Archiving a post on Facebook removes it from public view on your profile, but the post still exists in your Activity Log and can be restored at any time. Archiving can be useful for removing old posts you no longer want visible, without deleting them entirely.
Why Would You Want to Archive a Post?
There are a few main reasons someone may want to archive a post on Facebook rather than deleting it:
- To remove outdated or embarrassing posts from your timeline without losing the content.
- To temporarily hide a post you want to re-share or refer back to later.
- To clean up your profile but still have access to the post in your activity log.
- If you want to preserve comments and reactions on a post while hiding the actual post.
Archiving can be thought of as a way to privately tuck away a post without removing it completely.
How to Archive a Post
Archiving a post on Facebook is easy to do:
- Go to your Facebook profile and locate the post you want to archive.
- Click the three dots “…” in the upper right corner of the post.
- Select “Archive” from the dropdown menu.
- Confirm that you want to archive the post by clicking “Archive” again.
Once archived, the post will no longer be visible on your profile to you or anyone else. It will essentially be hidden from public view.
Where to Find Archived Posts
Archived posts are still accessible, but only if you know where to look. They can be found in two places:
- Your Facebook Activity Log – This contains your full history of posts, info, photos, likes, and more. Archived posts remain here.
- The Archived section on your profile – There is a tab at the top of your profile labeled “Archived” where you can view all archived posts.
So archived posts are not gone forever. You can still find and restore them through your Activity Log or Archived section.
What Happens When You Archive a Post
When you archive a post, here is exactly what happens:
- The post is removed from your main timeline and no longer visible to the public.
- Any images, videos, or links in the post remain on Facebook’s servers.
- The post is added to the Archived section of your profile.
- All comments and reactions on the post are retained.
- You can still find and restore the post from your Activity Log.
Essentially, archiving just removes the post from public view. The content still exists in Facebook’s system and can be accessed again if needed.
Can Other People See Your Archived Posts?
No, archived posts are not visible to anyone except you. Even if someone was originally tagged in an archived post, it will no longer appear on their own timeline or be visible to their friends. Archiving removes the post from public view across Facebook.
The only way someone else could see your archived post is if they were also able to access your Activity Log. Most users will not be able to access your log.
How Archiving Differs from Deleting
Archiving and deleting posts are similar, but have some key differences:
| Archiving | Deleting |
|---|---|
| – Post is hidden from your timeline | – Post is permanently removed |
| – Post remains in Activity Log | – Post no longer exists in Activity Log |
| – Post can be restored | – Post can’t be recovered |
| – Comments/reactions retained | – Comments/reactions also deleted |
So in summary:
- Archiving removes a post from view but keeps it in Facebook’s system.
- Deleting erases a post completely.
How Long do Archived Posts Stay on Facebook?
There is no time limit on archived Facebook posts. Unlike Stories or live videos which expire after a certain period, regular posts can remain archived indefinitely.
The only way an archived post will be removed from Facebook is if you manually delete it. As long as you keep the post archived, it will stay in your Activity Log for years.
Facebook does not automatically delete archived posts or move them to a different archival system. They essentially remain available in the background until you either restore or permanently delete them.
Can You Retrieve Archived Posts?
Yes, restoring an archived post on Facebook is easy:
- Go to your profile’s Archive tab.
- Find the post you want to restore.
- Click on the three dots next to the post.
- Select “Move to Timeline” to restore the post.
The post will now reappear on your main profile timeline as normal. All previous comments and reactions will remain intact.
You can also restore archived posts from your Activity Log using the same steps. Just find the post in your log and choose to move it back to your timeline.
Do Archived Posts Count Toward Storage Space?
Archived posts still take up the same storage space on Facebook’s servers as regular posts. Images, videos, and links all continue to use storage even when archived.
The only way to regain storage space is to permanently delete archived content. Simply archiving it will not free up capacity.
Here are some key facts about archived posts and storage:
- Text-only posts take up very little space.
- Photos and videos take up much more storage due to file sizes.
- The more media in a post, the more space it uses.
- Archiving media does not delete it or free up capacity.
- You’d need to permanently delete posts to open up storage.
So archiving itself does not reduce the storage footprint of your Facebook posts. The content still exists in Facebook’s systems.
Can You Archive Other People’s Posts?
No, you can only archive posts that you yourself have shared on your own profile. Archiving is limited to your own posts – you don’t have the ability to archive content shared by your friends or others on Facebook.
If you want to remove someone else’s post from your timeline you would need to either unfollow or unfriend that person. But you have no way to archive posts directly shared to your timeline by others.
The archive tool is solely for managing your own visible Facebook history, not others’ posts. Only the original poster can choose to archive their content.
What About Archived Stories and Live Videos?
Archiving works differently for Facebook Stories and live videos compared to regular feed posts:
- Stories – Can be archived but disappear after 24 hours per normal expiry time.
- Live Videos – Are deleted after expiry and cannot be archived.
- Feed Posts – Have no expiration and can remain archived indefinitely.
So you cannot keep Stories or live videos archived forever like a regular post. The disappearing nature of these formats still applies even if you archive them before they expire.
Can You Archive Posts on Facebook Pages?
Page admins can archive posts made on their Facebook Pages in the same way as user profiles. The process is identical:
- Navigate to the Page feed.
- Click the three dots on a post.
- Select “Archive from Page” to remove the post.
Archived Page posts will be sent to the same place as user profile posts – the Page’s Archive folder. Page admins can access and restore these as needed.
So archiving works universally across both personal timelines and Facebook Pages.
Conclusion
To summarize key points:
- Archiving removes a post from your profile but keeps it in Facebook’s system.
- Only you can view your archived posts in your Activity Log or Archive tab.
- Archived posts retain all comments, reactions, and content.
- You can restore archived posts at any time.
- Archiving is different than deleting – it just hides posts.
Archiving gives you an excellent way to curate your Facebook presence by temporarily hiding posts without losing them forever. It clears up your timeline while still preserving your memories and history on Facebook.