How to Embed an Instagram Reel

You’ve just created a fantastic Instagram Reel - it’s engaging, stylish, and perfectly represents your brand. But why let it just live on Instagram? Taking that vibrant video content and placing it directly on your website or blog can transform a static page into a dynamic experience. This guide will walk you through exactly how to embed an Instagram Reel, breaking down the official method, common troubleshooting fixes, and best practices for making your content look great anywhere you share it.

Why Embed Instagram Reels in the First Place?

Pinning your best video work to your website isn't just about making your pages look lively, it's a strategic move that delivers real benefits. Sharing your Reels beyond the confines of the app helps you connect with a broader audience and get more mileage out of the content you worked so hard to produce.

• Boost Website Engagement: Video is king when it comes to holding attention. An embedded Reel can stop visitors from scrolling and convince them to stay on your page longer, which is a great signal for SEO and improves their overall experience.
• Keep Your Site Content Fresh: Instead of manually uploading video files that slow your site down, embedding Reels keeps your website fresh with your latest social content. Every time you post a new Reel, you have a new piece of content ready to showcase on your blog or homepage.
• Showcase Social Proof: Embedding Reels that feature customer testimonials, user-generated content, or behind-the-scenes looks at your business acts as powerful social proof. It shows potential customers that you have an active, engaged community.
• Drive Traffic Back to Instagram: Every embedded Reel is a clickable bridge back to your Instagram profile. Visitors who discover your content on your website can easily click through to follow you, growing your social audience directly from your site traffic.

The Official Method: How to Embed a Reel From a Desktop Browser

Instagram makes the embedding process surprisingly simple, but there's a small catch: you have to do it from a desktop computer. The feature isn't available within the mobile app. Don't worry, the process only takes a minute once you know where to look.

Here’s your step-by-step guide to grabbing that embed code.

Step 1: Open Instagram in Your Web Browser

Fire up your favorite browser on your laptop or desktop computer and navigate to Instagram.com. If you aren't already, log in to your account.

Step 2: Find the Reel You Want to Embed

Navigate to the Reel you want to use. You can find it by going to your own profile and clicking on the Reels tab (the one with the clapperboard icon) or by using the direct link to the Reel if you have it.

Step 3: Click the Three-Dot Menu (...)

Once you’re viewing the Reel, look for the three dots (...) icon. It’s located in the top-right corner of the Reel's pop-up window. Click on it to open a small menu of options.

Step 4: Select "Embed" from the Menu

In the menu that appears, you'll see a few choices like "Go to post" and "Report." The one you want is "Embed." Click it.

Step 5: Copy the Embed Code

A new window will pop up showing you a block of HTML code. You'll also see a checkbox option labeled "Include caption." Decide if you want the Reel's original caption to appear with the embedded video on your site. Once you've made your choice, click the blue "Copy Embed Code" button. The code is now copied to your clipboard, ready to be pasted.

Step 6: Paste the Code into Your Website's HTML

Now, head over to your website's content editor. The way you'll add the code varies slightly depending on your platform, but the principle is the same: you need to paste it into an HTML block.

• For WordPress (Block Editor): Open the post or page where you want the Reel to appear. Click the '+' button to add a new block and search for "Custom HTML." Paste the code you copied from Instagram into this block.
• For Shopify: On a product description, blog post, or page, find the content editor and look for the "Show HTML" button (it usually looks like this: <,>,). Click it to switch to code view, find the right spot, and paste your code.
• For Squarespace or Other Website Builders: Look for a "Code Block," "HTML Block," or "Embed" option. These are specifically designed for pasting code snippets just like the one you copied.

Once you save or publish your page, the Instagram Reel should appear perfectly embedded within your content. It’s fully responsive, meaning it will automatically adjust its size to fit the screen it's being viewed on.

Customizing Your Embedded Reel

Instagram's default embed works great out of the box, but you have a couple of easy ways to tweak its appearance to better match your website's design and your content's needs.

Choosing to Include or Hide the Caption

The "Include caption" checkbox you saw in Step 5 is your primary customization tool. When is it a good idea to use it?

