Instagram Stories Drafts are Now Available to All Users

Instagram announced that the feature was coming back in March, and now, all users have the option to save their Instagram Stories as drafts within the app.

As you can see in this sequence, posted by user @WFBrother on Twitter (and shared by Matt Navarra), the option is activated when you go to exit out of the Stories composer mid-process. When you choose to save a Stories draft, a new alert will notify you that Stories drafts are deleted a week after you save them. So they won’t be there waiting for you forever, but the option does provide you with additional scope for putting together more comprehensive, crafted compositions, which you can then share at the best time for your audience.

The feature could be particularly handy for social media managers who are looking to post at optimal times – though it is also worth noting that you have kind of been able to save and share stories, in different ways, for some time.

Up till now, all users have been able to save their Stories, by either downloading them to their device, or via some third-party apps. But those tools are not native to IG, and are generally not as convenient within your creation flow. By having your drafts within the app, you’ll be able to view them as they’ll appear to users, while you’ll also be able to utilize Instagram’s full feature set in your draft creation process, and post on the go via the app.

We asked Instagram for more info on the Stories drafts roll out and it provided this statement:

“Instagram Stories drafts are now available for everyone, globally. Story drafts will save for seven days before disappearing.”

So, another way to manage your Stories creation flow, and post at optimal times to maximize engagement. It may not be a massive shift, but it could be a highly relevant one for Instagram managers looking to make best use of the app.