We all know the struggle: you’re endlessly swiping through reels, come across a funny one, and before you can show it to your friend…it vanishes! Unlike posts, Instagram doesn’t let you revisit previously seen reels. This can be quite frustrating but fear not – some workarounds can help you check your Instagram Reels watch history. Let’s get going and track down that unforgettable reel.
Check Your Instagram Watch History
Instagram doesn’t offer a direct way to let you find the Reels you recently watched. But there are ways to check them if you did interact with them by sharing, liking, or commenting on them. Here are all the ways you can find Instagram Reels you may have watched.
Method 1: See Which Reels You Liked
One way to find your Instagram watch history is through your liked Reels. Instagram logs all Reels and posts you have liked. You can use it to revisit a Reel you were looking for. Here’s how to do it:
- On Instagram, go to your profile screen.
- Now, tap on the hamburger menu at the top right.
- Choose Your activity from the list of options and select Likes under “Interactions”.
- You will see all the posts and Reels you’ve recently liked. If you want to view Reels, then you can apply a filter by tapping on the All content types dropdown.
- From here, choose Reels inside the “Filter by content type” menu.
This filters out the posts, so you should only see your liked Reels. You can also sort based on time and creators. If you are looking for a Reel that you have not liked, then you won’t find it here.
Method 2: Find Watch History from Your Instagram Saved Folder
Another way to track your Reels watch history is by saving them. While this takes another step than directly liking a post, it helps you organize the Reels you want to revisit later on. To save a Reel on Instagram, follow these steps.
- On the homepage, tap on the Reel icon from the bottom toolbar.
- Scroll through Reels and when you find one that interests you, tap on the 3-dots icon.
- Then just select the Save option from the overflow menu.
- When you save a Reel, you can easily access it by going to your Instagram profile.
- Here, tap on the hamburger menu at the top right and select Saved.
- Then tap on All Posts to view all your saved posts.
Here you will find all your saved content. You can switch to the Reels tab to browse to the one you were looking after.
Method 3: Check Watch History Using Accounts and Hastags
If the above methods didn’t bring any fruitful results, then you may have to rely on your memory for help. If you remember the account name of the Reel creator or any of the hashtags they used, then you can search the reels through it.
Just go to the explore page by tapping the Search tab from the bottom, and type the account name or hashtag in the search bar. If it is an account, then select the Account section. Select the account if it appears familiar, and browse through their reels to find the one you’re after.
Method 4: Find Reels Using Music and Audio
Most Reels often use catchy or trendy background music to make the content more appealing. If you can’t find the reel itself, try searching for the song it uses to look it up. In case you can’t recall the music, then I suggest typing its lyrics on Google, finding the song, and hopping back on Instagram.
- On Instagram, tap on the search icon at the bottom to open the Explore page.
- Use the search bar above, and type the name or the lyrics of the song to look it up.
- Then go to the Audio section and tap on the correct song.
- It will now show a bunch of reels using the same audio. Try to see if yours is in there somewhere.
Method 5: Check Instagram Watch History On Other Platforms
Now this isn’t an obvious solution to your issue, but if you are looking for a specific Reel that you stumbled across then you should try looking it up on other sites. Most Reels that go viral end up being re-uploaded on other platforms as well. This includes platforms like YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, and even Google.
If it had a certain dialogue or a product that you can recall, then try searching for it on Google. So there is a chance for you to find it elsewhere.
These are some ways to revisit your Instagram watch history. Given how even YouTube lets you view your watch history of Shorts (Its version of Reels), it is high time that the app adds a similar feature.
The methods we discussed do take the extra effort of liking or sharing a Reel, but as of now, these are the only ways that you can check your Reels watch history on Instagram. Meanwhile, if you are a budding creator, don’t forget to check our list of the best Instagram Reels tips and tricks to use the feature to the fullest.
No, You won’t find your watch history when you request your Instagram information. Instead, what you will see in the reels.html file is the history of the Reels you have uploaded to the platform.
Instagram doesn’t natively have a watch history option for Reels. However, you can check your liked Reels and saved Reels as workarounds to check your Reel watch history.
If you haven’t quit the app, you can go to the Reels section and scroll up to view your previously watched Reels. Other than that, you can like or save an Instagram Reel to rewatch later.
If you come across a Reel that you do not like, then tap on the three-dot menu below the Send icon and select Not Interested. Instagram will save your preference and won’t suggest that type of content in the future.
If you recall the account that posted the Reel, then you can look it up and browse through their profile to find the Reel. Otherwise, you can search for the Reel or its related hashtag on Instagram. You should try searching for any keyword, song, phrase, or product mentioned in the Reel video on other platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, and Google.
Source: Beebom
