How to Add an Instagram Reel to a Facebook Story

Sharing your freshly created Instagram Reel to your Facebook Story is a smart, fast way to push your content further and reach a wider audience. This guide cuts straight to the chase, walking you through the exact steps to cross-post your video content and offering practical tips to ensure it lands with impact. We'll cover how to connect your accounts, the step-by-step sharing process, and what to do when things don't go as planned.

Why Share Instagram Reels to Your Facebook Stories?

You spent time creating that perfect Reel, so why let it live in only one place? Cross-posting your Instagram Reel to your Facebook Story isn't just about saving time, it's a strategic move to boost your content's performance. Here’s why it’s worth the few extra taps:

• Expanded Reach: Your Instagram followers and Facebook friends aren't always the same people. Many users still favor one platform over the other. By sharing your Reel on Facebook, you instantly expose your content to a potentially new audience that might have missed it otherwise.
• Maximized Content Value: Content creation is an investment of time and effort. Repurposing your Reels into Facebook Stories helps you get more value out of every single video you produce. It breathes new life into your content and keeps your Facebook audience engaged without requiring you to create something from scratch.
• Consistent Brand Messaging: Keeping your content consistent across platforms builds a stronger, more recognizable brand identity. Sharing your best Reels ensures your Facebook audience sees the same high-quality content and brand messaging that your Instagram followers enjoy.
• Increased Engagement Opportunities: Each platform offers unique ways for your audience to interact. Sharing a Reel to your Facebook Story could spark conversations and reactions from a segment of your audience that is more active message-wise on Facebook than on Instagram.

First Things First: Connect Your Instagram and Facebook Accounts

Before you can share content between platforms, Meta needs to know that both accounts belong to you. This is done through the Accounts Center, a central hub for managing your settings across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. If you've run ads before or have already linked your profiles, you might be set. But a quick check can save you a headache later.

Here’s how to check and connect your accounts from the Instagram app:

1. Open your Instagram profile and tap the three horizontal lines (the "hamburger menu") in the top-right corner.
2. Tap on Settings and Privacy.
3. Select Accounts Center at the top of the menu.
4. Under "Accounts settings," tap on Accounts.
5. Here you'll see a list of the profiles you've added. If your Facebook profile isn't listed, tap Add accounts and follow the on-screen instructions to log into your Facebook profile.

Once your accounts are linked within Accounts Center, you’ve unlocked the ability to seamlessly share posts, stories, and Reels between them.

How to Add an Existing Instagram Reel to a Facebook Story: Step-by-Step

Sharing a Reel you've already posted is the most common way to get it onto your Facebook Story. The process is simple and takes less than a minute. Let’s walk through it.

Step 1: Open the Reel You Want to Share

Navigate to your Instagram profile and tap on the Reels tab (the clapperboard icon) in your profile grid. Scroll through your Reels and tap on the one you want to share to open it in the full-screen view.

Step 2: Tap the Share Icon

Look for the paper airplane icon, Instagram's universal "Share" button. On a Reel, it's typically located on the right-hand side of the screen, just below the comment button. Tap on it.

Step 3: Choose "Add to story"

After tapping the share icon, a menu will pop up from the bottom of the screen. The very first option should be a blue-and-white button labeled Add to story. Tapping this will take your Reel and place it into the Instagram Story editor.

Step 4: Customize Your Story (Optional but Recommended)

Your Reel will appear as a resizable sticker against a blurred, dynamic background taken from the video itself. While you can share it as is, this is your chance to add context and make it more engaging for the Story format.

• Add Text: Give viewers a reason to watch. A simple caption like "Newest project is now live!" or "Had so much fun making this one!" can boost viewership.
• Use Stickers: Engage your audience by adding a Poll, Quiz, or Question sticker. This turns passive viewing into active participation.
• Tag Accounts: If you collaborated with anyone in the Reel, be sure to tag their accounts so they get notified and can re-share it to their own Stories.

Step 5: Share to Both Instagram and Facebook

When you’re happy with your customizations, look at the bottom of the screen. You will see two sharing options:

• Your Story: Tapping this sends the Story to all your followers on Instagram. You can also tap "Close Friends" to only share with that list.
• Your Story & Facebook Story: Tapping this button shares your creation with your Instagram followers and across to your Facebook Story at the same time. This is the option you want to select.

Tap Your Story & Facebook Story, and you're done! Your Reel will now be live on your Instagram Story and Facebook Story for the next 24 hours, gathering views on both platforms.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Sometimes technology doesn’t cooperate. If you’re running into issues sharing your Reel to your Facebook Story, one of these common situations is likely the cause.

Don’t See the Option to Share to Facebook?

This is almost always an account linking issue. If the option to share to your Facebook Story doesn't appear, head back to the Accounts Center following the steps outlined earlier. Make sure that the target Facebook profile is connected to your Instagram account. You may have to remove and re-add the account to refresh the connection.

Reel Shared But There Is No Sound?

Music licensing on social media is complex. If a song you used for your Instagram Reel is not available in Facebook's library, the video will play silently when shared to your Facebook Story. Viewers will see a notification that the audio was removed due to rights restrictions. To avoid this, try using audio from Meta’s Sound Collection, which is generally cleared for use across both platforms. If you must use a specific commercial track, you may have to save the video to your camera roll and upload it to each story manually with a different sound.

My Reel Looks Blurry or Low Quality

Multimedia can sometimes be compressed when sharing it across platforms, resulting in a loss of quality. To help prevent this, go to your Instagram Settings and Privacy, scroll down to Media Quality, and toggle on the option to Upload at highest quality. This tells the app to reduce video compression, which can improve the appearance of shared content.

Strategic Tips for Cross-Posting Reels to Stories

Now you know the technical steps, but a smart strategy makes all the difference. To really make your cross-posts effective, keep these tips in mind:

• Provide Context with Text: Don't just paste and post. Add a sticker or text that explains what the Reel is about or poses a question. A simple "Thoughts on this?" can pique curiosity and encourage replies.
• Add Interactive Elements: Use Polls or Quizzes on your Story to turn a passive viewing experience into an active one. This drives engagement and gives you valuable feedback.
• Include a Clear Call to Action (CTA): What should people do after watching? Tell them! A clear CTA like "Click the link in my bio," "DM me for more info," or "Share this if you agree" leads to better results.
• Be Selective: Sharing every single Reel to your Story can feel repetitive. Select your best-performing Reels or content most relevant to your Facebook audience. This ensures your Story remains a source of high-value content and respects your audience's time.

Final Thoughts

Sharing Instagram Reels to your Facebook Story is a simple yet powerful tactic for increasing your content’s reach and keeping both of your audiences in the loop. It maximizes the value of the work you put in and maintains a consistent brand presence across platforms. By mastering this simple workflow, you’re well on your way to building a smarter, more efficient content strategy.

Perfecting your strategy across multiple platforms requires careful planning and organization. As your content schedule becomes more involved with Reels, Stories, videos, and traditional posts, using a visual planner or scheduling tool can help simplify the process. This frees you up to spend less time managing logistics and more time creating the content your audience loves.