How to post a Reel on Instagram: phone and computer

To post a Reel, open Instagram and tap Create, the plus sign, whose position depends on your version and phone; swiping right from the feed opens the same camera. Choose Reel at the bottom, record a clip or pick a video from your gallery, tap Next to edit, then Next again to write a caption and choose a cover, and tap Share. Any account can post Reels. Professional accounts get extras, such as insights and trial reels.

From a computer, go to instagram.com, select Create and upload the video from your files. A video shared this way is published as a reel, but the website’s editing is basic, so finish the edit first.

Instagram accepts almost any video, but a handful of settings decide whether a reel looks sharp and whether it can reach people beyond your followers.

Tip: If you edit in another app, export without its watermark. Instagram has said it’s less likely to recommend reels that carry another app’s logo.

1. Open Instagram and tap Create, the plus sign. Instagram’s Help Center puts it at the bottom of the screen on iPhone, and under your profile picture as Create new on Android; some versions show it at the top left of the home feed. Swiping right from the feed works too.
2. Tap Reel along the bottom of the camera screen.
3. To film, tap the record button to start and again to stop. Each recording becomes a clip, and you can film several in a row.
4. To use videos you already have, tap the gallery thumbnail at the bottom left and select one or more.
5. Before filming, open any tools you need from the side of the camera, such as audio, length, speed, a countdown timer, layouts and effects. Their names and order change between versions.
6. Tap Next to open the editor. Trim or reorder clips, add text, stickers, a voiceover or music, then tap Next again.
7. On the share screen, write the caption, set the cover, tag people and add a location. Each option is explained below.
8. Tap Share. To finish another time, tap Save draft instead.

Long or high-quality videos take a while to upload. Keep Instagram open until the reel appears on your profile, particularly on mobile data, where a dropped connection can stall the upload.

• Text timing: each text box can appear and disappear at moments you choose, so words match what’s being said instead of sitting on screen for the whole reel.
• Captions: where Instagram offers it, the editor can generate on-screen captions from speech. Read them before sharing, because names and jargon often come out wrong.
• Voiceover: record narration over the video, which suits tutorials filmed in silence.
• Music: search Instagram’s library, choose the part of the song you want and balance its volume against your original sound.
• Clips: drag to reorder and trim the ends. Start on the most interesting moment rather than a slow lead-in.
• Edits: Instagram also makes a separate phone app called Edits for longer editing sessions, and finished videos can be shared from it to Instagram.

Music has one catch. Instagram’s licensed music library isn’t available to every account type or in every country, so a song you heard on someone else’s reel may not appear for you, and Meta says certain business accounts have no access to it. Instagram’s alternative is Meta’s Sound Collection, a library of songs and sounds, or you can record your own audio.

The caption is also where you tell viewers what to do next. Because a link there won’t work, a reel that promotes something should point to the link in your bio, or ask people to comment a word so you can send them the link by DM.

1. Go to instagram.com and log in.
2. Select Create in the menu on the left, and choose Post if it asks what you’re making.
3. Select from computer and choose your video file.
4. If it offers a crop, choose the original shape so a 9:16 video isn’t trimmed.
5. Select Next, pick a cover frame and trim the video if needed, then select Next again.
6. Write the caption, add a location, tag people and adjust the settings, then select Share.

Expect only basic editing on the website, such as trimming and choosing a cover. Add music, text and effects in the app or in your video editor before you upload. For planning reels from a desk, Meta Business Suite can publish and schedule them for professional accounts too.

• Look at the tile on your profile grid. If the cover’s title got cut off, design the next cover with its words nearer the middle.
• Reply to the first comments while people are still watching, so the conversation under the reel starts with you.
• Pin your strongest reels. Instagram lets you pin up to three posts or reels to the top of your profile, a good spot for the one that explains what your account is about.
• Fix the caption, tags or location from the reel’s menu if something’s wrong. Changes to the video itself are limited, so the dependable fix for a mistake in the footage is to delete the reel and post it again.
• With a professional account, check the insights after a few days. Views, how long people watched, shares and follows say more about a reel than its likes.

• There’s no Reel option: update the app. If the plus sign isn’t where you expect, check the top left of the home feed, or swipe right from the feed.
• The song you want isn’t listed: the licensed library isn’t open to every account type or country. Try Instagram’s Sound Collection or your own audio.
• The sound was muted after posting: Instagram says changes to its agreements with music rights holders can mute a reel’s audio. Its help pages say you can replace the muted track once, by tapping Audio unavailable on the reel.
• The video looks blurry: export at 1080p, don’t send the file through a messaging app first, since many compress video, and turn on Upload at highest quality in Instagram’s media quality settings.
• The upload stalls: move to a steady Wi-Fi connection, keep Instagram open until it finishes, and free up storage if the phone is nearly full.
• Views stop at your followers: Instagram has said it’s less likely to recommend reels that are low resolution, muted, framed with borders, mostly text or watermarked by another app, and reels over 3 minutes aren’t recommended to non-followers.