Instagram adds Watch History for Reels to manage viewed videos

Instagram on Friday began rolling out a Watch History feature for Reels that lets users view and manage videos they have previously watched, the company said. The tool, announced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri, adds a dedicated history section inside the app where people can see Reels they viewed, sort or filter them by date or creator, and remove entries if they choose.

Mosseri explained how to access the feature: open your profile, tap the three-line menu, choose Settings, then Your Activity, and select Watch History. The page lists previously watched Reels and supports sorting from newest to oldest or vice versa, filtering by predefined ranges such as the past week or month, specifying a custom date range, or narrowing results to a particular account. Instagram said the option to delete individual items from the watch history is available.

The change addresses a frequent user complaint about losing track of a Reel after accidentally closing the app or being interrupted while scrolling. Until now, users relied on workarounds such as liking a Reel, sending it to themselves, or downloading account data and searching through logs to recover lost videos. The new feature simplifies...