Instagram Has Permanently Removed Certain Photos.

Instagram users were taken by surprise on Wednesday when the app notified them that certain photos had been permanently deleted from their Stories archives and could not be recovered.

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Some users saw a message on their Stories stating, "This story is no longer available. Due to a technical issue, this story is no longer available. While we’ve since fixed this issue, your story can’t be restored."

Meta, Instagram's parent company, did not disclose the number of users affected but confirmed that only those whose Stories were deleted would see the notification.

"We identified and resolved a bug that led to the deletion of some users' Story highlights and archives. Regrettably, these Stories cannot be restored, and we're informing those impacted via the app," a Meta spokesperson stated on Wednesday.

The error message screen will be removed by July 2025, according to Meta.

Instagram Stories are designed for temporary sharing, with posts disappearing after 24 hours. Users can upload photos, videos, or text, and choose to save select content as story highlights on their profiles.

Unlike regular posts, Stories are often enhanced with music, gifs, text, filters, and interactive features like polls. Many users view their Story Archives as a personal photo diary, storing a range of content from memes and music screenshots to vacation snapshots. Instagram even offers a “memories” feature in the archives, which resurfaces old stories from past years.

It's important to note that Instagram doesn’t automatically save Stories to the camera roll unless users enable the setting. Instead, they are stored in the Story Archives, which was affected by the bug, along with the Story Highlights.

This incident underscores the importance of not relying solely on one backup method for important media. Users should ensure they back up their photos, videos, and other valuable content outside of the app, regardless of the company's reputation.