How Instagram Story Comments Work: Visibility, Permissions, and Expiration Rules

Instagram now allows public comments on Stories, replacing the previous system where all Story replies were sent as private direct messages.

What's Changed

Instagram introduced a dedicated comments section for Stories. Previously, tapping the reply bar on a Story would open a DM thread with the poster. Now, Stories can display a visible comment thread that other viewers can also see.

This is a meaningful change to the interaction model. Stories were designed as ephemeral, low-friction content. Adding a public comment layer introduces a new visibility dynamic that affects both creators and viewers.

Who Can Comment

Not everyone can leave a comment on a Story. Instagram restricts commenting to mutual followers. This means only accounts that you follow back can post a comment on your Story.

This is different from feed post comments, where any public account follower can comment. The mutual follow requirement is a deliberate constraint that limits Story comments to a smaller, more trusted audience.

How to Enable Story Comments

Story comments are controlled through your account settings. You need to enable Story replies in your settings for comments to appear. If you have replies turned off, the comment feature will not be active on your Stories.

The setting is located under Privacy, then Stories, then Reply settings. You can choose to allow replies from everyone, people you follow, or turn them off entirely. The comment feature follows this same permission structure.

How Comments Appear

When enabled, comments appear below the Story content in a scrollable section. Other viewers who meet the mutual follow requirement can see these comments while viewing the Story.

Comments are not threaded. There is no nested reply functionality within the Story comment section. Each comment stands on its own in a flat list.

Expiration Rules

Story comments follow the same lifecycle as the Story itself. When the Story expires after 24 hours, all comments attached to it disappear as well. There is no archive or history of Story comments after expiration.

If the Story is added to a Highlight, the behavior may differ. Instagram has not provided detailed documentation on whether comments persist in Highlights. This is an area where behavior may vary or change as the feature matures.

How This Differs from Story Replies

The older reply system sent a private DM to the Story poster. Only the poster could see these replies. The new comment system makes responses visible to other mutual followers viewing the same Story.

Both systems can co-exist. A viewer can still send a private DM reply to a Story. The comment feature simply adds a public layer on top of the existing private one.

FAQ

Can anyone see my Story comments? Only people who also follow the Story poster and are followed back can see comments. Comments are not visible to the general public or to non-mutual followers.

Do comments count toward engagement metrics? Instagram has not confirmed whether Story comments are tracked as a separate metric in Insights. Story replies already appear in some analytics views, but comment-specific metrics have not been documented.

What happens to comments when a Story expires? Comments are deleted along with the Story after 24 hours. There is no way to recover or export them.

Can I delete individual comments on my Story? Yes. As the Story poster, you can remove individual comments. This works similarly to comment moderation on feed posts.

Are Story comments available on desktop? Story comments are a mobile feature. The behavior on desktop or through third-party tools has not been confirmed by Instagram.