Instagram now lets users to see 'watched Reels'

Instagram announced on Friday that it will now allow users to view their previously watched Reels through a new “Watch History” feature. 

TikTok has had a similar feature for years. This addition lets users find videos they might not have saved, such as when they’re interrupted during a Reel, accidentally close the app, or get distracted.

“Have you ever tried to get back to a reel that you’d seen on Instagram and you just can’t find it?” Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a statement.

“Well, there is a new feature that should help. If you go to ‘Profile’ and under ‘Settings,’ under ‘Your ‘Activity,’ there’s Watch History now, so you can see every reel that you’ve ever watched.”

Similar to TikTok, the Watch History can be sorted by date, week, month, or a specific period, and users can delete entries if desired.

Compared to TikTok, Instagram’s feature offers more options for sorting videos by chronological order, reverse order, or by creator.

Instagram noted that the feature was highly requested, replacing previous workarounds like downloading data to recover lost videos. This makes finding missed videos easier and aligns Instagram Reels’ capabilities with those of TikTok.

Since shifting to a TikTok-like platform, Meta has consistently added features similar to those of TikTok, such as linking reels in series and supporting Picture-in-Picture (PiP) viewing.