How to Fast Forward Instagram Stories

Harnessing the spirit of Snapchat, Instagram Stories have become one of the most entertaining parts of the app. Traditionally, Instagram had a bit of a reputation when it came to the way people present themselves.

And “Instagram Life” is a phrase that depicts something a bit distant from reality. On the other hand, stories are more in the moment. It’s a chance to be funny and spontaneous. They’re only 15 seconds long, but you can make an unlimited number of them. If sometimes you need to fast forward a few!

Instagram Stories for Everyone

There’s no denying the convenience of an Instagram Story. When you open your Instagram app, they’re the first thing you see at top of the screen. All the profile pictures of the people you follow, with a little preview of what’s in today’s story. And that’s the thing, they’re only available for 24 hours after they’ve been posted. This can create a real FOMO (fear of missing out) for some people, like behind the scenes from the new Marvel movie. It doesn’t matter that it’s all still pretty much staged. Or you’re curious about what your friend has been doing. But then you realize they’ve created 20 Instagram Stories of their cat sleeping in exactly two positions! Time to fast forward! Here’s how to navigate through Instagram Stories:

1. To pause a story all you have to do is tap and hold.
2. To rewind a story, tap on the top left of the screen (under their profile photo).
3. To fast forward through stories just keep tapping on the screen.
4. To skip an entire user’s profile, just swipe left.

Those are the basic tools for watching Instagram Stories. Usually, you’re able to go through them relatively fast. Besides, you’re only going to stick around and watch the entire content for stories you’re really interested in. And Instagram accommodates you there as well. Because the profiles of the Instagram Stories will be listed first. Soon enough, you’ll just go through the first few you normally watch and move on. Unless you’re extremely bored, that is, then you might just go through the whole list.

What About Instagram Live Stories?

Instagram has expanded in terms of what features are available for users. Stories were a game changer, but Live Video Streams has opened up even more possibilities. It’s a great way for people to connect directly with their followers and interact with them. If you have a certain thing on your mind that you want to talk about, just start a live stream and check out who’s there.

A lot of the time, people with a lot of followers will announce that they’ll be starting an Instagram Live so that people can make sure to be there. Beauty gurus will talk about a product or show you how to apply it. And Instagram life coaches will share valuable insights. Still, some people will miss out. That’s why you can share a replay of a Live stream to your stories.

These live streams can go on for much longer than 15 seconds. And when you see a replay shared you might decide to watch it. But then you realize you want to fast forward and see where it goes or how it ends. This is what you need to do:

1. Open Instagram and go to the user’s home page.
2. Tap on their profile picture to start the replay.
3. After the reply starts, tap and hold anywhere on the screen.
4. With your finger still on the screen, drag your other finger to the right to fast forward the video.
5. You will see the timestamp indicator displayed on the top of the screen. That is how you know how much you’ve fast forwarded it.
6. To resume playing the replay, remove your finger from the screen.

If you fast forward the replay too far, you can always rewind it. The process is exactly the same as normal fast forwarding, but instead of right, you drag your other finger to the left. Also, for now, you can only do this on the Instagram mobile app. The web version still doesn’t support it.

Fast Forward to the Good Part

That’s what’s behind every fast-forwarding action. It’s either gets to the good part or the very specific part you’re looking for. Watching a bunch of Instagram Stories can be incredibly entertaining, but no one has time for that. You have to be somewhat selective.

Otherwise, before you know it, you’ve been scrolling through Instagram for hours and the panic starts creeping in. So fast forward and rewind, swipe and skip all you want. You’ll still get to consume plenty of Instagram Stories.

Let us know what you think about fast forwarding Instagram stories in the comments section below.