Hang on, Instagram Highlights are now in reverse?! Here’s why and how to change it back

Instagram loves soft launching new features without telling us, it’s actually given me major trust issues and resulted in me turning auto updates off for good.

The app has seen loads of changes this year alone, including everything from location sharing to reposting and more. But the latest headache actually affects Highlights.

So, what’s actually happened to Instagram Highlights?

Why the FUCK did instagram reverse the order of highlights stories

— mal ❤️‍🔥 (@toapillowfight) September 4, 2025

For some odd reason, Instagram Highlights are now appearing in reverse order for some users (including me) and there seems to be no apparent reason why. It literally makes zero sense.

Users on X have shared my confusion (and anger) at the weird change, with one writing: “Another terrible Instagram update: Highlights are now in backwards chronological order ???”

Seemingly in a plea for the company to undo the damage, another Tweeted: “Instagram please change highlights back I don’t want them in reverse order.”

Here’s how you can change it back

It’s not yet been confirmed whether the reverse order of Instagram Highlights is a permanent move, but you can and should still be able to reorder Stories in your Highlights using these steps.

1. Open Instagram and tap your profile icon in the bottom right corner
2. Tap on the highlight you want to appear last
3. Tap the ⋯ more menu
4. Tap edit highlight
5. Tap the Stories tab
6. Select a random Story and tap done in the top right
7. The Story will re-open automatically
8. Repeat steps three to four
9. In the selected tab, scroll to the bottom and unselect the Story you just added and tap done
10. Repeat as necessary, going in the reverse order (right to left) of how you want your highlights to appear

I fear this isn’t the last time Instagram is going to fiddle with our beloved app so we should probably suck it up and get used to it.