Finding a mistake in your Instagram post after it’s live can be frustrating, especially when you’ve spent time creating the perfect carousel. Luckily, Instagram offers a solution to help you maintain a flawless feed. You can now delete a single photo from an Instagram carousel without having to remove the entire post. This added flexibility is a game-changer for content creators aiming for polished Instagram content.
Instagram carousel posts, known by some as “photo dumps,” are incredibly effective for boosting engagement, often achieving three times more engagement than standard posts. Ensuring each carousel is perfect is key to maximizing this engagement. Let’s dive into how you can easily remove any “oopsie” photos from your Instagram carousels.
Can You Delete a Single Photo from an Instagram Carousel?
Yes, deleting a single photo from an Instagram carousel is indeed possible. This feature was introduced by Instagram in November 2021, much to the relief of social media professionals and regular users alike. This update, announced by Instagram’s head Adam Mosseri himself on Instagram, provides a much-needed editing capability.
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However, there’s one important limitation: you cannot delete a photo from a carousel if it only contains two photos. The feature is designed for carousels with three or more images, ensuring that your post remains a carousel with at least two photos after deletion, not converting it into a single-image post.
How to Delete a Single Photo from a Published Carousel on Instagram
Let’s walk through the steps to delete a photo from your Instagram carousel. For this example, imagine we want to remove a photo from a carousel post.
Step 1: Locate the Instagram carousel you wish to edit and tap the three dots icon situated at the top right corner of your screen.
Step 2: A menu will appear. From this menu, select Edit.
Step 3: Look at the top left corner of each photo in your carousel. You’ll now see a trash bin icon. Tap this icon on the photo you want to delete.
Instagram carousel post in editing mode with trash can icon visible in top left corner
Step 4: Instagram will prompt you to confirm your decision to delete the image. Tap Delete to proceed. Keep in mind that even after deleting, you have a 30-day window to restore the photo if you change your mind.
Step 5: Finally, tap Done in the top right corner to save your changes. This step is crucial and easily overlooked, so make sure you finalize your edit by tapping “Done.”
How to Restore a Deleted Photo to an Instagram Carousel
What if you accidentally deleted a photo or decided you want it back in your carousel? Instagram has you covered. Here’s how to restore a deleted photo.
Step 1: Navigate to your profile and tap the three horizontal lines in the top right corner. A menu will slide out from the right side of the screen. Tap Your activity from this menu.
Step 2: Scroll down through the options until you find Recently Deleted and tap it.
Step 3: You’ll see all the media you’ve deleted within the last 30 days. Find the specific photo you want to restore to your carousel and select it.
Step 4: Tap Restore on the pop-up menu that appears at the bottom of the screen.
Step 5: Instagram will ask for a final confirmation to ensure you want to restore the photo. Tap Restore one more time to complete the process.
Restoring a deleted photo on Instagram
While Instagram’s feature to delete photos from carousels is convenient, it’s always best to minimize errors in your posts. Remember, in the digital age, screenshots are permanent. Careful planning and a solid social media marketing strategy can help reduce mistakes and the need for post-publication edits.
Utilizing the right tools can further streamline your Instagram content creation. Hootsuite allows you to draft, preview, schedule, and publish all types of Instagram content, including feed posts, carousels, Stories, and Reels. Moreover, with Canva integrated directly into Hootsuite, creating visually appealing carousel graphics with the correct sizes and dimensions becomes incredibly easy.
Hootsuite’s intuitive calendar view provides a clear overview of all your scheduled content, ensuring you can review posts across various platforms before they go live.
Hootsuite Planner – Weekly overview of planned content
Simplify your Instagram management alongside your other social media efforts with Hootsuite. Schedule carousels, edit images, and track performance all from one dashboard. Start your free trial today.
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