Instagram has a habit of moving things around just as you get used to them. It’s annoying. One day you’re scrolling through every photo you’ve ever double-tapped, and the next, the menu is gone, replaced by some new "Engagement" metric or a Reels shortcut you didn't ask for. Honestly, figuring out how to find my likes on instagram shouldn't feel like a digital scavenger hunt, but here we are.
Whether you're trying to find that recipe you liked three months ago or you're doing a "vibe check" on your past digital self, the data is still there. Meta hasn't deleted it. They just tucked it away inside a section called "Your Activity." It makes sense from a data-privacy standpoint, I guess, but for the average person just trying to find a cool pair of sneakers they saw last week, it's a bit of a trek.
The Direct Path to Your Liked Posts
Stop looking in your Settings. Seriously. If you go to the main Settings and Privacy menu, you’ll spend twenty minutes wandering through "Accounts Center" and "Supervision" without seeing a single heart icon.
To actually see your likes, open the app and tap your profile picture in the bottom right. Look for the three horizontal lines—the "hamburger" menu—in the top right. This is the gateway. Once you tap that, you’ll see an option labeled Your Activity. This is the hub for everything you've done on the platform. Inside here, you’ll see "Interactions." Tap that, and finally, you’ll see "Likes."
It’s a lot of tapping.
Once you’re in the Likes section, Instagram actually gives you some decent tools to sort through the chaos. You can sort by "Newest to Oldest" or "Oldest to Newest." If you’ve had your account since 2012, looking at your "Oldest" likes is a terrifying trip down memory lane involving heavy X-Pro II filters and borders that haven't been cool in a decade. You can also filter by date or by specific authors. If you know you liked a post by a specific creator but can't find it in the sea of memes, the author filter is a lifesaver.
Why Can’t I Find This on Desktop?
The desktop experience for Instagram is... lacking. That’s being generous. For a long time, you couldn't even check your likes on a PC or Mac browser. While Meta has updated the web interface to be more functional, it’s still not a 1:1 mirror of the app.
Currently, if you’re on a laptop, you can click "More" (the three lines at the bottom left) and then "Your Activity." From there, you should see "Interactions" and "Likes." If it doesn't show up for you, don't panic. Instagram rolls out these interface updates in waves. Sometimes the web version lags behind the mobile app by months. If you’re desperate to see your likes on a big screen and the option isn't there, your best bet is actually a third-party browser extension, though I’d be careful with those. Giving a random Chrome extension access to your Instagram token is a great way to get your account hacked. Just use your phone.
The Archive vs. Likes: Don't Confuse the Two
I see people get this mixed up all the time. Your "Archive" is for your posts—the ones you’ve hidden from your grid but didn't want to delete forever. Your "Likes" are other people's posts.
If you’re looking for a post you made yourself that disappeared, check the Archive. If you’re looking for a post someone else made that you interacted with, use the Your Activity path.
Limits You Should Know About
Instagram isn't a perfect library. There are limits to what you can see.
- Deleted Posts: If the person who posted the photo deletes it, it vanishes from your "Likes" section immediately.
- Deactivated Accounts: If a creator deactivates their account, their posts disappear from your history until they come back.
- The 300-Post Myth: There used to be a rumor that Instagram only saved your last 300 likes. That’s false. You can scroll back through years of data, though the app might get a bit laggy if you try to load five years of likes in one sitting.
Managing Your Digital Footprint
Sometimes, finding your likes isn't about nostalgia. It's about cleaning up. If you’re going through a life change—maybe a breakup or a career shift—you might want to "unlike" things en masse.
In the "Likes" section of "Your Activity," there’s a "Select" button in the top right. This is the "bulk delete" equivalent for likes. You can tap multiple posts—up to hundreds at a time—and hit "Unlike" at the bottom. It’s significantly faster than visiting every profile individually.
One thing to watch out for: If you unlike thousands of posts in a very short window, Instagram’s spam filters might get twitchy. They might think you’re a bot and temporarily "action block" you. Keep it to a few dozen at a time if you want to stay under the radar.
👉 See also: Adaptive Radiation Explained Simply: Why Life Explodes Into New Forms
Troubleshooting the "Missing" Likes
What if you follow the path—Profile > Menu > Your Activity > Interactions > Likes—and it's just empty? Or worse, the "Interactions" button isn't there?
First, check for an update. I know, it’s the tech support equivalent of "plug it in," but Instagram versions change constantly. If you're on a version of the app from six months ago, the menus might literally be in different places.
Second, check your internet connection. The "Likes" page is data-heavy because it’s pulling thumbnails from all over the platform. If you’re on weak coffee-shop Wi-Fi, it might just show a blank screen.
Third, consider if you’ve been "shadowbanned" or restricted. It’s rare, but if Meta flagged your account for suspicious activity, they sometimes limit your access to your own data hubs while they "verify" your identity. Usually, a quick password change or two-factor authentication (2FA) check clears this up.
👉 See also: How to Delete YouTube Profile: What Happens to Your Data and How to Actually Do It
The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters
Privacy experts often point to the "Your Activity" tab as one of the most important parts of the app. It’s not just about likes. It’s where you see how much time you spend on the app, what links you’ve clicked, and what you’ve searched for.
In 2026, data transparency is a bigger deal than ever. Understanding how to find my likes on instagram is really just the first step in understanding how the algorithm sees you. Every like is a data point. When you see your like history, you’re looking at the training manual for your "Explore" page. If you don't like what you see on Explore, the "Unlike" tool in Your Activity is your best weapon to fix it.
Practical Next Steps for Your Account
If you want to keep your liked posts organized or simply want to clean up your digital history, here is how you should handle it moving forward:
- Use Collections for the important stuff: If you like a post because you want to reference it later (like a recipe or a workout), don't just "Like" it. Save it to a Collection. Likes are for engagement; Collections are for bookmarks. It makes finding things 10x easier because you can categorize them.
- Audit your likes quarterly: Every few months, go into "Your Activity" and spend five minutes unliking things that no longer interest you. This keeps your "Suggested" content fresh and relevant.
- Download your data: If you’re worried about losing your history, you can request a "Data Download" from Meta. They’ll send you a file with every interaction you’ve ever had. It’s a bit of a mess to read, but it’s yours.
The layout of these apps will keep changing. It’s inevitable. But as long as you remember that "Your Activity" is the home for your personal data, you’ll always be able to find your way back to those posts you loved.