What Are TikTok Stories?
TikTok Stories are a format for short videos and photos that allow users to share moments and everyday experiences. They are designed to feel more casual and spontaneous than regular TikTok posts. TikTok Stories disappear after 24 hours, similar to stories on other platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
With TikTok Stories, users can capture quick videos or photos with fun creative tools like stickers, text, filters, and music. Stories have their own separate section at the top of a user’s profile, allowing followers to easily view daily content. Stories are indicated by a colored ring around a user’s profile photo.
Stories provide a way to share brief snippets and behind-the-scenes moments with followers in a creative, casual way. Their impermanent nature encourages frequent posting without worrying about overloading followers’ feeds. Overall, TikTok Stories offer a more personal, intimate look into a user’s daily life.
How Archiving Works
After 24 hours, TikTok stories are automatically archived by the app. This is a default setting that cannot be changed. Once a story hits the 24 hour mark, TikTok removes it from your profile and places it into your archive, located under the “Stories Archive” tab within the app. Any of your followers who try to view a story after the 24 hour expire will be redirected to the archive tab as well.
According to TikTok’s Story Settings, stories in the archive remain there permanently unless deleted by the user. So even though they disappear from your profile, the stories are still housed in TikTok’s servers unless manually removed. Archiving occurs to clear old stories from profiles and keep the experience fresh, but TikTok preserves your stories in case you or your followers want to revisit them later on.
Viewing Archived Stories
Archived stories are still accessible in your TikTok account, but only you can view them. Other users won’t be able to see your archived stories.
To view your archived stories:
- Open your TikTok profile
- Tap on the Story icon in the bottom toolbar
- Tap on “Archive” at the top of the screen
This will open your Archive, where you can scroll through and view your previously posted stories.
Keep in mind that archived stories disappear after 1 year. So make sure to download or repost any important memories before they’re gone forever.
According to this source, archived stories are only visible to you in your private archive.
Reposting Archived Stories
One of the benefits of archiving instead of deleting TikTok stories is that you can later repost them to your current stories. According to this source, when you archive a story, it is stored in your archive. To repost an archived story:
1. Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right.
2. Select “Story Archive” next to the pencil icon.
3. Locate the archived story you want to repost and tap on it.
4. Tap the “Repost” button at the bottom.
5. The story will now be posted back to your current stories where your followers can view it again. You can repost an archived story as many times as you want.
Reposting archived stories is a good way to recycle old content and maximize its reach. Just be sure not to overdo it, as your followers may get tired of seeing the same stories repeatedly.
Deleting Archived Stories
If you decide you no longer want to keep an archived story, you can permanently delete it. When you delete an archived story, it is gone forever and cannot be recovered.
To delete an archived story on TikTok:
- Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right.
- Tap on the three horizontal lines menu icon in the upper right corner.
- Select “Stories” from the menu.
- Tap on the “Archive” tab at the top.
- Tap and hold on the archived story you want to delete.
- Tap the delete icon that appears.
- Confirm that you want to delete the story.
Once deleted, the archived story will no longer be viewable or recoverable. Keep in mind that only you can see and manage your archived stories. Other people will not be able to view your archived stories unless you repost them back to your current stories.
Who Can See Archived Stories
Unlike regular stories that disappear after 24 hours, archived stories have different visibility settings. Only you can see your archived stories. Other people will not be able to view your archived stories on your profile or anywhere else on TikTok.
Archiving provides a way to privately save old stories you want to keep without having them be publicly visible. It allows you to look back on your own previous stories without sharing them for others to see.
So if you archive a story instead of letting it expire, it becomes part of your private story archive that only you have access to. This gives you the option to reflect on your past stories or potentially repost them in the future.
Why Archive Instead of Delete?
Archiving TikTok stories keeps the content available while removing clutter from your current stories. Unlike deleting a story completely, archiving preserves the content so you can potentially repost or view it again later if you choose.
Archived stories stay in your archive unless you manually delete them. So archiving can be a helpful alternative to deleting if you want to keep a story for future reference or reuse.
As social media expert Brooke Yarsinsky explains, archiving can help declutter your current stories while still preserving content you may want to find later: “TikTok stories expire after 24 hours but the story archive lives on” (source).
Overall, archiving removes expired stories from view while keeping them accessible if needed. It clears out old content without permanently deleting it right away.
Tips for Managing Archived Stories
It’s a good idea to actively manage your archived stories by curating the highlights and deleting unused stories regularly. Here are some tips:
- Review your archived stories every few weeks and delete any you don’t need anymore. The archive can get cluttered fast.
- Keep only your best stories that you may want to repost or highlight later. Don’t use the archive as unlimited storage.
- Create collections or categories of stories to organize your archive. For example, group stories by event or theme.
- Add any stories you want to reuse to your Highlights so they are easy to find later.
- Download and save any important videos you want to keep before deleting from the archive.
- Delete blurry, boring, or irrelevant stories. Keep your archive curated.
- Check back on older stories and delete any that are no longer timely or relevant.
Curating your archived stories regularly will make it easier to find and reuse your best stories later.
Archived Stories vs Highlights
While archived stories and highlights on TikTok both allow you to save older stories without deleting them, there are some key differences between the two features:
Highlights are curated collections of select stories that you choose to showcase on your profile. Highlights appear on your profile underneath your bio and allow followers to view stories that you’ve handpicked as your best or most relevant content. You can have up to 100 highlights on your profile at a time.
Archived stories, on the other hand, are simply an archive of all your past stories. Archived stories do not appear on your public profile – only you can view them unless you choose to reshare them. Archiving stores all your old stories indefinitely rather than deleting them after 24 hours. This allows you to look back on your story history and repost old stories that you want to share again.
So in summary: highlights showcase your best stories to followers, while archived stories are a private archive of all your past stories that only you can access.
Summary
To recap, TikTok stories are short, ephemeral videos that expire after 24 hours. When you archive a TikTok story, it is removed from your profile but saved to your archive. You can still view, repost, and delete archived stories, but they are hidden from your followers. Archiving allows you to declutter your profile while still maintaining access to old stories. Archived stories are different from highlights, as highlights are curated story collections that remain public on your profile. The main takeaways around archiving TikTok stories are:
- Archived stories are private and only you can view them
- You can repost archived stories back to your main profile
- Archived stories auto-delete after 90 days
- Archiving removes stories from your profile without deleting them entirely
- Archiving helps organize your profile and manage old content
In summary, archiving TikTok stories is a useful tool to curate your profile while preserving old stories you want to keep.
