By default, reels posted on Instagram appear under the Reels tab and are visible to anyone if you have a public account. However, you can enable the ‘Also share to feed’ option while sharing a reel so that the reel appears on your Instagram profile grid with other posts. Adding a reel video to the profile grid helps your followers easily discover your reels, thus maximizing their visibility.
‘Add to Profile Grid’ option missing on Instagram
The Instagram app has a ‘Remove from Profile Grid’ option so that users can hide a reel from their feed if needed. Doing so removes the particular reel from your profile but shows it under your reels.
Surprisingly, there is no option to add a reel back to the profile grid after you remove it from your Instagram profile or forget to share to feed while posting.
Accidentally removed a reel from your profile grid and want to add it back?
The fact is that the ‘Add to Profile Grid’ option was available in older versions of Instagram. The company later dropped this feature and now you can only add a reel to your profile while sharing. This is a big limitation and you cannot do much about it. Of course, you can download and repost the reel but you will also lose the reach and engagement your reel might have got.
Fortunately, there is a workaround you can use to get a reel back on profile grid after removing it. It also works if you didn’t add the reel to your feed in the first place. The trick involves downloading an older version of Instagram to show reels on profile grid again.
Now let’s see how to put Instagram reels back on the profile grid after removing or posting them.
NOTE: This guide is only for Android. iPhone users can instead use an Android device.
How to put a reel back on your profile grid after removing
- Important: Download your reels drafts as you will lose all draft reels and story drafts when you uninstall the Instagram app. TIP: Get some other device to avoid losing your drafts.
- Uninstall Instagram from your phone.
- Download the Aug 25th, 2020 version of Instagram (v156.0.0.26.109) and install the app by sideloading the APK file. (Mirror Link)
- Open the Instagram app you just installed and log into your account.
- Go to the profile tab and you won’t see the Reels tab yet. Worry not, go to Recent Apps and force close the Instagram app. Open Instagram again and the Reels tab should now appear.
- In the Reels tab on your profile, open the reel you want to bring back to your profile grid.
- Tap the ellipsis icon (3-dots) at the bottom and select “Add to Profile Grid”.
That’s it. Check and you will see that the reel appears in its original place instead of the top of your profile feed.
TIP: The steps to show Instagram reels on your profile grid after posting are exactly the same.
Note that you should use this workaround to simply undo remove from profile grid and then install the latest version of Instagram.
On iPhone
Since you cannot sideload apps on iOS, there is no way to put a reel back on your feed on an iPhone.
If you really need to add them back, your best bet would be to get an Android phone (from a friend or family member) to perform the above-mentioned task. This way you won’t even lose your reel drafts stored in the Instagram app on your iPhone.
Thanks. Accidentally removed a reel from my grid. This article helped my put it back on
Hi! Another easy way is making the post archive then putting it back. It will show back up on the page.
You cannot archive reels added to grid.
Sure can!
How do I archive a reel? I need to get it back on profile grid but have an iPhone!
God bless you, so helpful???
Is this link safe to download on someone else’s phone? I’m afraid to compromise their phone!
Yes, it’s absolutely safe.
I just want to say a huge thanks for this article. I accidentally removed a video that I had lots of engagement on, and this was the only article I found to help me put my reel back to the feed. It worked!
Thank you so much,this was so helpful.
Very very very helpful! Does it work!Thanks a lot man!
Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver!
This workeddd!!! Thank you so much you’re the best
Why is IG constantly fixing things that aren’t broken??? What was the point of removing the option to return reels back to your grid? Literally, who asked them to change this?? No one!
Thanks a ton!
No lo puedo creer!!!! Si funciono! ?muchas gracias !
Thank you so much! It is very detailed and great explanation, and it works!
Thank you so much for this hack! With a stupid slip of the finger I removed something from my grid and this helped me get it back.
Thanks to you so so much, it worked
You’re a genius and just saved my live (and job lol)
How to do it with iPhone?
As mentioned, it is not possible on iPhone.
wow. one good thing android is for 😀 thanks!
Mine doesn’t have the option in the 3 dots, just edit, delete, etc… I’m on Samsung S21 Ultra.
S21 Plus and it doesn’t work for me either…
Can not thank you enough!
IT PERFECTLY WORKED!!!
THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!
Mine isn’t installing
Thanks for the tip! This worked for me.
If you have an iPhone, you can use an Android emulator on a computer to download the version of Instagram provided and re-add the reels that way. I used Noxplayer https://www.bignox.com/
Can you break down how we go about doing so on the site ?
This is the best I’m so happy I could get my reels back on my feed ? m so teary Thankyou so much
Thank you soo much, I was searching this for so long. God bless
This work People. After instaling wait minutes or two, to shown reels icon. Bravo, and thank ?
Used my android phone and it worked so well! Thank you so much! ? God bless you.
Omgggg THANK YOU FOR THIS. I couldn’t believe it would work but it did 🙂 @lifefulmeaning
Thank you so much for saving my feed !!!!!!
Wow. Just can’t thank u enough. So easy quick fix this was to something I thought I won’t ever be able to get back. Thank u so much.
This worked!!! I installed the previous version and followed all your steps. Thank you so sooooooo much!!
Thank you! You are a legend. This worked perfectly!
The link is not working for me! please help!
I tried this on a Huawei Mate 10 lite, and I got a blank screen with a lonely (and useless) reload button with what I believe is an error code.
Reddit users complain about the same and it seems the problem is Meta is forcing users to only use recent versions of the app, which is really dumb. Dumb like the decision to take away the option of putting reels back to the grid. Totally nonsense.
Omggg thank you so so much!!!
Thank you so much for this
Thank you so much for this. Nice tip 🙂
It WOOOOOOOOOORKED!!!!!!! Thank you?
Many thanks. It is great!!!!!! You are super!!!
Worked perfectly for me!!! Thank you!
Now how do you get the new version of instagram back to post reels again? It won’t update for me… Tried uninstalling, deleting the downloaded file etc
Uninstall the downloaded version and then install the latest one from the Play Store.
Thank you soooo much for this!!! It really helps a lot!!
Is this totally safe or there is a chance of getting hacked? Because it shows a lot of times that personal information may leak!
Please share the screenshot of where you read that.
YOU ARE A SAVIOR!!!!!
Let’s goooo. Actually works
Wow I swear you just made me the happiest freaking person. THANK YOU OMGGG
How do I install the app I have downloaded. It shows I. My files
I tried this but in this versions there is no reel tab and when I find my reel there is no option 🙁
Thank you so much!! It worked <3
The app isn’t downloading from link
It won’t let me download the old version.
Is it still working as of this time? I can’t download the old version, broken link. I really need to restore my reels in my grid. Please help. Thank you.
Yes, there seems a problem downloading the file on mobile. Please use this mirror link instead: https://www.shorturl.at/luyL6
This link goes to a YouTube music video for me?
thank you so much! this was super helpful ^^
I cannot thank you enough!!!
Thank you so much for helping me!!!! No words can explain how much I am happy
Thanks. It was very helpful!
very helpful..!
thankyou!
Thank you!! It worked!
Thank you so much ?
You literally saved my profile
That Was smooth thanks??
This is great! All working guys. Thanks mate for your help. Mich appreciate it.