Instagram is introducing a new feature that will let you restore deleted posts, offering a safeguard against hackers purging your account — or drunken nights exorcising your ex.
Starting today, content deleted from your Instagram account will be moved to a new Recently Deleted folder for a short time. From there it can either be restored or permanently deleted, both of which will require verification of your identity.
It’s basically your good ol’ friend the Recycling Bin, but with a lock on it.
This new feature affects all Instagram content, including your typical grid photos, videos, Reels, IGTV videos, and even Stories. Most of these will sit patiently in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days before they are automatically and permanently deleted.
The one exception is Stories that haven’t yet run their 24-hour course and made it to the archive. When these stories are deleted they will only get 24 hours in the Recently Deleted folder, after which they will be shoved off this mortal coil.
You can access your deleted content in the Instagram app by going to Settings > Account > Recently Deleted.
This new feature has been a long time coming. Instagram users have griped about losing their deleted posts for years, coming up with all manner of inadequate solutions that claimed to solve the problem. The inability to recover content also made instances of hacking exceptionally upsetting, as there was no way to undo the damage.
Getting hacked is always unnerving regardless of whether any content is lost, but at least it will be marginally less devastating now.
Mashable
