How To Post on Instagram

With over 1.3 billion users globally, Instagram is the world’s fourth most popular social media platform. Posting photos is only the beginning with this well-known photo-sharing platform; there’s so much more you can do. You can add engaging photo captions and hashtags, tag your friends, add a location to your photos and videos, and more.

How to post a photo on Instagram

Follow these simple steps to post unedited photos to Instagram:

1. Open the Instagram app on your mobile.
2. Tap the “+” icon at the top right of the screen to start a new Instagram post.

3. From the drop-down list, select the “Post” option for posting photos.

4. Select a photo from your phone’s gallery, or tap the camera icon to take a new photo.

5. Tap “Next” to move to the next screen, where you can enter image details or publish without adding details.

6. Click “Share” to post your photo. If you’d like to add filters or edit the photo, read on for the steps to do so.

How to add filters to an Instagram post

If you’d like to edit your Instagram photo before posting, follow these steps:

1. Complete steps 1 through 4 above.
2. To use a preset filter, scroll through the options (e.g., Clarendon, Gingham) and select the one you like. To reset any filter and return to the original image, use the filter named “Normal.”

3. If you’d like to manually change the photo’s appearance rather than using a preset filter, tap the “Edit” option next to “Filter.”

4. Scroll through the various photo aspects, such as black/white contrast and color saturation, and select what you’d like to edit.

5. After you’ve completed editing your photo, click “Done” or “Next.” (The word may vary depending on whether you’ve used the “Filter” or “Edit” function.)

6. Click “Share” to post your photo.

7. If you change your mind and don’t want to post the photo, tap the arrow at the top left. Then choose “Discard” or “Save Draft.”

How to add details to your Instagram post

Instagram photos are more than just images; they often include details such as captions, hashtags, and geotags. Here are the steps to add these details to your post:

1. Complete steps 1 through 5 above. You’ll be guided to the screen just before posting your photo.

2. Enter a caption for your photo in the “Write a caption” text field. You can use up to 2,200 characters. (Users only see 125 characters on their Instagram feed; they’ll have to tap on your post to read the full caption.) Then click “OK.”

3. Click “Tag People” to tag a friend. On the next screen, tap wherever you want to place the tag on the photo. Type your friend’s name or username in the search bar that appears. Press and drag to move the tag around; tap “X” to remove the tag. Click “Done” to return to the previous screen.

4. Choose “Add Location” to add a location, such as a city, an address, or an event, to your photo. Type the location in the search bar and select one from the list. The page will automatically return to the previous screen.

5. If you have more than one Instagram account, select which account(s) you wish to post to. Instagram allows you to post to multiple accounts.

6. If your Instagram account is linked to other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr, you can post to those platforms as well using the toggle buttons.
7. Once you’ve added all the details (caption, tag, location, etc.), click “Share” to post the photo.

How to post a video or multiple photos on Instagram

Instagram also allows you to post videos and multiple photos on your profile. Follow the instructions below to do so.

How to post a video on Instagram

Here are the steps to post a video:

1. Open the Instagram app on your mobile.
2. Tap the “+” icon at the top right of the screen to start a new post.
3. From the drop-down list, select “Post.”
4. From your phone’s gallery, choose the video you want to post. (Tip: Click the down caret next to “Recents” and select “Videos” from the dropdown to access all your device videos.) To record a new video, tap the camera icon and hold down the center circle.

5. Tap “Next.”
6. If you want, you can customize your Instagram video with a filter.
7. Click the speaker icon at the top of the screen to mute the video.

8. Tap “Trim” to trim the length of your video. Move/adjust the slider on the video’s display to choose which part of the video to post.

9. Once you’ve trimmed your video, click “Next.”

10. On the next screen, add video details such as caption, tag, and location (similar to the steps explained for adding details to a photo).
11. Click “Share” to post your video.

How to post multiple photos on Instagram

To share multiple photos in one Instagram post, do the following:

1. Open the Instagram mobile app.
2. Tap the “+” icon at the top right of the screen.
3. From the drop-down list, select “Post.”
4. Tap the multiple images icon at the top right of the screen to add more than one image to a post.

5. Scroll through your gallery and select up to 10 images. Selected images/videos will have a blue dot with a number to indicate their order in the post. To deselect the images, tap them again.

6. Click “Next.”
7. To edit the images, tap on them and apply filters or edits. Click “Done” to return to the carousel of selected photos.
8. When you’ve finished editing all the images, tap “Next.”
9. On the next screen, you can enter the image details.
10. Click “Share” to publish the selected images in a single post.

How to add advanced settings to your Instagram posts

Instagram allows you to add advanced settings to your posts, such as:

• Displaying post likes (and for videos, whether or not to display the views)
• Turning commenting on or off
• Automatically sharing your posts to Facebook
• Adding alt text (descriptive text for visually impaired users)
• Adding a “Paid Partnership” label

To access advanced settings, click the “Advanced Settings” option at the bottom of the final screen before posting your content. On the next screen, toggle each of the above options on or off.

Learn more about Instagram’s features

Learning to post photos and videos on Instagram is only the beginning. Continue learning how to make the most of this popular content sharing platform with the following helpful guides:

• How to tag someone on Instagram
• How to get verified on Instagram
• How to make your Instagram private
• How to block someone on Instagram
• How long can Instagram videos be?