How to access Instagram's 'On This Day' feature

Instagram's feeling nostalgic.
 By 
Andy Moser
 on 
How to access Instagram's 'On This Day' feature
Cue the nostalgia. Credit: MASHABLE / BOB AL-GREENE

Every now and then my mom gets a rush of nostalgia and goes digging through old family photo albums.

She'll find some embarrassing picture of me from 10 to 20 years ago which ultimately finds its way into my texts with the caption: "🎶 🎶 Meeeeeemmorriieeeessss 🎶 🎶"

In that way, my mom is almost like my personal Instagram "On This Day" feature.


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The feature is available in your Story and shows you a memory in the form of Instagram content you posted on that date however many years ago. Here's how to access it in just a couple easy steps.

1. Go to create or add to your Instagram Story.

2. Make sure you're scrolled to "Story" at the bottom.

3. Tap the "Create" icon (the text symbol on the left of the screen).

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Tap the "Create" button, symbolized by the upper/lowercase text icon. Credit: screenshot: instagram

4. Scroll to the right on the bottom until you get to the "On This Day" Feature — a symbol of a clock with a counter-clockwise arrow.

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Access "On This Day" by scrolling to the clock symbol on the bottom. Credit: screenshot: instagram

5. The feature will tell you if you have an "On This Day" by showing you one of your posts, along with how many years ago you posted it.

6. To add it to your Story, simply tap the clock symbol to capture the frame. Then, tap "Your Story" in the bottom left corner.

But there's another way! You can also access the "On This Day" feature by accessing your Story Archive.

1. First, navigate to your Insta profile and tap the three lines in the upper right of the screen

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Tap the three lines. Credit: SCREENSHOT: INSTAGRAM

2. Click on Archive

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Find your Story Archive. Credit: SCREENSHOT: INSTAGRAM

Your Archive will have things like posts you've archived, a calendar of when you posted to your story, locations, as well as "On This Day."

3. Tap share under memories to access posts you've made "On This day."

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Cue the nostalgia. Credit: SCREENSHOT: INSTAGRAM

That'll do it. Your "On This Day" post will be added to your Instagram Story for your followers (or your mom) to see and reminisce over. You can get cute and add stickers, text, or markups before you post. Or you can just leave it as is. Either way, let the reminiscing commence.

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Andy Moser

Andy is a fellow on Mashable's Culture team. He graduated with a B.S. from the University of North Florida in 2018 and moved to New York to pursue journalism in culture and entertainment. He can (and will) talk for too long about Star Wars and movies in general. His fear of stinging insects and 80+ degree weather will keep him inside forever. He wishes he were shorter.

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