Include the Caption if:

• The caption provides important context that the video needs to be understood.
• It contains relevant hashtags or a call-to-action you want people to see.
• You tagged other accounts in the caption and want to give them credit on your website.

Hide the Caption if:

• You're aiming for a super clean, minimalist look where the video is the sole focus.
• The caption is time-sensitive or contains info that might become outdated.
• You plan to write a new, more detailed description for the Reel directly within your blog post.

Manually Adjusting the Code (For Advanced Users)

If you're comfortable with HTML, you can make a small manual tweak. Inside the embed code, you'll find an attribute called data-instgrm-captioned. If you copied the code with the caption included, that code snippet will be present.

Here’s the embed code for reference:

<,blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7-ABCDefg/" data-instgrm-version="14">,...<,/blockquote>,

If you decide later you want to hide the caption, you can simply remove the data-instgrm-captioned part from the code snippet you pasted on your site. If you initially hid the caption but now want it to show, you can add it back in. It gives you flexibility after the fact without needing to go back to Instagram to copy the code again.

Common Problems and How to Fix Them

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. If your embedded Reel isn't appearing correctly, it’s almost always due to one of these common issues.

Problem: "The 'Embed' option is missing!"

This is the most frequent roadblock. There are two main reasons this happens:

1. You're trying to embed from a private account. Instagram's privacy rules are clear: content from private accounts cannot be shared or embedded by anyone who isn’t a follower. If the 'Embed' option is missing, the first thing you should check is whether the account is set to Private. It needs to be a Public account.
2. You're using the mobile app. The embedding feature is only available on the desktop version of Instagram's website. If you're on your phone, you won't see the option. Open up a browser on a computer and you’ll find it.

Problem: "The Reel looks cropped or doesn't fit right."

Instagram's embed is designed to be responsive, but it has a minimum width. If the container on your website (like a narrow blog column or sidebar) is too skinny, the embed can appear cut off. Your website's layout is usually the culprit here, not the embed code itself. The fix is to adjust the CSS of your website to give the container more horizontal space.

Problem: "The embed is just showing a blank space."

This can happen for a few reasons:

• Ad Blockers: Occasionally, aggressive ad blockers or browser privacy extensions can prevent JavaScript-heavy embeds like Instagram's from loading. Try viewing your site in an incognito window or with extensions disabled to see if that's the cause.
• Code Pasted Incorrectly: Go back and check the code you pasted into your site's HTML. You might have accidentally cut off part of the snippet, especially the closing <,/blockquote>, or <,script>, tags. The most reliable fix is to re-copy and re-paste the full block of code.

Alternative Ways to Share Your Reels

While embedding on a website is powerful, there are other creative ways to extend the life and reach of a Reel.

• Share to Instagram Stories: This is a quick and effective way to get more eyeballs on your new Reel. Tap the paper airplane icon under your Reel and select "Add to your story." It's perfect for reminding your followers to check out your latest creation.
• Share a Link in Your Email Newsletter: Don't just paste a plain URL. For a better user experience, take a screenshot of your Reel, lay a "play" button graphic over it in a tool like Canva, and then link the entire image to your Reel's URL. It's visually appealing and gets much higher click-through rates.
• Post Natively on Other Platforms: For platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or Pinterest video pins, the best practice is to upload the video file directly. While you can share a link, native video almost always performs better in the algorithms of those platforms. Always post your videos without the watermark of another platform.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to embed an Instagram Reel is a simple skill that unlocks so much potential for your content. It bridges the gap between your social media presence and your primary digital home - your website - creating a more engaging, dynamic, and connected brand experience for your audience.

We know that creating and distributing great video content like Reels isn't a small task. That’s why we built Postbase from the ground up to be video-first. When you’re ready to schedule your next Reel, TikTok, or YouTube Short, our platform lets you plan everything in one visual calendar, helps your posts actually publish reliably, and prevents the constant account disconnects that plague older tools so you can get back to creating rather than troubleshooting.