How to Post a Long Reel on an Instagram Story

You’ve poured your heart into a brilliant 90-second Reel, and now you want to blast it out to your Story audience - but every time you try, Instagram chops it down to a frustrating 15-second teaser. Sharing your long-form video content shouldn’t feel like you’re battling the platform’s limitations. This guide will walk you through exactly why this happens and give you two effective strategies to share your entire Reel to your Story, so you can capture your audience's attention and drive more views where they count.

First, Let's Get Technical: Why Your Reel Gets Cut Short in Stories

The core of the issue comes down to Instagram's design philosophy for its different features. Stories are built for short, fast, and ephemeral content, while Reels are intended for longer, more discoverable video entertainment. When you share a Reel to your Story, you’re trying to fit a longer content format into a space designed for brevity.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Reels 60 seconds or less: If your Reel is a minute long or shorter, you’re in luck. Instagram generally allows these to play in their entirety when shared to your Story. The user can watch the whole thing without ever leaving your Story frame.
• Reels longer than 60 seconds: This is where things get tricky. For Reels that run longer than a minute (up to the 90-second maximum), Instagram will automatically create a 15-second preview for your Story.

Instagram does this on purpose. The 15-second preview acts as a trailer, designed to hook the viewer and encourage them to tap through to watch the full video on the Reels tab. The platform’s goal is to use Stories as a traffic driver, leading viewers to the content format it’s currently prioritizing for growth and reach. While it can be frustrating, understanding this logic helps you create a better strategy for sharing your content.

Two Proven Strategies for Sharing Your Full Reel to Your Story

Since there isn't a secret button to force a 90-second video into the Story format, your strategy should focus on one of two goals: either making the 15-second preview so compelling that users have to click, or creating a seamless multi-clip Story that mimics the full Reel. Both approaches work, you just have to choose the one that best fits your content and your workflow.

Strategy 1: Lean Into the Teaser (The Instagram-Approved Method)

Instead of fighting the 15-second preview, the most straightforward approach is to optimize it. You can turn this limitation into a powerful tool for generating curiosity and driving traffic directly to your Reel, which is where you want engagement like comments, saves, and shares to happen anyway. The more engagement your Reel gets, the more the algorithm will push it to new audiences.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Find the Reel you want to share. It can be your own or someone else's.
2. Tap the paper airplane icon (Share) located on the right side of the screen.
3. From the pop-up menu, select "Add to your story."
4. You’ll be taken to the Story editor, where you'll see a preview of your Reel. By default, it will show the first 15 seconds.

This is where you can turn a simple share into a high-performing traffic driver.

How to Make This Teaser Irresistible:

• Choose the Best 15 Seconds: Don't settle for the default opening clip. In the Story editor, you’ll see a timeline of your Reel at the top. Tap it. A slider will appear, allowing you to scrub through the entire video. Find the most dynamic, visually interesting, or curiosity-inducing 15-second segment to use as your preview. A "reveal," a dramatic moment, or a plot twist works great. Ask yourself: what part of my video makes someone stop scrolling?
• Create a Powerful Call-to-Action (CTA): Don’t assume people know to tap. Use the text tool to add a clear and direct CTA. Phrases like "Tap to see the full recipe!", "Watch the full workout at the link," or "See how it ends on our Reel!" guide your viewer's next step.
• Use Stickers to Draw Attention: Open the sticker tray and add an animated arrow or a "Tap Here" sticker. You can resize and place it directly over the Reel preview or pointing to the "Watch Reel" link at the top-left of the screen to make it painfully obvious what you want the user to do.
• Build an Information Gap: Treat your story like a movie trailer. Show the "before" but not the "after." Pose a question but hold back the answer. For example, if your Reel is a DIY tutorial, your story share could show a short, polished clip of the final product with text like, “Made this myself in 30 minutes. Full tutorial in our new Reel!” This creates an irresistible need to see the "how."

Strategy 2: The “Clip and Stitch” Method for Full Control

If you absolutely want your audience to see the entire Reel without leaving your Story, the best method is to do Instagram's work for it. This involves manually cutting your longer Reel into consecutive clips that fit within the Story time limits and then uploading them together. This creates a cohesive, uninterrupted viewing experience for your followers watching your Stories.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Split Your Video: Before going to Instagram, save your full-length Reel to your phone. Use a video editing app (CapCut, VN, or InShot are all great free options) or your phone's native editor to split the video. Since Instagram Stories can now be up to 60 seconds long, this is easier than ever. For a 90-second Reel, you could create two clips: one that's 60 seconds long and a second one that's 30 seconds long. Save both clips to your camera roll.
2. Open the Story Editor: In Instagram, swipe right to open the Story composer. Tap the gallery icon in the bottom-left corner to access your camera roll.
3. Select Multiple Clips: In the top-right corner of your camera roll view, tap the "SELECT" button. This lets you choose multiple photos and videos at once. Now, tap your clips in the correct chronological order - select the first segment, then the second.
4. Edit and Publish: Instagram will now queue up your clips as consecutive Story slides. You can tap on each slide to edit them individually - add text, stickers, or music. When you're ready, hit publish, and your clips will appear one after another, creating one smooth, long story.
5. Link Back to the Original Reel: This last step is important for engagement. On the final clip of your stitched Story, use the Link Sticker to link back to the native Reel on your profile. Add a CTA like, "Leave a comment on the original Reel!" or "Save this Reel for later." This encourages viewers to engage with the original post, helping boost its performance with the algorithm.

This method gives the watcher a seamless viewing experience, but it does mean that views are spread across your Stories instead of being concentrated on your Reel. Balancing the two is a matter of knowing your audience and your marketing goals.

Beyond Posting: Strategies to Maximize Views from Your Stories

Regardless of which method you choose, a little extra effort in how you present the share can make a huge difference in your click-through rates.

Create a Custom Story Background

The standard Story share shows your Reel slapped onto a generic, color-gradient background. To look more professional, create a branded template. Take a visually appealing screenshot from your Reel, bring it into Canva, add your brand colors and a headline, and save it to your phone. Upload that image to your Story first. Then, go back to the Reel, hit "Share," and "Add to Story." Pinch the Reel preview to make it smaller and place it over your custom background. It's an extra step that makes your content look polished and intentional.

Talk Directly to Your Audience

A personal touch goes a long way. Before posting your shared Reel (using either method), take a moment to record a "talking head" style video. Say something like, “Hey everyone, in our newest Reel I’m sharing my three biggest mistakes when doing X… you're not going to want to miss it. Check it out on the next slide!” This direct, personal invitation is far more engaging than a silent share.

Use Interactive Story Stickers

Get people engaged before they even see the Reel footage. On the Story frame where you share the Reel, add a Poll or Quiz sticker. For a cooking Reel, you could add a poll: "What ingredient do you think I used? 🍜" with two options. Answering the poll gets the user involved and makes them more invested in tapping through to see if they were right.

Final Thoughts

Sharing your long Reel on an Instagram Story isn’t as simple as clicking a single button, but it's far from impossible. By either creating an irresistible teaser that drives traffic or creating a seamless multi-clip story, you can effectively share your best video content with your most engaged audience.

Thinking about how your Reels and Stories work together is a big part of building a solid content strategy, and it can feel like a lot to juggle. That's actually why we built Postbase. Our visual content calendar makes it easy to see everything at a glance - you can map out when your Reels go live and then schedule the promotional Stories to go up right alongside them. Because our platform was designed for today's video-first social media landscape, it helps you plan and publish your Reels and other short-form videos without the headaches, so you can focus more on creating awesome content.