How do you delete a reel?

Reels are a popular new feature on Instagram that allow users to create and share short, multi-clip videos. As reels continue to gain popularity, many users have questions about how to delete a reel if they no longer want it on their profile.

There are a few reasons why you may want to delete a reel:

• You posted a reel by mistake and want to remove it.
• The reel is no longer relevant or timely.
• You want to delete a draft reel that was never posted.
• You are unhappy with the reel or want to create a new version.
• The reel did not get engagement and you want to remove it from your profile.

Whatever the reason, deleting a reel is easy to do right from the Instagram app. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to delete a reel on Instagram.

How To Delete A Posted Reel

If you have already posted a reel and want to remove it from your profile, follow these instructions:

1. Open the Instagram app on your mobile device.
2. Go to your profile by tapping the person icon in the bottom right.
3. Tap on the reel you want to delete to open it.
4. Tap the three dots icon in the bottom right corner.
5. Tap on ‘Delete’ in the pop-up menu.
6. Tap ‘Delete’ again to confirm.

Once you delete a posted reel, it will be permanently removed from your profile and will no longer be visible to other users. The delete action cannot be undone.

Important Notes

• Other users who have shared your reel to their own feed will still have access to the reel.
• If you shared the reel to your Instagram feed, that shared post will remain.
• Metrics and insights for the reel will no longer be available after deletion.
• Deleted reels cannot be retrieved or restored after deletion.

So in summary, deleting a reel removes it fully from your own profile, but any other users who shared the reel will still have access to it on their profiles or feeds. The reel will completely disappear off of Instagram.

How To Delete A Draft Reel

In addition to posted reels, you may also want to delete unused reel drafts that were never shared. Here is how to delete draft reels:

1. Open Instagram and tap the reels camera icon in the top left corner.
2. Tap on your profile picture in the bottom left corner.
3. Tap on the ‘Drafts’ folder.
4. Tap and hold on the draft reel you want to delete.
5. Tap the trash can icon to delete the draft reel.
6. Tap ‘Delete’ again to confirm.

Deleting draft reels permanently removes them from the app so they cannot be posted or recovered later. This is a way to clear out unused or unwanted drafts from your phone’s storage.

Important Notes

• Deleted draft reels do not show up in your deleted folder – they are gone for good.
• Make sure to only delete unwanted drafts – you cannot get them back.
• You can have up to 100 draft reels stored in the app at one time.
• Drafts with a cloud icon have been backed up to Instagram’s servers.

So if you have reel drafts you’re sure you don’t need, deleting them can free up space and reduce clutter in the drafts folder.

How To Delete A Reel On Instagram Website

Instagram’s mobile app isn’t the only place you can delete reels. You can also remove reels directly from the Instagram website if you prefer managing your account from a desktop.

Here are the steps to delete a reel from the Instagram website:

1. Go to instagram.com and log into your account.
2. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
3. Click on the reel you want to delete to open it.
4. Click on the three dots menu icon below the reel.
5. Select ‘Delete’ from the menu.
6. Click ‘OK’ to confirm the deletion.

The reel will be permanently removed from your profile immediately after deleting. You can also delete draft reels on the Instagram website by going to your drafts folder and clicking the trash icon.

Important Notes

• You must be logged into your account on the website to delete reels.
• Use the Instagram app if you want to recover a deleted reel.
• Deleted reels will disappear from any tags, locations, stickers used.

So if you prefer managing your Instagram account from a computer, deleting reels from the website works the same as the mobile app.

How To Recover A Deleted Reel

Oops! Accidentally deleted a reel you wanted to keep? While there is no official Reels trash or recycle bin, you may be able to recover a deleted reel using Instagram’s recently deleted folder:

1. Go to your profile and tap the three line menu.
2. Tap ‘Settings’.
3. Tap ‘Account’.
4. Tap ‘Recently deleted’.
5. Find your deleted reel and tap ‘Restore’ to recover it.

However, there are a few important caveats:

• The deleted folder only shows items from the last 90 days.
• Reels are only available to restore for up to 24 hours after deleting.
• Draft reels will not appear in recently deleted.
• You can only restore a deleted reel once.

So if you act quickly, you may be able to get an accidentally deleted reel back, but the window of opportunity is very small due to Instagram’s temporary deleted folder system.

Tips To Avoid Accidentally Deleting Reels

To avoid regret over a deleted reel, here are some tips to delete carefully:

• Double check before tapping the final delete confirmation.
• Carefully review any draft reels before deletion.
• Note metrics like views or saves so you can assess performance.
• Back up your reel elsewhere before deleting like Google Drive.
• Turn on auto-save so drafts are backed up to Instagram.

Accidents happen but being cautious when deleting reels can prevent losing anything important.

