How to Give Admin Access on Instagram

Thinking about handing over the keys to your Instagram kingdom? Granting someone admin access isn't as simple as clicking a single button, largely because Instagram itself doesn't offer a traditional admin role. Instead, permissions are managed through Meta's tools, which is actually a good thing for protecting your account. This guide will walk you through exactly how to give the right level of access to your team members, freelancers, or agency partners, safely and without ever sharing your password.

Why You Can't Just "Add an Admin" on Instagram

Unlike a Facebook Page, where you can easily assign roles like Admin, Editor, or Moderator, an Instagram account is tied to a single login. For personal profiles, that’s where the story ends. But for creators and businesses, this isn't practical or secure for team collaboration. Handing out your main username and password is a huge security risk, it gives someone total control, including the ability to change the password and lock you out entirely.

To solve this, Meta created a centralized system for managing business assets: the Meta Business Suite (many people still know it by its old name, Facebook Business Manager). By linking your Instagram Business or Creator account to this suite, you can grant granular permissions to other people without them ever needing your login details. This system is the official, secure way to delegate tasks like posting content, replying to DMs, and running ads.

Think of it this way: your Instagram account is a valuable asset. The Meta Business Suite is the secure vault where you keep it, and you get to decide who gets a key and precisely which rooms that key can open.

The Foundation: Connecting Your Instagram to Meta Business Suite

Before you can give anyone access, you must first connect your Instagram account to a Meta Business Suite. This is the non-negotiable first step. If you've run ads on Instagram or Facebook before, you likely already have one set up. If not, creating one is simple and free.

Step 1: Check if You Have a Meta Business Suite

The easiest way to check is to visit business.facebook.com while logged into your personal Facebook profile. If you have an existing business account, it will appear there. If not, the site will guide you through creating one. Just follow the on-screen prompts, you'll name your business account and link it to your personal Facebook profile, which acts as the master login.

Step 2: Connect Your Instagram Account

Once you’re inside your Meta Business Suite, you need to officially claim your Instagram account as one of your business assets.

• In the left-hand menu, find the Settings cogwheel (you might need to click "All tools" to find it).
• From the Settings menu, navigate to Business Settings. This opens up the core dashboard where everything is managed.
• Under the Accounts dropdown, click on Instagram accounts.
• Click the blue Add button and choose Connect your Instagram account.
• A pop-up will appear, prompting you to log in with your Instagram username and password. Enter your credentials to confirm the connection.

Step 3: Connect Your Facebook Page (Strongly Recommended)

For the smoothest experience, you should also connect your corresponding Facebook Page in the same "Accounts" section. Go to Accounts &rarr, Pages and click "Add" to either link an existing Page or create a new one. This ensures all your Meta assets are housed in one place, which makes managing permissions for things like your inbox or shopping features much easier down the line.

Method 1: Giving Full Admin Access via Meta Business Suite

Giving someone "admin access" through the Business Suite is the closest you'll get to making them a co-owner of your Instagram profile in the eyes of Meta. An admin can manage everything: add or remove people, change settings, connect new assets (like Ad Accounts), and access billing information. This level of permission should be reserved for only the most trusted individuals, like a business partner or a director-level manager.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Navigate back to your Business Settings within the Meta Business Suite.
2. In the left menu, under Users, click on People.
3. Hit the blue Add people button in the upper right.
4. A window will pop up. Enter the work email address of the person you want to invite. It's important to use their professional email, not the one tied to their personal Facebook account. They'll link their Facebook account themselves after accepting the invite.
5. Next, you'll be asked to assign a business role. Toggle the switch for Full control. The description will confirm this gives them admin access to manage every aspect of the business.
6. Click Next. On the "Assign access" screen, you will see a list of all your assets (Facebook Pages, Instagram accounts, Ad Accounts, etc.).
7. Find your Instagram account in the list and select it. On the right side, toggle on all the available permissions: Content, Messages, Community Activity, Ads, and Insights. This grants them full control over the Instagram asset itself.
8. Click Invite. The person will receive an email invitation to join your Business Suite. Once they accept and log in, they will have full admin privileges.

Method 2: Granting Partial Access for Specific Tasks (The Smarter Way)

In most cases, you don't need to give out full admin permissions. It's safer and more efficient to give team members or contractors access only to the tools they need to do their jobs. This is known as the "principle of least privilege," and it's the standard for professional teams.

