome to your page; that’s why it’s so important to have some that don’t suck. Highlights are one of the first things users view to determine whether your brand is worth checking out further. So, what exactly are Highlights, why are they worth using, and what are best practices for your own brand?

1. What are Instagram Highlights?

Instagram Highlights are a platform feature that allow you to save your Instagram Stories permanently to your profile rather than allowing them to vanish after 24 hours like a typical Story. They show up as a row of circle icons below your bio and serve as a collection of Stories grouped together under a customizable name and image. Essentially, Highlights are the greatest hits of your Stories that deserve a longer shelf life. Highlight collections are displayed left to right from newest to oldest, so the most recently updated Highlight appears in the first spot on your profile. Instagram currently has no limit on the number of Highlights you can create for your account, but each individual Highlight is capped at 100 photos or videos.

2. Why Use Instagram Highlights?

Since they don’t expire, Highlights are perfect for acting as a table of contents for your profile. They’re effective for giving quick-glance users a taste of what they might see on your page as a follower. Done well, Highlights can serve as a mini website for users to learn about important pieces of your brand, services, and more. One thing to note, though, is that Instagram is always changing, and in turn, so are its features. In 2025, the platform shared that they may be rolling Highlights into their own tab instead of the small circles. However, that still hasn’t rolled out officially, so for now, stick with the below best practices. And if anything changes, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.

3. How Do You Choose Topics for Highlights?

When selecting topics for your Highlights, it’s best to stick with content themes you’re already doing well on your profile. This strategy makes it easy to keep your Highlights up to date through resharing posts to your Highlights and not having to create specific strategies just for the feature. For example, when designing our own Highlights for Ignite, we broke down our Instagram content by theme and split them into buckets that both spotlighted our agency and would give users a taste of the sort of content they will find on our page. For us, that’s trends, behind-the-scenes features, social media tips and best practices, and work culture content. Additionally, we included a Highlight dedicated to our blog to provide information on additional resources available and help drive traffic to our website. NOTE: You can only see 5-6 Highlights on a profile at once without scrolling, so it’s best to limit your Highlights to your top five best, most cohesive topics.

4. Designing Your Cover Images & Highlight Names

Once you’ve selected your topics, it’s time to design and name your cover images. Make sure your designs are on-brand, polished, and image-first rather than text-first. You’ll want to use relevant, simple photos for each cover. While some text is ok, it’s best to have the images speak for themselves and use the Highlight names to fill in any additional context. Tools like Canva have free templates that are pre-sized for Instagram Highlights, letting you easily create and edit your thumbnails. To name your Highlights, be clear and intentional. People should recognize the category instantly and be able to tell what type of content would fall under it. Also make sure the names match your brand’s tone whether that’s more playful or professional and straightforward. Note that Highlight names have a 15-character limit and are cut off at around the 9-character mark. So, make sure you choose short character counts for your titles whenever possible. For Ignite, we stuck to our classic yellow color scheme with black and red as accent colors. We then chose modern, simple icons to reflect our social-first messaging and create cohesiveness.

5. What Should You Add to Your Highlights?

After you’ve created your topics and cover images, you’re ready to fill them with Stories. You can start by looking through your archive of previously shared Stories for any relevant posts (you’ll need at least one post per highlight to make them first appear on your profile). You can also reshare relevant posts from your feed to Stories and add them to your Highlights. This is also a good method for keeping Highlights up to date if you don’t regularly post unique content to Stories. Highlight content may include:

• Valuable Evergreen Content
• Tutorials, Tips, and How-Tos
• Social Proof & Testimonials
• Product or Service Deep Dives
• Quick Navigation Content
• Brand Personality & Culture

Want More Help?

There you have it! You just created your first Instagram Highlights. If you’d like more detailed guidance on how to create the best Instagram Highlights for your brand or optimizing your overall social presence, just let us know!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Instagram Highlights?

Instagram Highlights are a platform feature that allow you to save your Instagram Stories permanently to your profile rather than allowing them to vanish after 24 hours. They show up as a row of circle icons below your bio and serve as a collection of Stories grouped together under a customizable name and image.

How many Instagram Highlights should you have on your profile?

You can only see 5-6 Highlights on a profile at once without scrolling, so it is best to limit your Highlights to your top five best, most cohesive topics. Instagram itself has no cap on the total number of Highlights, but each individual Highlight is capped at 100 photos or videos.

What is the character limit for Instagram Highlight names?

Highlight names have a 15-character limit and are cut off at around the 9-character mark on most profile views. Choose short, clear names so the category is instantly recognizable.

What kind of content should you add to Instagram Highlights?

Good Highlight content includes valuable evergreen posts, tutorials and how-tos, social proof and testimonials, product or service deep dives, quick navigation content, and brand personality or culture posts. You can build them by pulling from your Stories archive or resharing feed posts to Stories.

Are Instagram Highlights being removed from profiles?

In 2025, Instagram shared that they may be rolling Highlights into their own tab instead of the small circles below the bio. That change has not officially rolled out, so the current best practices around Highlights still apply.