How to Get Facebook Posts to Show on Instagram

Posting the same content to Facebook and Instagram automatically saves a ton of time, but getting it set up can feel a little confusing. If you want to streamline your workflow and keep your content consistent, you're in the right place. This guide will walk you through the exact steps to connect your accounts and share your Facebook posts directly to your Instagram profile, along with some pro tips to make sure your content looks great on both platforms.

Why Share Facebook Posts to Instagram in the First Place?

Before we get into the technical steps, it helps to know why this is a smart move for many creators, brands, and marketers. What’s the advantage of linking these two social media giants?

• It Saves You a Ton of Time: This is the big one. Instead of creating and uploading content to Facebook, then repeating the entire process for Instagram, you can do it all in one go. For busy social media managers or small business owners, those saved minutes add up quickly, allowing you to focus on strategy and engaging with your community instead of repetitive posting tasks.
• Maintains Brand Consistency: Posting the same core message, promotions, or announcements simultaneously across platforms ensures your brand voice and visual identity stay consistent. When followers see your brand on different channels, a unified look helps build recognition and trust.
• Maximizes Your Content's Reach: Your audience on Facebook might not completely overlap with your audience on Instagram. By sharing a post on both platforms, you immediately double its potential reach. You’re getting your content in front of more eyes without any extra effort, which is a huge win for organic visibility.
• Streamlines Campaign Launches: When you're launching a new product, running a sale, or kicking off a major campaign, timing is everything. Linking your accounts allows you to launch your content on both Facebook and Instagram at the exact same moment, ensuring a synchronized and impactful start.

While the benefits are clear, it's not a "set it and forget it" strategy. As we'll cover later, a little customization goes a long way. But first, let’s get your accounts connected.

How to Connect Your Facebook Page and Instagram Account

The magic happens within Meta’s ecosystem. To get Facebook posts to show on Instagram, you first need to properly link your accounts. This process is handled through the Meta Business Suite or the Accounts Center for simpler setups.

A Quick Prerequisite: This process requires an Instagram Professional Account (either a "Creator" or "Business" account). You can't connect a personal Instagram profile this way. If your account is still set to Personal, switching is easy and free:

1. On your Instagram profile, tap the three lines in the top-right corner.
2. Go to Settings and privacy.
3. Scroll down and tap on Account type and tools.
4. Tap Switch to professional account and follow the on-screen prompts.

Once you’ve confirmed you have a Professional account, you're ready to link it to your Facebook Page.

Step-by-Step Guide to Connecting Accounts in Meta Business Suite

The Meta Business Suite is the central hub for managing your professional Facebook and Instagram presence. It's the most reliable place to create this connection.

1. Navigate to Meta Business Suite: Open a web browser on your desktop and go to business.facebook.com. Log in to the Facebook account that has admin access to your Facebook Page.
2. Go to Settings: Look for the "All tools" icon (three horizontal lines) in the left-hand navigation menu. Click on it, then select "Page settings." This may also appear as just a "Settings" gear icon at the bottom of the left menu.
3. Find Linked Accounts: In the settings menu, find and click on "Linked Accounts." Here, you will see options for Instagram and WhatsApp.
4. Connect Your Instagram Account: Click the "Connect account" button next to Instagram. A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm some permissions. Click "Connect" again.
5. Log In to Instagram: A new login window will pop up. Enter the username and password for the Instagram account you want to connect and click "Log In." If you have two-factor authentication enabled, you'll need to enter your security code.

That's it! Once you’ve successfully logged in, your Instagram account will be linked to your Facebook Page through the Meta Business Suite. You should now see your Instagram profile information appear on the "Linked Accounts" page.

How to Actually Share a Facebook Post to Instagram

Now that your accounts are connected, you have the ability to post to both simultaneously. This is done through the content creator tool inside the Meta Business Suite.