The process starts the same way: go to Business Settings &rarr, Users &rarr, People and click Add people. The key difference is what you select during the setup process. Instead of "Full control," you'll leave it set to "Basic access." Then, you'll assign specific task permissions on the next screen.

Here are a few common scenarios:

Scenario 1: The Social Media Manager

A social media manager's job is to plan, create, and post content. They probably don't need access to billing or the ability to remove other users.

• What to assign: When you get to the "Assign access" screen, select your Instagram account. From the options on the right, enable permissions for Content (Create, manage and delete posts, Stories, and Reels), Insights (View performance metrics), and maybe Community Activity (Review and respond to comments and other activity). This gives them everything they need to manage the feed without giving away sensitive controls.

Scenario 2: The Community Manager

This person lives in the DMs and comments section, focusing solely on engagement. They shouldn't be able to edit scheduled posts or change profile settings.

• What to assign: On the "Assign access" screen, select the Instagram account and enable only the permission for Messages (Respond to direct messages) and Community Activity. That's it. They are locked into the inbox and can't touch anything else.

Scenario 3: The Ad Specialist

Someone running paid campaigns needs access to create ads and view their performance, but not necessarily post organic content or answer DMs.

• What to assign: This involves two assets. First, select the Instagram Account and grant Ads permission. Second, you must also assign them to your Ad Account. In the asset list on the left, find and select your Ad Account, then grant them a role like Manage campaigns on the right. Without access to both, they won't be able to run ads properly using your Instagram profile as a placement.

Method 3: Collaborating Through a Third-Party Tool (The Team-Focused Way)

What if your primary goal isn’t to give someone deep business-level access, but simply to let them collaborate on scheduling and posting? Bouncing back and forth between different roles and permissions in Meta Business Suite can be cumbersome for day-to-day workflow. This is where third-party social media management platforms come in.

The insecure, old way of doing this was to create a shared "team" login and pass the password around on a spreadsheet. This opens the same security holes we were trying to avoid.

The modern, professional method is to use a platform that connects to Instagram via its official API. This creates a secure handshake between your account and the tool without ever exposing your password.

How This Improves Your Workflow:

1. One Secure Connection: The account owner (or a full admin) connects the Instagram business profile to the social media management tool one time.
2. Invite Your Team: You then invite your team members to join your workspace within that tool. Each person has their own unique login for the platform (e.g., `jane@yourcompany.com`), entirely separate from Instagram's.
3. Set Platform-Level Permissions: Inside the tool, you can assign roles. For example, you might designate a freelancer as a "Contributor" who can draft posts for approval, while an in-house manager is an "Editor" who can schedule them directly.
4. Zero Password Sharing: Your team can now plan, schedule, and analyze content for the Instagram account without ever knowing - or needing to know - the actual password. It's secure, organized, and completely reversible.

This approach effectively separates business account management (done in Meta Business Suite) from content management (done in a collaboration tool), giving you the best of both worlds.

Managing and Revoking Access: Don't Forget This Step

Giving access is easy, but remembering to take it away is just as important. A clean permissions list is a secure permissions list.

• Perform Quarterly Audits: At least once a quarter, navigate to Business Settings &rarr, People and review everyone who has access. Do they all still work with you? Do they still need the level of access they have?
• Remove People Immediately: When an employee or contractor's contract ends, make their access revocation part of your offboarding process. Select their name from the "People" list and click "Remove." Do this on their last day, not a week later.
• Use the Security Center: Encourage every person with access to your business assets to use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on their personal Facebook account. Meta's Security Center provides tools to require this for everyone in your Business Suite, which adds a powerful layer of protection against unauthorized access.

Final Thoughts

While there's no single "Add Admin" button on Instagram, managing permissions through Meta Business Suite provides a secure and surprisingly flexible way to delegate work. By adding team members as people and carefully assigning them to assets like your Instagram page or Ad Account, you maintain full control while empowering your team to contribute effectively.

For day-to-day collaboration, juggling Meta's complex permission settings can interrupt a team's creative flow. Once your core access is configured, you can further simplify your workflow with a tool like Postbase. I've designed our platform so that once an admin connects the social accounts, the whole team can collaborate from one clean, visual calendar. This lets everyone draft, schedule, and manage content seamlessly without needing to get tangled up in Business Settings or ever passing around sensitive passwords.