How to View Your Instagram Reels Watch History

Are you looking for a way to rewatch Instagram Reels that you’ve enjoyed some time back? If yes, you’re in the right place. Although Instagram Reels is a relatively new feature on Instagram, people have quickly fallen in love with it. It allows you to create a video montage of your best moments and share them with your followers. But watching other people’s Reels is the perfect way to introduce yourself to new ideas and appreciate their creativity.

Although Instagram has yet to develop a built-in tool that allows you to view your watch history quickly, you can still pull your complete viewing history with a few easy steps.

How to View Your Instagram Reels Watch History

Let’s see how you can go about it.

Solution 1 – Requesting Your Account Data File from Instagram

Social media has provided us with a free archive of not just our best moments but the special moments in other people’s lives.

Once something has been uploaded onto social media, it may stick around forever. This may seem like an invasion, but in reality, it means you always have the chance to relive those special moments. And that’s certainly true when it comes to Instagram Reels.

Instagram keeps a detailed account activity report for every user on the platform. You could call it your activity log – a report that details everything you’ve done on Instagram. Everything is documented, right from the moment you sign in to the moment you sign out.

The report contains details of all the Reels you’ve watched on your account. Getting your hands on the report means you have links to all those videos.

You need to lodge an official request with Instagram to view your account report. Here’s how to do it:

1. Sign in to your Instagram account on a PC. If you don’t have the Instagram desktop app, a browser like Chrome or Internet Explorer will work just fine.
   
   
2. Click on your profile avatar in the top right corner of your screen. This should open your profile management page.
   
   
3. Select Settings from the drop-down menu. You should see an expanded settings menu on the left side of your screen.
   
   
4. Click on Privacy and Security.
   
   
5. Scroll down to Data Download.
   
   
6. At this point, a new window should open requesting you to provide an email address through which you’d like to receive your report. It doesn’t have to be the address you used when signing up on the platform. However, be sure to provide a valid address you can access without issues.
   
   
7. Once you’ve entered a valid email address, click on Next.
   
   
8. You’ll be prompted to enter your Instagram account password.
   
   
9. Click on Request Download to complete the process. After this, the Instagram support team will dive into your archives to generate your account report. The process can take a few minutes or longer, depending on how active you are on Instagram.
   
   
10. Once you’ve received an official mail from Instagram, click on Download Information.
    
    
11. You’ll be prompted to enter your account credentials to confirm your identity. Enter the details and then hit the Log in button.
    
    
12. You’ll now be redirected to a new page giving you a short brief about the type of information you’re about to download and a few tips on how to use it. Click on Download Information when you’re ready to proceed.
    
    
13. After the file has been successfully downloaded, double-click on it. This should unzip the file and display a list of the folders containing your data.
    
    
14. Double click on the folder named content.
    
    
15. Scroll through the content submenu and click on the file named reels.html. This should open a list of links to each Reel you’ve ever watched.
    
    
16. To watch a given Reel, simply run the link on a browser.
    

And that’s it. This method may take time but is a surefire way to view your watch history.

Solution 2 – Tracing Your Saved Reels

One of the best things about Instagram Reels is that it comes with a save button. You can save the Reels that steal your heart and view them whenever you want.

Here’s how to access your saved content:

1. Sign in to your account.
   
   
2. Tap on your profile avatar in the bottom right corner of your screen.
   
   
3. Tap on the hamburger icon to open your content management section.
   
   
4. Tap on Saved. At this point, a new page should open where you should see all your saved posts on one side and your saved Reels on the other.
   
   
5. To watch any of your saved Reels, simply give it a tap.
   

Even if you’re not sure whether you’ve saved the specific Reel you’re looking for, accessing your saved posts only takes a few moments, so it’s worth the effort.

Solution 3 – Tracing Your Liked Reels

You might have given the Reels that are worth revisiting a “like” after watching.

Whenever you like a Reel, Instagram’s algorithms take note and keep this information within the settings section of your account. Therefore, you can easily see all the Reels you’ve liked in just a few taps. Here’s how:

1. Sign in to your account.
   
   
2. Tap on your profile avatar in the bottom right corner of your screen.
   
   
3. Tap on the hamburger icon to open your content management section.
   
   
4. Tap on the Settings icon at the bottom of your screen.
   
   
5. When the Settings section opens, select Account from the options available.
   
   
6. Once the accounts page opens, scroll down and tap on Post You’ve Liked. This should open a new page that displays all the posts and Reels you’ve liked since you first signed up.
   
   
7. To watch a Reel, simply give it a tap.
   

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to more of your questions about Instagram Reels.

Is there another way to get my Reels history?

Our methods above are the only surefire way to get your Reels watch history back, but they may seem too daunting and unreliable if you didn’t like the Reel you’re looking for. Fortunately, Reels aren’t removed like Stories are. Unless the original poster deleted them, they’re still available for viewing.

If our methods above didn’t help you, all hope isn’t lost.

1. If you remember which creator posted the Reel you can revisit their profile and tap on the Reel icon. Scroll through the Reels and tap on the one that interests you.

2. Another option you have is to check any messages between you and another user. Perhaps you’ve forwarded the Reel to another user. If that’s the case, you can easily recover the Reel in Instagram’s DMs.

3. Lastly, some users have had luck by asking Reddit. Head over to the social media site and post a Looking for post on r/Instagram.

Can I download my Instagram data on a smartphone?

Yes!

1. Following the steps above, go to the Settings and tap on Security.

2. From there you will see the option to request your data.

3. When you receive the email you can download the file onto your device.

Relive Your Best Moments

Instagram comes with a ton of great features, but there’s no official way to view your Reels watch history. Instead of relying on luck and hoping that those old gems will show up again, you can dig into your archives and look for them.

First, you could lodge an official account data request with the Instagram support team. This method works best if there’s a whole bunch of Reels that you’d like to watch but don’t have the time to look for them one at a time.

Alternatively, you could navigate to your settings section and view the Reels you’ve saved or liked. There’s a good chance you’ll find the video you’re looking for, especially if you’re into the habit of leaving behind a reaction or comment on the videos you fall in love with.

Have you tried accessing your Instagram Reels watch history using any of the methods discussed in this article? How did it go?

Let us know in the comments section below.