What To Do If You Cannot Recover a Reel

If you miss the window to restore a deleted reel, here are some options:

• See if any viewers downloaded your reel and can send it back to you.
• Recreate the reel if you have the original video clips.
• Find an auto-backup of the reel on Google Photos or Dropbox if enabled.
• Use it as a learning experience for backing up irreplaceable content.

While an original deleted reel may be impossible to get back, you can try to make the most of the situation if needed.

Can Someone Who Shared Your Reel Delete It?

If someone else shared your reel to their own Instagram feed, they have the ability to remove the share from their profile. However, removing their shared post of your reel will not delete the original reel from your profile.

Here is some more information on how sharing works:

• Anyone can share your public reel to their own feed via the ‘Share’ button.
• They can add a caption and edit the share as they want.
• If they delete their shared post, it does not affect your original.
• The only way your original is deleted is if you delete it yourself.

So you maintain full control over your reels. Someone else removing their share does not make your original reel disappear.

Can You Request Removal of a Shared Reel?

Since other users can share your public reels, you cannot request they delete their shares. However, here are your options if you are unhappy with a shared reel:

• Delete the original reel so no one can share it.
• Block the user who shared it if applicable.
• Ask them politely to remove their share.
• Adjust your profile and reel settings to private.
• Turn off sharing abilities for your reels.

While you cannot force someone to delete a shared reel, you can take back control by removing the original or limiting settings.

Does Deleting a Reel Delete Comments?

When you delete a reel, this removes the reel video content itself. However, it does not automatically delete any comments left on the reel.

Here is some additional information on how comments are handled:

• Comments remain on Instagram’s servers after the reel is deleted.
• The comments will not be visible on your profile anymore.
• You can manually delete comments before deleting the reel.
• To remove all trace, you would need to delete reel and comments.
• Comments made by others cannot be deleted by the reel creator.

So comments are considered separate content from the reel. The creator would need to remove comments manually before deleting the reel to fully erase it.

How To Delete Reel Comments

To permanently delete all traces of a reel including comments, follow these steps:

1. Go to the reel and tap View All Comments.
2. Tap the X icon on each comment to delete it.
3. Once all comments are removed, delete the reel.
4. Comments and reel will be fully deleted.

This full deletion process allows you to completely remove a reel, comments and all, for a fresh start.

Can You Delete Reels On Facebook?

Currently, reels are an Instagram-only feature. Reels do not automatically post to Facebook. However, you can directly share an Instagram reel to Facebook:

• When posting a new reel, turn on the ‘Share to Facebook’ option.
• Use the Instagram share menu to share an existing reel.
• The reel will post as a new video in your Facebook feed.

If you shared an Instagram reel on Facebook and want to delete it:

• Go to the reel video post on your Facebook feed.
• Click the three dots in the upper right corner.
• Select ‘Turn Off’ to remove the post.

The reel will be deleted from your Facebook feed but remain on your Instagram account. You can also delete the original Instagram reel if desired.

Important Facebook Reel Delete Notes

• Anyone can re-share your Facebook reel post before you delete it.
• If a Facebook reel is deleted, the original Instagram reel will not be affected.
• You’ll need to delete a Facebook reel share separately from Instagram.

So reels themselves only exist on Instagram, but you can choose to share them to Facebook as normal video posts and manage deletion on each platform.

What Happens When You Delete Reels?

Here is a quick summary of key points about what happens when you delete Instagram reels:

• Posted reels will disappear completely from your profile.
• Draft reels will be permanently deleted from your camera roll.
• Any shares of your reel on Instagram feeds will remain.
• Reel comments will persist on Instagram’s server.
• Reel metrics and insights will no longer be available.
• Deleted reels won’t appear on hashtags, locations, or stickers used.

Essentially, deleting a reel removes it fully from your profile and metrics. However, any existing shares or comments will not be automatically removed from Instagram upon deletion.

Points To Remember

Some key facts to remember about deleting reels:

• Deleted reels disappear forever unless restored within 24 hours.
• You maintain full control over deleting your own reels.
• Others can only delete reel shares, not your original.
• Comments remain after deletion unless manually removed first.
• Be cautious when deleting and back up important reels first.

Being aware of these permanent delete actions can help you thoughtfully manage your reels collection.

Conclusion

Deleting Instagram reels is an easy process using the mobile app or Instagram website. With reels being a new and popular feature, it’s important to understand how to remove any you don’t want on your profile. The key steps include opening the reel, tapping delete, and confirming your choice.

While reels can only be restored within 24 hours max, you may be able to recover from an accidental deletion by recreating a similar reel from scratch. Otherwise, deleting a reel permanently removes all trace of it from your profile metrics and visibility. Take care when deleting reels and be aware the action cannot be undone.