Instagram is now allowing users to go back and watch old Reels without having to save them.
Have you ever been scrolling through Instagram Reels and accidentally refreshed the page without having a chance to save a clip? Or you’re hanging out with friends and you reference a funny video, but can’t show them because you forgot to save it?
Now, users don’t have to take an extra step to save a clip to replay it.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced a new feature Friday to look back at the Reels you can’t seem to find.
“If you go to ‘profile’ and under settings, under ‘your activity’ there’s ‘watch history’ now,” Mosseri explained in a reel. “So you can see every reel that you’ve ever watched.”
Mosseri went into detail about how you can customize this section.
“You can sort it from oldest to newest or newest to oldest. You can go to a specific date or date range, and you can even filter it down to a specific person or account that posted that reel.”
Instagram users cheered on the announcement with one saying, “THIS is helpful!!”
“YESSSSS!!!!!!!! Love this so much!” another said.
A third commented: “Omg I need this!!! Thank youuuu.”
Instagram rival TikTok already has a watch history option. Simply go to your profile, then hit the three lines at the top right. Once you are in the menu, click ‘settings and privacy and then ‘activity center.’ The first option should be ‘watch history.’
YouTube also allows users to look back at old Shorts, but longer-form videos that users watch on the platform are mixed into the watch history. To find your YouTube watch history, go to your profile and click ‘history.’
Instagram has been changing up its platform quite a bit lately. Earlier this month, the Meta-owned platform introduced the “Rings” award for its top creators based on creativity.
The winners of the award, which have yet to be announced, will receive a physical ring, designed by Grace Wales Bonner, and a digital ring on their Instagram profile.
Winners will see a gold ring around their profile picture when they post an Instagram story, and they will also be allowed to customize their profile backdrop color and “like” button.
“It’s more about a special visibility and sort of incentive for people to work towards a really cool elevated recognition,” YouTuber Marques Brownlee, who is on the panel that decides the winners, told CNBC at the time of the announcement.
