The basic steps to post to your Instagram Story
To add to your Instagram Story, open Instagram on your phone and tap your profile picture or the plus icon in the top left corner. This takes you to the camera screen. You can take a new photo or video right there, or tap the gallery icon (usually at the bottom left) to choose something you already have saved. Once you've selected or taken your image, you can add text, stickers, or filters before posting it to your Story.
After you've made your edits, tap "Your Story" at the bottom of the screen. This posts it to your Story, where it stays visible for 24 hours. Only people who follow you can see it — unless you've changed your privacy settings to allow non-followers to view your Story.
The whole process takes about 30 seconds if you're just posting a photo with no edits, or a few minutes if you're adding text and effects.
Key Takeaways
- You can add to your Story by tapping your profile picture or the plus icon, then choosing a photo from your phone or taking a new one.
- Stories disappear after 24 hours unless you save them to your phone or add them to a Highlight on your profile.
- You can add text, stickers, location tags, and music to your Story before posting it.
- Only your followers see your Story by default, but you can change this in your privacy settings if you want non-followers to view it.
- If you delete a Story before the 24 hours are up, it disappears immediately for everyone.
Taking a new photo or video for your Story
When you tap your profile picture to open the camera, you're in the default photo mode. Hold down the shutter button (the white circle at the bottom center) to record a video instead of taking a still photo. The longer you hold, the longer your video is — Instagram Stories let you post up to 15 seconds at a time, though you can post multiple clips back-to-back.
You can swipe left or right on the camera screen to access different filters before you shoot. These are the same filters available in your main feed, and they change how the photo or video looks in real time. If you want to add effects after you've taken the shot, you can do that too — tap the smiley face icon to access stickers, text, and drawing tools.
If the lighting is bad or you're not happy with the first take, just tap the X button and try again. Nothing posts until you tap "Your Story" at the end.
Choosing photos or videos from your phone's gallery
Instead of taking something new, you can post something you've already saved. Tap the gallery icon (it looks like a small square or film strip, usually in the bottom left corner of the camera screen). This opens your phone's photo library. Scroll through and tap the photo or video you want to use.
Instagram will ask you to choose how much of the image to show — you can zoom in or out, or crop it to fit the Story format. Once you've framed it the way you want, tap "Next" or the arrow to move to the editing screen.
One thing to know: if you're posting a video from your gallery, it needs to be between 3 seconds and 15 seconds long. If it's longer, Instagram will let you trim it down before posting.
Adding text, stickers, and other effects
After you've chosen or taken your photo, you'll see the editing screen. Tap the "A" icon to add text — you can type whatever you want, change the font, and pick a color. Tap and drag the text box to move it around the image. You can add multiple text boxes to the same Story post if you want.
The smiley face icon opens stickers — these include emoji, location tags, time stamps, temperature, and interactive stickers like polls or question boxes. The drawing tool (usually a pen icon) lets you draw or write directly on the image with your finger. You can change the brush size and color before you start drawing.
If you want to add music, look for the music note icon. This opens Instagram's music library, where you can search for a song and add it to your Story. The song will play when someone views your post. You can trim the audio to start at a specific part of the song.
Understanding Story privacy and who can see what you post
By default, your Story is visible to everyone who follows you. People who don't follow you can't see it, even if they search for your profile. If you want to change this, go to your Settings (the three horizontal lines in the bottom right, then "Settings and privacy"), tap "Privacy," and then "Story." From there you can choose to let everyone see your Story, or you can block specific people from viewing it.
If you post something to your Story and then change your mind, you can delete it immediately by swiping left on it in your Story list, or by opening it and tapping the three dots in the top right corner, then "Delete." Once it's deleted, no one can see it anymore — even if they had already viewed it.
Stories also don't show up in your main feed or in search results. They only appear in the Stories bar at the top of your feed, and only for people who follow you (or everyone, if you've changed your privacy settings).
Saving your Stories so they don't disappear
Stories vanish after 24 hours, but you have two ways to keep them around. The first is to save the Story to your phone — tap the three dots on your Story and select "Save." This saves a copy to your phone's camera roll. The second is to add it to a Highlight on your profile, which keeps it visible on your profile indefinitely.
To create a Highlight, go to your profile, tap the plus icon under your bio, and name your Highlight (like "Travel" or "Food"). Then select which Stories you want to add to it. These Stories will stay on your profile in a circle with that Highlight's name, even after the 24 hours are up. Only you can see which Stories are in a Highlight unless you've made your profile public.
Troubleshooting common problems
If you're trying to post to your Story and nothing happens, first check that you have a working internet connection. Stories need to upload to Instagram's servers, so a weak WiFi signal or no data can cause the post to fail. Try closing the app and opening it again.
If you're getting an error message, it might be because your photo is too large or in an unsupported format. Instagram Stories work best with photos taken on your phone or standard image formats like JPG or PNG. If you're posting a video and it's not working, make sure it's between 3 and 15 seconds long and in a common format like MP4.
If your Story posted but looks blurry or pixelated, the original photo might have been low resolution. Instagram compresses images to save data, so very small or low-quality photos can look worse on Story than they do on your phone. Taking a new photo with your phone's camera usually gives better results than posting an old screenshot or heavily compressed image.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can people screenshot my Instagram Story?
Yes, people can take a screenshot of your Story without you knowing. Instagram used to notify you when someone took a screenshot, but that feature was removed. If you want to share something private, Stories are not the right place — consider using Instagram Direct Messages instead, which do notify you if someone takes a screenshot.
What happens if I post something to my Story by accident?
You can delete it immediately by swiping left on it in your Story list, or by opening it and tapping the three dots, then "Delete." Once deleted, it's gone for everyone. There's no way to edit a Story after it's posted — you have to delete it and post a new version.
Can I post the same photo to my Story and my feed?
Yes, you can post the same photo to both. When you're editing a photo for your Story, look for an option to also post it to your feed — this varies depending on your phone and Instagram version. Alternatively, you can post to your Story first, then go back and post the same photo to your feed separately.
How do I know if someone viewed my Story?
Tap on your Story after you've posted it, then swipe up. This shows you a list of everyone who has viewed it, in order from most recent. If someone doesn't follow you but views your Story, they'll still show up on this list.
Can I schedule a Story to post later?
Not through the regular Instagram app on your phone. You can only post Stories immediately. If you want to schedule content, you'd need to use Instagram's Creator Studio on a computer, though that's designed more for business accounts and has different features than the mobile app.