1. Open the Creator Tool: In the Meta Business Suite, click the big blue "Create post" button on the home dashboard. This opens the content composer.
2. Select Your Platforms: At the very top of the composer window, under "Post to," you’ll see icons for your Facebook Page and your now-connected Instagram account. Make sure both are checked. You can choose to post to the Feed for both, or customize it further (e.g., Facebook Feed and Instagram Feed).
3. Add Your Media: Click "Add photo" or "Add video" to upload your visual content. Remember, Instagram requires a visual - you can't crosspost a text-only status from Facebook.
4. Craft Your Caption: Here’s where a little extra effort makes a huge difference. You'll see a text box to write your caption. To the right, you’ll see a running preview of how your post will look on both Facebook and Instagram. Notice the tab that says "Customize post for Facebook and Instagram." This is the most important step for making your post effective on both platforms.
5. Customize for Each Platform: Click the customize button. Now you can edit the text specifically for Facebook and for Instagram. Maybe you want to add more hashtags for Instagram or rephrase a call-to-action since clickable links don’t work in Instagram captions. This allows you to tailor the message while using the same media.
6. Schedule or Publish: Once you’re happy with how your post looks on both platforms, you can either click "Publish" to post it immediately or click the drop-down arrow to "Schedule" it for a future date and time.

The Pro Move: Smart Customization, Not Blind Crossposting

Just because you can post the exact same thing to Facebook and Instagram doesn't always mean you should. The platforms have different cultures, audience expectations, and technical features. A strategy that dominates on one might fall flat on the other. Blindly syncing posts can look lazy and result in lower engagement.

Here’s how to crosspost the smart way using the customization features:

1. Tailor Your Captions

The tone on Instagram is often more personal and conversational, while Facebook can be slightly more formal or informational. Your character limits are also different. More importantly, links in Instagram captions are not clickable. A Facebook post asking users to "Click the link below!" will be a dead end on Instagram. Customize your Instagram caption to something like, "Check the link in our bio for more info!"

2. Adjust Your Hashtag Strategy

Hashtags are foundational to discovery on Instagram but are less impactful on Facebook. It's common (and effective) to use 10-20 relevant hashtags on an Instagram post to increase its reach. On Facebook, however, a post filled with that many hashtags can look cluttered and spammy. Best practice is to use just 1-3 highly relevant hashtags on Facebook.

• For Instagram: Use a mix of broad, niche, and branded hashtags.
• For Facebook: Keep it minimal and focused on the core topic.

3. Optimize Your Visuals

While a square (1:1 aspect ratio) image works well on both platforms, Instagram favors vertical images (4:5 ratio) in the feed, as they take up more screen space. If your primary goal is engagement on Instagram, sizing your images and videos for vertical viewing can give you a big advantage. When creating your post, double-check the preview in the Meta Business Suite to make sure nothing important is getting cropped out on either platform.

4. Respect Video Format Differences

Short-form vertical video is king, but the specifics matter.

• Instagram Reels: Favors trendy audio, fast cuts, and entertaining or educational content. Needs to be vertical (9:16).
• Facebook Video: Still values landscape (16:9) video more than Instagram does, especially for longer content. While Reels are now massive on Facebook too, the feed is more forgiving for different formats.

If you're crossposting a video, consider whether the same cut and style work for both audiences or if it's better to post a native video to Facebook and a more dynamic Reel to Instagram.

Troubleshooting Common Crossposting Issues

Even with everything set up correctly, you might hit a snag. Here are a few common problems and how to fix them.

• "I can't select my Instagram account to post." The most common cause is that your Instagram account is not a Professional (Business or Creator) account. Double-check your settings in the Instagram app. Another reason could be a permission issue. Make sure an admin of the Facebook Page is the one connecting the accounts.
• "My post failed to publish on Instagram." This often happens with formatting issues. For instance, you tried to share a text-only post from Facebook (Instagram needs a photo/video) or the video you shared was too long for the Instagram feed. Check Meta's media specifications and try again.
• "The accounts keep disconnecting." Occasionally, Meta requires users to re-authenticate their accounts for security reasons. This is annoying but normal. Go back into your "Linked Accounts" settings and follow the prompts to re-authorize the connection. Often, this happens after a password change.

Final Thoughts

Connecting your Facebook and Instagram accounts is a straightforward way to become a more efficient social media manager. It lets you simplify your workflow, maintain brand consistency, and reach a wider audience without adding repetitive tasks to your to-do list. The key to making it work is using the built-in tools to customize your content for each platform’s unique audience and style.

We built Postbase to solve this a different way. We found that the biggest friction wasn't just connecting accounts, but easily planning and visualizing how content looks across different platforms - especially for video-first strategies on Reels, TikTok, and Shorts. Instead of wrestling with clunky legacy tools, we designed a simple visual calendar where you can drag and drop posts, write your content once, then easily customize the captions and formatting for each social network without leaving the screen. It keeps your accounts reliably connected and lets you trust that what you schedule will actually get published, every time.