How to Move a Facebook Post to Instagram

Moving a successful Facebook post over to Instagram seems like it should be simple, but getting it right is more than just a copy-and-paste job. This guide will walk you through the best methods, from the quick automatic ways to the more strategic manual approach that gets better results. We'll cover how to adapt your photos, videos, and even text posts so they feel right at home on Instagram.

Why Repurpose, Not Just Copy-Paste?

While Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, they are fundamentally different platforms with unique audiences and expectations. What engages your followers on Facebook - like long text updates and outbound links - can fall flat on the highly visual, fast-paced world of Instagram. Simply copying content from one to the other often feels out of place and can hurt your engagement.

The goal isn't just to "move" a post, it's to repurpose it. Repurposing means intelligently adapting your original content to fit the new environment. This approach allows you to:

• Save Time and Effort: You don't need to create entirely new content from scratch for every platform.
• Maintain Brand Consistency: Your core message remains the same, strengthening your brand identity across channels.
• Maximize Engagement: By tailoring the post to Instagram's best practices, you give it the best possible chance to succeed.

Think of it like this: A joke that lands perfectly at a casual dinner party might need a different delivery in a formal presentation. The core joke is the same, but the context changes everything. The same is true for your social media content.

Method 1: The Quick and Easy Way - Automated Crossposting

If speed is your top priority, Meta's Accounts Center allows you to automatically share your Facebook posts directly to Instagram. This method is best for straightforward image posts where the caption and hashtags work for both platforms. Keep in mind, this hands-off approach offers convenience at the cost of customization.

Setting Up Crossposting in Meta Accounts Center

Before you begin, make sure your Instagram account is a Professional Account (Creator or Business) and that it's linked to the Facebook Page you manage. If they're not linked yet, you can do so through your Instagram profile settings ("Settings and privacy" >, "Accounts Center").

Here’s how to enable it:

1. Go to Accounts Center: You can access this from your Facebook Page settings, your Instagram app settings, or the Meta Business Suite. The easiest way is usually within the Instagram app. Go to your Profile >, tap the three lines in the corner >, "Settings and privacy" >, "Accounts Center."
2. Select "Connected experiences": In the Accounts Center, find and tap on "Connected experiences."
3. Choose "Cross-post or Share": Here, you'll choose the option that allows sharing content automatically.
4. Set Up Your Automatic Sharing: You will see options to "Automatically share." Select your Facebook account. From there, you can toggle on whether you want to automatically share your Facebook feed posts, your Stories, or your Reels directly to your connected Instagram account.

The Pros and Cons of Automated Crossposting

Pros:

• Extremely Fast: It’s a "set it and forget it" solution for getting content onto both platforms simultaneously.
• Effortless: Requires no extra work after the initial setup. Perfect for simple announcements or behind-the-scenes Stories that work on any platform.

Cons:

• No Customization: The caption, hashtags, and mentions will be identical. You can't tailor your message for different audiences.
• Formatting Issues: A photo that looks great on Facebook might get awkwardly cropped on Instagram. Vertical photos perform better on Instagram, while Facebook is more flexible with landscape images.
• Links Don't Work: A clickable link in your Facebook caption becomes useless, unclickable text on Instagram. This can confuse followers and hurt your call to action.
• Hashtag Inefficiency: A couple of well-placed hashtags work great on Facebook, but on Instagram, you're missing an opportunity to use up to 30 relevant hashtags to expand your reach.

Method 2: The Strategic Way - Manual Repurposing for Better Results

For content that truly matters, taking a few extra minutes to manually repurpose your Facebook posts for Instagram will deliver far better engagement. This approach allows you to tailor every element of the post to fit Instagram's native experience. Always start with your original, high-quality media files - don't just save a compressed version from Facebook.

How to Repurpose a Facebook Photo Post

Photo posts are the easiest to adapt. Just follow these steps.

1. Optimize the Image Format

Instagram's feed favors vertical content. While square (1:1 aspect ratio) images are still fine, portrait images (4:5 aspect ratio) take up more screen real estate and perform better. Avoid posting landscape (horizontal) photos directly to the feed, as they will appear small.

• Use a free editing app like Canva to quickly resize your picture to a 4:5 format, or simply use your phone's photo editor to crop it.

