Ever since its initial release in 2010, Instagram has been with us, ever-evolving and ever-more complex. It’s one of the most used apps in 2023, with almost everyone either having an account or having heard about it. Instagram is famous for a good reason: it offers a variety of features including but not limited to posting videos and pictures, chats, reels, and stories among other things. For various reasons, you might need to archive some of the things you see on Instagram, particularly chats. Today, I will explain how you can archive your chats on Instagram.
Easy-mode
Steps on How to Archive Chats on Instagram
First Method: Switching to a Professional Account
Open Instagram – Tap on your profile – Tap on the three-dots icon – Open “Settings” – Tap on “Account” – Tap on “Switch to Professional Account” – Finish the required steps – Go to your direct messages – Tap and hold on a conversation – Choose “Move to General” – Done
Second Method: Vanish Mode
Open Instagram – Go to your direct messages – Tap on the conversation of your choice and switch up – Done
Steps on How to Archive Chats on Instagram
Whatever your reasons may be, if you want to archive your chats on Instagram, you can do so by following these simple steps. Please note that Instagram doesn’t offer an archive feature. There are different ways to archive chats, I will only explain some of them! Did you know that you can use this method to solve any problem you might have with the notes feature? Look at my other guide “Why Don’t I Have Notes on Instagram” for more information.
First Method: Switching to a Professional Account
Step 1:
First of all, open Instagram on your phone.
Step 2:
Go to your profile. It’s located on the right corner of your screen and has your profile picture on it.
Step 3:
Now, on the upper right corner of your screen, tap on the three lines/dots. Once you do, the following menu should open. From this menu, tap on and open “settings”.
Step 4:
In “settings”, scroll down and find “account”. Tap on it.
Step 5:
Scroll down again if you need till you find the “Switch to Professional Account” option. Click on it. You will be asked to complete some steps to turn your account into a professional one.
Step 6:
Please let Instagram know what is it that you do! Try to be as precise as you can in choosing the option that best describes what you do. You can search what you have in mind for faster results. Once you found what you had in mind, select it and tap on “Done”.
Step 7:
Now, depending on whether you are going to create the content you publish yourself or not, choose the type of your account. As you can see, Instagram has some suggestions for you. You will also be asked about “share logins using account center”, which you either do it now or select “Not Now” and leave it for another time.
Step 8:
Now go to your direct messages. Tap and hold your finger on a conversation. A pop-up menu should appear. From this menu, choose “Move to General”.
Step 9:
Now it’s time to switch back to personal account mode. Repeat the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th steps; choose “Switch to Personal Account” among the options.
Step 10:
Go back to your conversation. As you can see, the conversation we moved is now archived and there is no option available to allow you to view it!
That’s everything you needed to know for the first method. Want to know more ways? Follow the guide for a second method!
Second Method: Vanish Mode
You have probably seen ninjas vanishing all of sudden, they use “vanish mode” to archive themselves from this world. Although they exist, they are inaccessible and invisible. And when they appear out of thin air, that’s when they unarchive themselves! Follow these simple steps to learn how to use vanish mode! I have to tell you; this method is a bit more useful as you don’t need to switch to professional mode.
Step 1:
Open your direct messages. It’s on the upper right corner of the screen right after you have just opened Instagram.
Step 2:
Tap on the conversation of your choosing and then switch up. In this way, you can activate vanish mode. Swiping up is all you have to do to make your old messages visible again!
That is pretty much everything for today. See the FAQ below for any possible questions you might have.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q: I want to view a conversation I had archived before but can’t. Is there any way to fix this?
A: To make an archived conversation visible again, you need to follow all the steps again and change your account to professional. Then you should be able to view the conversation again. You can also move it back to where it was so it will be accessible to you after you revert to personal mode.
Q: I want to delete a message before archiving a chat. How should I do that?
A: I have fully explained how you can delete or unsend a message in a conversation on Instagram in my other guide “How to Tell If Someone Deleted Your Conversation on Instagram”. The short answer is: go to direct message, tap on a conversation, tap on the message you want, and tap on “Unsend”. This will unsend or delete the message you had chosen, and the other person won’t be notified that you did so.
Q: Is the procedure the same for posts? Can I use the reverse to unarchive them?
A: To find out how things are for unarchiving posts on Instagram, please read my other guide “How Do You Unarchive a Post on Instagram.”
Conclusion
Instagram is a great social platform that offers many different features such as allowing us to share photos, videos, reels, and stories. It also allows us to chat with family members and friends. Sometimes, you might want to keep a chat for later. Instagram doesn’t have an archive feature. Today I explained two different ways you can employ to archive a chat for later; I also explained some common problems you encounter. Hope you found this guide useful!
