12 Instagram Features - You Barely Know

Instagram has become the favourite social network of many, not just for teens and Millennials. In fact, according to the Pew Research Centre, 35% of online adults use Instagram compare that, for example, to 24% on Twitter.

I might be biased, but Instagram is one of the most fun (and visually appealing) social apps around. And now, with these tricks, you can use it to an even fuller extent. Plus, many of these features can help to enhance your brand's presence on Instagram.

Here's the Top 12 Instagram Features you barely know that exist.

12. Changing Usernames

You will also able to change or edit your name in Edit Profile option. There is no limit for how many time you change your username but it will be hard for followers who follow you and new followers search or find your username/displayname/screen name/Instagram handle.

1. Tap your avatar icon in the bottom-right corner to go to your profile.
2. Tap “Edit Profile” under your bio.
3. Tap the Username field and type in your new handle.
4. Click “Done”.

11. Checking User Follow Request

Instagram allows users to have private profiles where no one can see their content but their approved followers. Over the years you may have sent follow requests to several private account holders. If you can't remember who you have sent the follow requests to and haven't been approved by yet, Instagram has a feature that enables you to see the list of all your sent Instagram follow requests.

Here are the few steps to get to this quite a hidden list of all your sent Instagram follow requests.

10. Use Instagram as a Photo Editor (Without Even Posting)

Perhaps you love Instagram's filters and editing capabilities, but aren't quite ready to post the photo to your account -- right now, or ever. To use Instagram as a photo editor without posting anything, all you need to do is publish a picture while your phone is on airplane mode.

First, be sure you have "Save Original Photo" turned on in your Instagram settings.

Then, turn on airplane mode. Next, follow the normal steps to post a photo to Instagram: Upload the photo, edit it, and press "Share." An error message will appear saying the upload failed, but you'll be able to find the edited image in your phone's photo gallery.

9. Post content from other users to your Instagram Story

Although Instagram Stories are a great way to give your content exposure on your followers' homepages, you might not always have something Story-worthy. In those times, you can share an inspiring post from someone else through your Instagram Stories. Here's how:

Find a post you want to share in your Instagram Stories and tap the paper airplane icon, as shown below.

This icon will open a screen allowing you to send this post to specific followers, or add to your Story. Tap the latter option, as shown below. Tapping this option will automatically turn the post into an Instagram Story, which you can edit and design to your liking the same way you would any other Instagram Story. 

8. Switching Account Types

Instagram has three types of accounts. But now you have to choose between a business, creator, or personal profile – so which is the right one for you?

Other than Personal profile, Creator profiles come with advanced features like unfollow data and DM filtering, but lack other features that business profiles have like scheduling and running ads.

But did you know you can switch from one types of account to another types at any time. Despite of loosing some features and options, you can switch from one type of account to another without any hesitation.

1. Go to your profile and tap  in the upper right corner.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Account.
4. Tap Switch to Personal Account/ Business Account/ Creator Account.
5. Tap Switch Back to confirm (Customisation according to types).

7. Download Your All Instagram Data

Instagram lets you download an archive of everything you’ve posted to the site. You can get a copy of your photos, videos, comments, likes, people you follow, contacts and more.

You can download your own archive and discover what Instagram still knows about you. Here’s how:

• Navigate to Instagram.com and select your profile.
• Click the gear next to your name and select “Privacy and Security.”
• Scroll down to “Data Download” and click “Request Download.”
• Then enter the email you’d like to receive the download link too and verify the request by entering your Instagram password.

While Instagram says it can take up to 48 hours, it totally depends on the activity you have done so far with your account.

The data comes through as a zip file with folders for photos, stories, and videos. Anything that isn’t a photo or video -- messages, profile, searches, and settings -- are saved in text format that you can open with notepad on a computer.

6. Hide ads you don't find relevant.

Instagram tries to show you ads that are interesting and relevant to you. You might see ads based on people you follow and things you Like on Instagram, or the third-party websites and apps you visit.

If you see sponsored posts you don't find relevant, though, you can let Instagram know and slowly teach its algorithm what you like and don't like to see.

To hide ads on Instagram, tap on the three dots to the right of a post labeled "Sponsored," and choose "Hide This."

5. Browse posts from certain locations.

One fun thing you can do on Instagram is browse photos and videos from a specific location, or taken near your current location. I like to do that when I'm planning a trip somewhere, or want to check out a new restaurant and scroll through the pictures taken there.

Here's how to do both of these things.

4. "Categories"

A new Instagram feature called “Categories” allows you to moderate the visibility of your followers. It shows you the people you see the most often on your feed and the followers you interact with the least within the past 90 days. You can access this feature by going to the Following list on your profile.

Besides, you can find whom you are most recently following from your account, or who is being connected with you since the being. This is basically a sorting process, which is set "Default" as regular basis. You can change that according to your necessity.

Step 1: Go to the Following list on your profile.

Step 2: Click the arrows the to "Sort by Default "

Step 3: Choose the option according to your necessity.

3. Multiple Instagram Bio Links

If you’ve been using Instagram for any period of time now, you have probably heard or seen the phrase ‘Link in bio’ before. We know that for a while there was one option: one link, with one CTA.

Now, there are a ton of platforms available to help you optimize your Link in Bio section (and make the most out of that ONE master link) with multiple links! 

There are multiple tools out there that you can use to make ONE master link. Here they are

•  Shorby
•  Linktr.ee
• Manylink
• Tap.bio

You can click on them and create an account. The link in bio is under the section ‘Website’. Putting a link in that section will make it clickable. 

2. See all the posts you've liked.

Ever wanted to see the posts you've Liked, all in one place? All you have to do is go to your own profile and click the "Options" button. Then click "Settings" >> "Account".

To un-Like any of the posts you've Liked, simply go to the post and deselect the "heart" icon below it. Don't worry -- the user won't be notified that you've un-Liked the post.

1. Create Stories Highlights to show Stories for longer than a day.

Like in Snapchat, posts to your story only stick around for your followers to see for 24 hours. But sometimes, you have a story that deserves more daylight to be told.

That's where Stories Highlights comes in, a feature by Instagram that allows you to save stories together in the same space on your profile page. If you ever wondered what that "New" button with the "+" icon was below your profile image, this explains it.

To make a Stories Highlight, tap this New option and select any number of past stories in your album:

Then, give it a cover photo and a name to display as its own Instagram Story on your profile page. You can remove Stories Highlights at any time by tapping and holding down this story.

These are some of the tips and tricks that can be helpful for you to explore Instagram fully. You may know some of the that, or may be all of that, But for those who have never used the platform before, or those who just want to take their usage to the next level, Instagram has some lesser-known tricks, settings, hacks, search options, and comment features you should know about. That's why I set out to find them and list them all in one place.