2. Rewrite the Caption

Instagram captions can be longer (up to 2,200 characters), but they often have a different tone. They tend to be more personal, story-driven, or centered around a strong call-to-action.

• Change the Hook: Grab attention with an engaging first line, as Instagram truncates captions after a few sentences.
• Remove Links: Take any URLs out of the caption. Instead, direct people with a phrase like, "Check out the link in our bio for all the details!"
• Ask a Question: Encourage comments by ending your caption with a direct question to your audience.

3. Add Instagram-Specific Hashtags

This is one of the most important steps. Hashtags are how new audiences discover your content on Instagram.

• Research Relevant Hashtags: Look for a mix of broad, niche, community, and branded hashtags. Aim for 10-20 well-researched tags. For a local coffee shop, that might look like #CoffeeLover #NYCcoffee #BrooklynCafe #[YourBrandName] #LatteArt.
• Place Them Smartly: You can place hashtags at the end of your caption or add them in the first comment immediately after posting to keep the caption looking clean.

How to Repurpose a Facebook Video Post

With the dominance of Reels, repurposing a Facebook video for Instagram requires reformatting for a vertical screen.

1. Re-edit for a Vertical Format (9:16)

A standard landscape video from Facebook will look tiny and amateurish on the Instagram Reels tab. You need to re-edit it to a 9:16 vertical aspect ratio.

• Use a Video Editor: Tools like CapCut or InShot offer a 9:16 format preset. Import your video and adjust the framing so the main subject is always centered and visible. You can add text overlays to help grab viewers' attention. Adding captions and subtitles is essential, as many people watch videos with the sound off.

2. Adapt for Reels

Reels are short, punchy, and often use trending audio. Your longer, more narrative Facebook video probably won't transfer directly.

• Find the Hook: Identify the most eye-catching 3-5 seconds of your video and put it right at the beginning.
• Shorten It: Trim your video to ideally be under 60 seconds for maximum engagement on Reels.
• Add Trending Audio: When uploading to Instagram, swap your original audio for a trending sound or song directly within the Reels editor. This helps the algorithm show your content to a wider audience.

You can even pick bits and pieces of a longer video to show off a new product or an interesting factoid as its own video, and then do a "series," like Part-1 and Part-2 to capture eyeballs across a feed.

How to Repurpose a Facebook Text or Link Post

This is the most creative challenge, as Instagram is a visual platform where text-only posts are rare and do not usually perform well.

1. Turn the Text into a Graphic

Don't just post a screenshot of the text. Use a simple design tool to make it visually appealing.

• Use Canva Templates: Search for "Tweet Mockup" or "Quote" templates on a site like Canva. Create a simple, branded graphic with the most important sentence from your Facebook post.
• Create a Carousel: If you have a longer text post, break it down into several bite-sized points. Put each point on a separate slide in an Instagram carousel post. The first slide should have a compelling title that makes people want to swipe.

2. Handle the Link

Since links in captions aren't clickable, your call-to-action (CTA) needs to change.

• Focus on Stories: The easiest way to share a link is via the "Link Sticker" in Instagram Stories. Create a simple Story promoting your content and add a sticker that sends people directly to the URL. Remember, all stories disappear after 24 hours.
• Update Your "Link in Bio": This is the standard method for feed posts. Use a service like Linktree or simply update the single website link in your bio to the relevant URL. Then, in your feed post's caption, clearly state, "Click the link in my bio to read more/shop now!"

Final Thoughts

Moving a post from Facebook to Instagram isn't just about duplication - it's about translation. Taking the extra time to adjust a photo's aspect ratio, rewrite a caption for a different audience, and add platform-specific features like hashtags or trending audio is what makes content perform successfully across different platforms. Start with the automated tools where it makes sense, but embrace the manual process for the content you really want to shine.

As we developed Postbase, we focused on solving this exact challenge. That's why we built our scheduling tool to let you quickly customize captions, hashtags, and formats for each platform right from a single composer. You can write your post and attach your media once, then tailor it for Facebook and Instagram - adjusting the text, choosing different hashtags, or even uploading different media formats - without duplicating your effort. It bridges the gap between the speed of automation and the quality of manual repurposing, saving you time while making sure your content feels native wherever you publish it.