How to Allow Story Reposts on Instagram

Getting your community to share your Instagram Story is one of the most powerful forms of organic marketing, but they can't do it if you don't let them. Enabling reposts is a simple switch in your settings that unlocks a massive opportunity for user-generated content and free promotion. This guide walks you through exactly how to turn on the feature, why it’s a non-negotiable for growth, and how to create content that your followers will be excited to share.

Why Activating Story Reposts is a No-Brainer for Your Brand

Before getting into the "how," it's worth understanding the "why." Allowing others to share your Story isn't just a feature, it's a growth strategy. When you let your audience repost your content, you’re essentially turning your followers into a volunteer marketing team. Every share is a personal endorsement.

• Epic Social Proof: When a follower shares your Story, they're stamping it with their approval. To their own network of friends and family, this kind of peer recommendation is far more trustworthy than a branded ad. It says, "Hey, this brand is cool, and I want you to know about it."
• Exponential Reach: Your reach is typically limited to your own followers. But every single repost exposes your brand, products, or message to a brand-new audience - the sharer's followers. It's a free, organic way to get in front of hundreds or even thousands of new people who are likely to trust the recommendation.
• Authentic Community Building: Making your content shareable signals that you see your community as partners, not just passive consumers. You're encouraging them to participate in your brand's narrative. This fosters a sense of belonging and transforms a one-way communication channel into a collaborative space.
• A Flood of User-Generated Content (UGC): Reposts are the easiest form of UGC. When you feature a customer, praise a collaborator, or get reposts from an event, you’re collecting a library of authentic content that you can leverage later on, further strengthening your brand's credibility.

In short, it’s one of the simplest and most effective ways to leverage word-of-mouth marketing in the digital age. All it takes is a few taps in your settings.

How to Allow Story Reposts on Instagram: The Step-by-Step Guide

Enabling this feature is quick and easy. Instagram's settings menus can shift around, but the core process has remained consistent. Here’s exactly how to do it.

Step 1: Get to Your Settings Menu

First things first, you need to navigate to your profile's main settings area. From there, you'll be able to control how people can interact with your content.

1. Open the Instagram app and go to your profile page by tapping your profile picture in the bottom-right corner.
2. Tap the three horizontal lines (the "hamburger menu") in the top-right corner of your screen.
3. From the menu that appears, select "Settings and privacy."

This is the central hub for all your account controls, from privacy to notifications.

Step 2: Find the "Sharing and remixes" Options

Instagram groups all sharing-related permissions together, making them relatively easy to find once you know where to look.

1. In the "Settings and privacy" menu, scroll down until you find the section titled "How others can interact with you."
2. Tap on "Sharing and remixes." This section controls everything from allowing posts to be shared to stories, to enabling video remixes.

Step 3: Toggle on Story Sharing

You're now at the final step. On this screen, you’ll see several toggles that control different aspects of sharing. The one you’re looking for is directly related to stories.

• Look for the option labeled "Allow story sharing in messages." Make sure this toggle is switched to the blue "on" position.

While the phrasing "in messages" might seem confusing, this is the master switch. This setting allows people to forward your Story to their friends via DMs. More importantly, it is the setting that must be active for someone you tag in your Story to get the "Add to your story" button. Without this enabled, tagged accounts can't repost your content.

What About Sharing a Story You've Been Tagged In?

Reposting works both ways. If another user tags your account in their Story using the @mention sticker, you’ll get a notification in your direct messages. Open the message, and you'll see a prominent button that says "Add to your story." Tapping this will open the Story editor, with their story pre-loaded as a sticker. You can then resize it, add your own text, GIFs, or other elements before publishing it to your own followers.

Important Note: You can only reshare a Story you've been tagged in if the original poster's account is public and they have enabled story sharing on their end. If they have a private account, the repost option won't be available to protect their privacy.

The Secret to Getting More Reposts: Create Content People Want to Share

Simply flipping the switch isn't enough, you need to give people a reason to share. Making your content irresistibly shareable is a blend of strategy and creativity.

Tag, Tag, and Tag Again

This is the single most effective way to encourage a repost. When you use the @mention sticker to tag a person, brand, collaborator, or even a customer, you're not just giving them credit - you're handing them a repost invitation on a silver platter. They receive a direct notification with the "Add to Your Story" button, making it effortless for them to share it.

• Featuring customers? If someone shares a photo of your product, repost it to your story and tag them with a thank you. They will almost certainly share the mention.
• Collaborating with another creator? Tag them in all promotional stories. It’s mutually beneficial for both of you to cross-promote to each other's audiences.
• At a physical location? Tag the coffee shop, event venue, or local store you're at. Businesses love getting shoutouts and will often repost to their own stories.

Craft Visually Stunning and Valuable Content

People share content that aligns with their personal brand and offers value to their followers. Your Stories should be more than just ads, they should be useful, entertaining, or beautiful.

• Inspirational Quotes: A simple, well-designed graphic with a powerful quote is a classic shareable asset.
• Quick Tips & How-Tos: Share a quick tutorial or a surprising tip related to your industry. People love to share content that makes them seem knowledgeable.
• Beautiful Imagery: High-quality photos or aesthetically pleasing graphics are far more likely to get reposted than a blurry, low-effort Story.
• Relatable Memes & Humor: If it fits your brand voice, a genuinely funny and relatable meme can spread like wildfire.

Champion User-Generated Content (UGC)

Turn your followers into your best photographers and storytellers. Creating a UGC campaign provides a consistent stream of shareable moments.

1. Create a Branded Hashtag: Encourage your audience to post photos with your product using a specific hashtag.
2. Feature Your Favorites: Regularly check the hashtag and share the best posts to your Story.
3. Always Tag the Creator: When you feature someone's content, always give them a big, visible shoutout with an @mention. This validation makes them feel special and almost guarantees they’ll reshare your story that's featuring them. This creates a powerful feedback loop that encourages more people to participate.

Use a Bold 'Add Yours' Sticker Prompt

The "Add Yours" sticker is a goldmine for sparking interactive content chains. Create a compelling prompt that invites people to share their own version. For example, a coffee brand could start an "Add Yours" chain with "Show us your #MorningCoffee setup." Anyone who participates is helping spread your brand's presence, and you get tons of UGC to feature later.

Common Reposting Problems (and How to Fix Them)

"I was tagged in a Story, but I don't see the 'Add to your story' button!"

This is the most common issue, and it's almost always one of three things:

• Their sharing is disabled: The person who tagged you probably doesn't have "Allow story sharing in messages" enabled. You can politely message them and ask if they can turn it on.
• Their account is private: You cannot publicly share a story from a private account to your own audience.
• You weren't tagged with the @mention sticker: They might have just typed out your handle as plain text instead of using the interactive sticker. The tag must be an official @mention sticker for the repost functionality to work.

"I've enabled sharing, but still, no one is reposting my content."

This isn't a technical glitch, it's a content strategy opportunity. Revisit the section above. Are you giving people a compelling reason to share? Start proactively tagging other accounts, featuring your community's content, and creating valuable or entertaining Stories that people feel proud to be associated with. The shares will follow.

Final Thoughts

Activating Story reposts is a simple technical change that fundamentally alters how you can interact with your community. By letting go of control and inviting your audience to share your content, you unlock one of the most effective and authentic growth drivers available on Instagram.

Once your content strategy starts working and people are reposting your Stories and mentioning you in their own, keeping up with all the tags and messages can feel overwhelming. At Postbase, we built our unified inbox specifically to solve this. It streamlines all your comments and DMs from every platform into one clean feed, so you can effortlessly engage with every mention and turn happy followers into loyal fans.