How to See Who Viewed Your Instagram Highlights in 2023

Instagram Highlights provide an easy and efficient way to showcase the best content at the forefront of your profile. Organizing all of your Stories into categories easily accessible to followers helps your brand stand out and maintain visibility in an increasingly visual platform like Instagram.

But an important question arises – who exactly is viewing my Highlights? Instagram used to show this data but removed it after 48 hours.

In this detailed guide, we’ll explain exactly how to see who viewed your Instagram Highlights in 2023. Let’s get started!

An Overview of Instagram Highlights

First, let’s go over what Highlights are and how they work on Instagram.

Highlights allow you to revive old Stories beyond the 24-hour expiration date. Any Story you post can be added to a Highlight “collection” so followers can watch it from your profile.

Some key facts about Instagram Highlights:

Highlights appear as circles above your bio. You can make as many as you want.
Each Highlight can have a custom cover image and title.
There is no limit on the number of Stories you can add to a Highlight.
Followers can view your Highlights as many times as they want.
You can rearrange, edit, or delete Highlights at any time.
Highlights don’t expire. They remain on your profile indefinitely unless deleted.

So in summary, Highlights make your best content easily discoverable by followers. You want to organize Highlights with topics followers care about.

How to Check Highlight Views on Instagram

When you first add a Story to a Highlight, Instagram shows you stats on who watched it. This includes:

The total number of accounts that viewed the Highlight
List of individual viewers’ usernames

You can access this data by:

On Mobile:

Open your profile and tap on a Highlight cover.
In the bottom left, tap “Views.”
This opens the list of usernames who viewed that Highlight.

On Desktop:

Go to your profile and click a Highlight cover.
The views popup will be in the bottom left corner.
Click “Views” to see the list of accounts.

This viewer data is available for 48 hours from the time you added the Story to your Highlight.

So for example:

You post a new Story on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
On Wednesday at 3 PM, you add that Story to a Highlight.
The viewer list for that Highlight will be visible until Friday at 3 PM.

After 48 hours, the number of views and usernames will disappear. Instagram does not show who looked at your Highlights after this cutoff.

Why Instagram Limits Highlight Views

Initially, Instagram allowed Highlight viewer lists indefinitely. But they changed it to 48 hours in 2021.

The main reasons Instagram limits this data are:

User Privacy – By removing names after 48 hours, users have more privacy over their Instagram activity. They know their engagement only appears temporarily.

Limit Social Comparison – Seeing who interacted with others’ content can lead to negative social comparison. Restricting this reduces that possibility.

Encourage Authentic Interactions – If Highlight stats lasted forever, users may interact artificially just to appear on people’s lists. Temporarily showing data encourages authentic interactions.

Reduce System Resources – Storing unlimited Highlight viewers puts more strain on Instagram’s infrastructure. The 48-hour cutoff likely helps optimize their systems.

So in summary, the viewer limit aims to protect user privacy, promote authenticity, and conserve Instagram’s technical resources.

How to See Who Viewed Your Highlights After 48 Hours

Since Instagram removes Highlight viewer data after 48 hours, you may wonder if there’s any way to see it again later.

Unfortunately, there is no built-in way to recover these views once they disappear.

However, there are a few workaround tactics you can use to estimate who may have seen your Highlights after the 48-hour limit:

Check Story Views from Followers

A good proxy for Highlight views is checking who viewed the Story when you originally posted it. These are people likely to watch that content again in your Highlights.

To see Story views:

Go to your archive and find the original Story.
Swipe up and tap “Viewers.”

This will show the people who saw the Story the first time around. There’s a good chance some of them re-watched it from your Highlights too.

Ask Followers to View Your Highlights

Make a post or story, or put in your bio asking people to view your Highlights. Say something like “Check out my new Highlight and let me know your favorites!”

Then see who engages with that call to action. Those are followers who saw your request and likely also opened your Highlights.

Use Highlight Covers to Engage Followers

Change your Highlight covers regularly to get more eyes on them. Ask a question related to the Highlight like “Favorite photo from my trip to Alaska?”

See who likes, comments, or responds to the cover. By interacting, they must have opened the Highlight.

Check Your Top Followers List

Instagram shows you accounts that have interacted with you the most over the past few weeks. People on this list frequently view your content, including Highlights.

So it’s safe to assume your top followers have seen your latest Highlights as well.

See Who Views Your Stories Regularly

Notice who consistently appears first and/or views your Stories. These loyal followers likely watch your new Highlights within the first 48 hours too.

Assume Your Close Friends View Them

Obviously people close to you like seeing your content. It’s a good bet your real-life friends and close mutuals on Instagram open your Highlights.

So if you want to know who saw them, first look at those accounts you regularly interact with.

Tips to Get More Highlight Views

Here are some tips to increase views on your Instagram Highlights overall:

Highlight your best content – Only save your absolute best Stories to re-share as Highlights.
The update covers frequently – Change up your Highlight covers to get more eyes on them. Ask engaging questions or use attention-grabbing images.
Rearrange order – Put your most important Highlights first so they’re seen immediately.
Promote on Stories – Remind followers to check out your Highlights in Stories and posts.
Engage loyal followers – Reply to your top fans’ comments and like their posts. They’ll be more likely to view your Highlights.
Use relevant hashtags – Add popular hashtags to Highlight covers so they appear in more searches.
Refresh old Highlights – Delete inactive Highlights, consolidate others, and add new Stories to keep them fresh.
Analyze your audience – See when your followers are most active and post Highlight covers at those times.
Link in bio – Add “View my Highlights!” in your bio so visitors click through when they come to your profile.

FAQs About Instagram Highlights Viewers

Can you see who viewed your Instagram Highlights after 48 hours?

No, there is no way to see the viewer list for a Highlight beyond 48 hours. Instagram removes the names after this time period.

Why can’t I see views on my Instagram Highlights anymore?

If you can no longer see Highlight views, the 48-hour limit has passed. Instagram deletes the viewer data 48 hours after you add a Story to prevent tracking.

Do Highlight views disappear after 24 hours?

Originally Highlight viewer lists disappeared after 24 hours, but now remain visible for 48 hours. Instagram extended the time in 2021 before removing names.

Can someone tell if I viewed their Instagram Highlights?

Yes, if it’s been less than 48 hours since they added that Story to their Highlight. The username of anyone who views their Highlights will appear.

How do I increase views on my Instagram Highlights?

Engage your loyal followers, frequently change Highlight covers, promote them on your profile, reorder Highlights, and only highlight your best content.

Conclusion

Checking who viewed your Instagram Highlights can give you valuable insight into your audience and their interests. However, due to privacy reasons, this data is now limited to 48 hours.

While you can no longer access a Highlight viewer list after this cutoff, the tactics above can help estimate which followers may have seen it. Focus on your loyal audience, top followers, and those who actively engage with your profile.

Additionally, refresh your Highlights regularly, promote them, and analyze your audience patterns. This will lead to more Highlight views overall, even if the specific names are not shown indefinitely.

So use Highlights strategically to showcase your brand, products, talent, or causes. The right followers will discover it on your profile – even if Instagram doesn’t reveal exactly who!