To delete a highlight on Instagram, go to your profile, tap and hold the highlight under Edit Profile, tap Delete Highlight, then tap Delete again. To clear lots at once, go to Menu, Your activity, then Highlights, tap Select, pick them and tap Delete.
Highlights are the circles under your bio, and they're one of the first things a new visitor sees. That's exactly why old ones become a problem: a highlight from three rebrands ago can make a profile look abandoned. Deleting one takes seconds once you know where Instagram hides the option.
Delete a single highlight on your phone
- Tap Profile or your profile picture in the bottom right.
- Below Edit Profile, find the highlight you want to get rid of.
- Tap and hold the highlight circle. Don't just tap it, or it'll play.
- Tap Delete Highlight.
- Tap Delete again to confirm.
The press-and-hold step is where most people get stuck. A normal tap opens the highlight like a story. You need to hold your finger on it until the menu appears.
Delete several highlights in one go
This is the tip hardly anyone knows about. If you're clearing out a profile, you don't have to press and hold each circle one by one. Instagram has a bulk option tucked inside Your activity:
- Go to your profile and tap Menu in the top right.
- Below How you use Instagram, tap Your activity.
- Below Content you shared, tap Highlights.
- Tap Select in the top right, then tick each highlight you want to delete.
- Tap Delete at the bottom, then Delete again to confirm.
Before you start ticking, you can sort by Newest to oldest or use All dates to filter to a date range. That's handy if you want to bin everything from before a rebrand in one sweep.
Remove one story without deleting the whole highlight
Often the highlight is fine and it's one slide that's out of date: an old offer, an event that's been and gone, a photo you'd rather not have up. You don't need to delete the lot.
- Open the highlight and go to the story you want to remove.
- Tap More in the bottom right of that story.
- Tap Remove from Highlight, then Remove.
How to edit a highlight instead
Editing is the better choice when the highlight's useful but messy. Press and hold the highlight on your profile and tap Edit Highlight. Instagram says that's where you add more photos or videos to it.
On a computer, Instagram's help page describes a slightly different route. Click the highlight, click Options in the top right, then Edit. You can type a new name, click Next, then click any story under Selected to remove it, or click Stories to add more. Click Next and Done when you're finished.
Phone or computer: which steps to use
| Job | Phone app | Computer |
|---|---|---|
| Delete a whole highlight | Press and hold, Delete Highlight | Not described on the help page |
| Delete many at once | Your activity, then Highlights, then Select | Not described on the help page |
| Remove one story | More, then Remove from Highlight | Options on the story, then Delete |
| Rename or change stories | Press and hold, Edit Highlight | Options, then Edit |
My honest advice is to do the clean-up on your phone. The bulk delete is only described for the app, and it's far quicker.
Deciding which highlights to keep
For a business profile, highlights do a lot of quiet selling. They answer the questions people would otherwise message you about. A simple test I use: if a highlight's cover or title wouldn't make sense to a brand-new visitor, it's either getting renamed or deleted.
- Keep anything that answers a common question: what you do, results, reviews, how to work with you.
- Edit highlights that are useful but bloated with dozens of slides.
- Delete old promotions, past events, and anything that no longer matches your branding.
Highlights are part of why Instagram matters for your marketing: they're your profile's evergreen content. If you're trying to grow without posting every day, a tidy set of highlights keeps working for you on the days you don't post.
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Before you delete: a quick check
Deleting a highlight is a two-tap job, so it's easy to do on autopilot and regret it. Instagram asks you to confirm with a second Delete tap for a reason. Before you confirm, ask yourself three things.
- Does anyone still link to this highlight, for example from an email or a bio link page?
- Is there one slide in it worth saving into a newer highlight first?
- Would editing it be enough? Removing two or three old stories often fixes the problem without losing the circle and its title.
If the answer to all three is no, delete it and don't look back. If you're clearing out a whole profile, the bulk option in Your activity is the quickest route, and sorting by date makes it easy to keep anything recent.
My verdict
Press and hold to delete one, use Your activity to delete many, and remove single slides when the highlight itself is still worth keeping. I'd do a highlights clear-out every few months. It's one of the fastest ways to make a profile look current without creating a single new post.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I delete a highlight on Instagram?
Usually because you tapped it instead of holding it. A tap plays the highlight. Press and hold the circle on your profile until Delete Highlight appears.
Can I delete all my Instagram highlights at once?
Yes. Go to Menu, Your activity, then Highlights below Content you shared. Tap Select, tick the highlights and tap Delete.
How do I remove one photo from an Instagram highlight?
Open the highlight, go to that story, tap More in the bottom right, then tap Remove from Highlight and Remove.
How do I edit highlights on Instagram?
Press and hold the highlight on your profile and tap Edit Highlight. Instagram says you can add more photos or videos there. On a computer, the Edit option also lets you rename it.
Can I delete an Instagram highlight from a computer?
Instagram's help page describes editing highlights and deleting stories from them on a computer, but the press-and-hold delete and the bulk delete are app steps.
