As an avid Instagram user, have you ever started creating a post only to accidentally delete it before sharing? Thankfully Instagram‘s draft feature saves you from social media disaster.
Drafts allow you to easily save posts, stories, and reels as works-in-progress to tweak and publish later on. But where exactly are your Instagram drafts saved and how do you access them?
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know about finding, editing and managing Instagram drafts in 2024. Whether you‘re a social media manager, business marketer or everyday user, mastering drafts can take your Instagram game to the next level!
The Powerful Benefits of Instagram Drafts
Before diving into the steps for accessing drafts, let‘s look at why they are such a game-changer on Instagram:
Plan and Schedule Content in Advance
Drafts enable you to perfectly plan and schedule Instagram content rather than posting in-the-moment. According to Sprout Social, posts scheduled in advance can receive up to 258% more engagement than random, real-time posting.
Collaborate and Get Feedback
Easily collaborate with others on draft posts by sharing draft links and getting feedback to perfect your captions, hashtags and more before publishing.
Save Time and Streamline Workflows
In a 2021 survey by Later, 71% of social media managers reported saving 1-2 hours per week using Instagram drafts to batch create content.
Always Have Post Ideas Ready
Quickly draft captions or upload photos when inspiration strikes so you always have a backlog of content ready to share.
Promote Launches and Events
Build hype for a new product launch, sale or event by drafting teasers in advance and timing their release.
Post While Offline
No internet? No problem. Draft Instagram posts whenever without a connection and schedule them for when you‘re back online.
Recover Accidental Deletions
We‘ve all been there – accidentally deleting a post before sharing. Drafts let you recover lost content so it‘s never really gone.
Track Performance and Engagement
Third-party schedulers like Later and Hootsuite that integrate with drafts provide analytics on your drafted content‘s engagement.
Clearly, leveraging Instagram drafts can massively boost your social media productivity and performance. But first, you need to know how to access them.
How to Access Your Instagram Drafts
Drafts save all post formats – regular photo and video posts, stories and reels. Here are the steps to find your drafts from different access points within the Instagram app:
Accessing Drafts from Your Home Feed
Open the Instagram app and navigate to your home feed tab if you aren‘t already there.
Tap the "+" icon to begin creating a new post.
Rather than selecting a photo or video to upload, tap "Drafts" at the top of the screen.
This will open your drafts folder where you can see and edit all saved drafts.
Finding Drafts When Creating a New Post
Start creating a new Instagram post as usual – apply filters, adjust cropping, add captions etc.
Once you‘ve customized the post to your liking, tap "Save Draft" at the top of the screen rather than "Share".
This draft is now saved and can be accessed later from your drafts folder.
Accessing Instagram Story Drafts
Launch the Instagram Story camera.
Tap the gallery icon in the bottom left corner.
At the top of the gallery screen, tap the "Drafts" tab.
Any story drafts you have saved will be located here.
Locating Your Reels Drafts
Tap your profile picture icon.
Select "Reels" from the menu.
This will display any reels videos you have drafted and saved.
Now that you know how to access Instagram drafts from all angles, let‘s go over how to create and save draft reels.
Shooting and Editing Instagram Reels Drafts
Reels are Instagram‘s popular short-form video feature. Here are the steps for recording reels drafts to edit and post later:
Use the Instagram camera to record your raw reel video clips. Shoot multiple clips up to 30 seconds each.
Once finished filming, access your drafts folder from your profile menu.
Select your draft reel video to enter the editor.
Trim your clips, rearrange video order, add effects, filters, text overlays and more.
Tap "Save Draft" rather than "Share" once you‘ve finished editing. You can come back and make tweaks anytime!
According to Instagram, Reels are shared 5 times more than feed posts. Using drafts to perfect your Reels content can really pay off in increased engagement and growth!
Clearing Out Old Instagram Drafts
It‘s good practice to periodically tidy up your drafts folder by deleting old or unused drafts. This keeps your folder organized and clutter-free.
Important Note: Deleted Instagram drafts cannot be recovered. So double check before deleting!
To permanently remove unwanted drafts:
Open your drafts folder.
Tap the three dot menu in the top right corner.
Choose "Manage Drafts".
Tap the drafts you want to delete.
Press "Delete" and confirm when prompted.
And voila! Those drafts are gone for good and your drafts folder is decluttered.
Leveraging Instagram Drafts for Marketing
For social media managers, small businesses and brands, Instagram drafts can be incredibly valuable for supercharging your marketing strategy.
Rather than needing to produce content in real-time as you manage accounts, drafts enable you to batch create Instagram posts whenever you have free moments. Stockpile these drafts to easily maintain a consistent posting schedule.
Some best practices for using Instagram drafts for marketing success:
Set aside 30-60 minutes per week to draft future Instagram content in bulk.
Save draft posts fully optimized with captions, hashtags, locations, promo info ready to go.
Use a social media scheduling platform like Later or Hootsuite that integrates with drafts for easy publishing.
Collaborate with team members by having multiple people produce drafts in a shared company account.
Draft "evergreen" content that isn‘t time-sensitive to reuse months later.
Create drafts teasing new products, sales and events to build anticipation and hype.
Pro Tip: Schedule Instagram drafts to auto-publish when your audience is most active for maximum engagement. For most brands, this is weekdays during working hours.
| Social Media Scheduling Apps Integrating Drafts | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Later | Free – $49/mo | Interface, Link in Bio, Analytics |
| Hootsuite | $29 – $599/mo | Teams, Bulk Publishing |
| Planoly | $7 – $45/mo | Auto Hashtag & Caption |
| Sendible | $29 – $199/mo | Engagement Monitoring |
Key Takeaways
Accessing Instagram drafts allows you to easily plan, schedule, and collaborate on content.
Find draft posts, stories, and reels by navigating to the drafts folder from your profile or feed.
Use drafts to perfect reels content with editing tools before posting.
Clear out old drafts periodically to maintain an organized drafts folder.
Social media managers can leverage drafts to effortlessly batch create marketing content.
Hopefully you now have a clear understanding of how to access, create, and manage drafts on Instagram like a pro! Use this overlooked strategy to reach the next level with your Instagram game in 2024.
