How to Add a Reel to Your Instagram Story

Sharing an Instagram Reel to your Story is one of the easiest ways to get more eyes on your content, but knowing how to do it effectively can feel like a hidden trick. This guide breaks down exactly how to add any Reel to your Story, step-by-step, and shares a few strategies to turn a simple share into a serious engagement booster. We'll cover everything from the basic mechanics to creative touches that get your followers to stop scrolling and actually tap through.

Why You Should Bother Sharing Reels to Your Story

You might be wondering, "If I already posted the Reel, why post it again in my Story?" It's a valid question, but sharing your Reel to your Story is a powerful cross-promotion tactic that serves a few important purposes. Not everyone who follows you will see a Reel in their feed, but they might be dedicated Story viewers. Sharing it there gives your content a second chance to be seen.

Here are the biggest benefits:

• Increased Visibility: The Instagram algorithm is a mystery, and many of your followers will inevitably miss your Reel when it first goes live. Stories offer a more direct path to your most engaged audience, increasing the total number of people who will see your video.
• Boosted Engagement: Stories have interactive features that the Reels feed doesn't, like polls, quizzes, and question stickers. You can add a sticker to your Story to ask what people think of the Reel, driving immediate engagement that can help boost its overall performance.
• Deeper Storytelling: A Story gives you the chance to add context. You can share behind-the-scenes thoughts, explain why you made the Reel, or call out a specific detail you don't want people to miss. It adds another layer to your content.
• Resurfacing Old Content: Got an evergreen Reel that performed well a few months ago? Sharing it to your Story is a fantastic way to bring it back to life and introduce it to your new followers without cluttering your main grid.

How to Add Your Own Reel to Your Instagram Story

Let's start with the basics: sharing a Reel from your own profile. The process is straightforward and only takes a few seconds.

Here’s the step-by-step breakdown:

1. Navigate to Your Reel: Open the Instagram app and go to your profile. Tap on the Reels tab (the clapperboard icon) to see all the Reels you've published.
2. Find the Share Icon: Select the Reel you want to share to your Story. Once it's playing, look for the paper airplane icon on the right-hand side of the screen, right below the comments button.
3. Add to Your Story: Tap the paper airplane icon. A menu will pop up from the bottom of the screen. The first option at the top left should be a blue button that says, "Add to story." Tap it.
4. Customize Your Story: You’ll now be in the Story editor. Your Reel will appear as a sticker in the middle of the screen. From here, you can customize it just like any other Story. You can resize it, add text, drop in GIFs, or include interactive stickers.
5. Publish Your Story: Once you're happy with how it looks, tap the "Your Story" button at the bottom left or the arrow at the bottom right to share it with your audience.

That's it! Your followers will now see a preview of your Reel in your Story. They can tap on it to be taken directly to the full Reel, where they can like, comment, and save it.

How to Add Someone Else’s Reel to Your Instagram Story

Sharing other creators' Reels is a great way to provide value to your audience, give a shout-out to a creator you admire, or simply share content you find entertaining. The process is almost identical to sharing your own.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Find the Reel: While browsing your Reels feed or on another user's profile, find the Reel you want to share.
2. Tap the Share Icon: Just like with your own content, tap the paper airplane (Share) icon.
3. Select "Add to story": Tap the "Add to story" button from the pop-up menu.
4. Customize and Tag: The Story editor will open, showing the Reel as a sticker. Unlike sharing your own content, the original creator's username will automatically appear on the sticker. It’s always a good practice to also manually tag the creator using the text or "@mention" sticker. This notifies them that you've shared their work and makes it easy for your followers to check out their profile.
5. Post It: Add any extra thoughts, GIFs, or comments, and then share it to your Story.

What If I Can't Share Someone's Reel?

Sometimes you’ll tap the Share icon and find that the "Add to story" option is missing. This usually happens for one of two reasons:

• The Account is Private: You cannot share posts or Reels from private accounts to your Story.
• The Creator Has Disabled Sharing: Public accounts have a setting that allows them to prevent others from sharing their posts and Reels to Stories. If this setting is turned off, you won't be able to share their content.

Creative Strategies to Make Your Story Share Stand Out

Just tapping "Add to Story" and publishing gets the job done, but with a little extra effort, you can make your share far more effective at driving views and engagement.

Turn it Into a Full-Screen Teaser

When you first share a Reel to your Story, it shows up as a small, tappable sticker with a default gradient background. It's functional, but not very eye-catching. Instead, try making it feel native to the Story format.

With two fingers, pinch and zoom the Reel sticker until it fills the entire screen. This hides the plain background and makes the share look more like a video and less like a link. Viewers will instinctively see video playing and be more likely to stop and watch. Most importantly, they'll have to tap on it to hear the sound and see the original post, driving them purposefully to the full Reel.

Guide Their Attention with Stickers

Don't assume people know they can tap on the Reel. Tell them what to do! Go into the sticker tray and search for GIFs like "Tap Here," "New Post," "New Reel," or an animated arrow. Place it strategically on the Reel preview to draw attention to it.

For even better results, use interactive stickers:

• Poll Sticker: Share your Reel and add a poll asking, "Did you see this one?" or "Love it? 🔥"
• Quiz Sticker: Ask a question about the content in the Reel to see who was paying attention.
• Slider Sticker: Use the emoji slider to have people rate your new Reel.

Master the Custom Background Trick

That default gradient background is better than nothing, but you can create something much more on-brand in just a few taps.

Option 1: Solid Color Background

When you’re in the Story editor, tap the draw tool (the squiggly line at the top). Select a color from the bottom - you can choose from the defaults or use the eyedropper tool to pick a color from the Reel itself. Once you have your color, tap and hold anywhere on the screen for a few seconds. The entire background will fill with that solid color.

Option 2: The "Reveal" Method (Advanced)

This is an old-school trick that still works great.

1. First, fill the background with a solid color using the method above. Your Reel sticker will be hidden underneath.
2. Tap the eraser tool in the draw menu.
3. Use your finger to "erase" over where the Reel sticker is, revealing the video underneath.

You can get creative with this by erasing a small window or a zig-zag pattern, making the Story visually intriguing and encouraging people to tap.

When Should You Add a Reel to Your Story?

Timing can play a big part in how effective your Story share is. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but here are three strategic moments to consider:

1. Right After Posting: Sharing a Reel to your Story immediately after you publish gives it an instant boost. A Story reaches your most loyal followers first, which can help generate initial views, likes, and comments that tell the Instagram algorithm your content is worth showing to more people.
2. 24 Hours Later: Wait a day before sharing it to your Story. This approach helps you catch a completely different segment of your audience - the people who may have missed the original post but are active on Stories the following day. It gives your Reel a second wind of visibility.
3. Weeks or Months Later: Evergreen content - content that remains relevant over time - is perfect for resharing. If you have a tutorial, a valuable tip, or a popular comedic Reel from a while back, sharing it to your Story is an easy way to get more mileage out of it without having to create something new.

Final Thoughts

Sharing your Instagram Reels to your Story is a simple action that delivers a big impact. It breathes new life into your content, helps you bypass the fickleness of the algorithm, and offers another chance to connect with your audience. By combining the basic steps with creative customization, you can turn a simple share into a reliable driver of engagement and growth for your account.

All of this - planning what Reel to post, what Story to promote it with, and when to publish each - can quickly feel like a lot to keep organized. We found ourselves constantly wrestling with spreadsheets to manage all the moving pieces, which is why we built the visual content calendar in Postbase. It lets us see our entire schedule across every platform in one clean view, making it easy to spot gaps and plan out our promotion strategy without the headache.