How to Schedule Stories on Facebook

Scheduling your Facebook Stories is one of the best ways to stay consistent, save a significant amount of time, and keep your audience engaged without being glued to your phone all day. This guide will walk you through exactly how to schedule your Stories using Facebook's native tools. We'll also cover some simple strategies for creating content that connects with your followers.

Why Bother Scheduling Facebook Stories?

Unlike regular feed posts, Stories are designed to be immediate and raw. So, why would you schedule them? For brands, creators, and business owners, planning ahead is a sanity-saver and a smart strategic move. The "in-the-moment" feeling for your audience doesn't mean you have to create everything at the moment.

Here are the biggest benefits:

• Batch Your Work and Save Time: The most obvious advantage. Instead of stopping what you're doing multiple times a day to post a Story, you can dedicate a single block of time to create and schedule content for a week or more. This frees up your mental energy to focus on other parts of your business.
• Maintain a Consistent Presence: Consistency is everything on social media. When you regularly appear at the top of your followers' feeds, you stay top-of-mind. Scheduling removes the chance you'll forget to post on a busy day, helping you build momentum without gaps in your content.
• Improve Your Content Quality: When you're not rushing to post something on the fly, you have time to be more thoughtful. You can plan mini-narratives, align Stories with a marketing campaign, add polished branding, and double-check for any typos or mistakes.
• Post at Optimal Times: Your audience isn't always online when you are. Scheduling allows you to publish Stories when your followers are most active, even if that's early in the morning, late at night, or while you're in a meeting. This gives your content the best possible chance to be seen.

How to Schedule Stories on Facebook (Step-by-Step Guide)

The only native way to schedule Facebook Stories is through Meta Business Suite, a free tool for managing your Facebook Business Page and connected Instagram account. You cannot schedule Stories directly from the Facebook mobile app, so you’ll need to use a desktop computer or the Business Suite mobile app.

Here’s the breakdown for using the desktop version, which offers the most straightforward experience.

Step 1: Open Meta Business Suite

First, log into the Facebook account associated with your Business Page. Then, head over to business.facebook.com. If you manage multiple pages, make sure you've selected the correct one from the dropdown menu in the top-left corner.

Step 2: Navigate to the Content Planner or Create Story

You have two main paths to get started:

1. The quickest way: On the main dashboard, look for the "Create story" button. Click it.
2. The planner's way: Go to the "Planner" view from the left-hand navigation menu. This will show you a calendar of your scheduled and published content. Find the date you want your Story to go live, click the "Create" button in the top right, and then select "Create story."

Step 3: Select Where to Post and Upload Your Media

A new window will pop up. At the top, under "Post to," you’ll see options to share to your Facebook Page, your connected Instagram account, or both. For this guide, just make sure your Facebook Page is checked.

Next, click the "Add media" button. This is where you'll upload the photo or video you've already created for your Story. Keep in mind that vertical content (a 9:16 aspect ratio, or 1080x1920 pixels) looks best and fills the entire screen. Facebook supports both images and videos (up to 60 seconds) for Stories.

Step 4: Customize Your Story

Once your media is uploaded, you'll see a preview of your Story on the right. On the left are your editing tools. While the Business Suite editor isn't as robust as the mobile app's creative tools, it offers the core features you need.

• Crop: If your photo or video isn't the right size, you can use the simple crop tool to adjust it to the vertical 9:16 format.
• Text: Click the "Text" tool to add an overlay. You can type your message, choose from a few different fonts, change the text color, and add a background highlight to make it pop. You can drag and drop the text box anywhere on the screen.
• Stickers: This is the place to add a bit of personality. You can search for GIFs or choose from a selection of Facebook’s standard stickers. Crucially, you can also add a link sticker here. This is a game-changer for driving traffic from your Stories. Simply paste your URL, and you can even customize the sticker text (e.g., "Shop Now" or "Read More").

It's important to know that more advanced interactive stickers like Polls, Quizzes, or the Question sticker are not available in the scheduling tool. You can only add those when posting a Story manually from the mobile app. A smart workaround is to use a text overlay to ask a question and instruct viewers to "DM us your answer!" or react with an emoji.

Step 5: Schedule Your Story

After you’ve finished creative edits, look below the editing tools for the "Scheduling options" section. It will be set to "Publish now" by default.

Click the "Schedule" radio button. A date and time selector will appear. Choose the exact day and time you want the Story to go live. Meta Business Suite will even suggest "Active Times" based on when your audience has historically been most engaged, which is a helpful feature if you're unsure when to post.

Double-check that you've selected AM or PM correctly, as that's an easy mistake to make!

Step 6: Click Schedule and You're Done!

Once everything looks good - your media is uploaded, your edits are complete, and your date and time are set - hit the blue "Schedule" button in the bottom right corner. That's it! Your Story is now queued up and will publish automatically at the scheduled time.

You can see all of your upcoming scheduled Stories (and posts) in the "Planner" section of the Business Suite, where you can easily reschedule, edit, or delete them if needed.

Best Practices for Creating Better Facebook Stories

Just because you're scheduling your Stories doesn't mean they should feel stale or robotic. Good planning is your ticket to creating more engaging, high-quality content that drives results. Here are some tips to keep in mind.

Think in Batches for Efficiency

Instead of thinking about one Story at a time, plan a week's worth of content around your core topics or "content pillars." For example, on Monday, you might share a behind-the-scenes look at your work, Tuesday could be a quick Q&,A session (using our DM workaround), Wednesday could highlight a customer review, and so on. Creating assets for the whole week in one go is a massive time-saver.

Always Add a Call-to-Action (CTA)

Every Story should have a purpose. What do you want your viewer to do next? Don't leave them hanging. Use the link sticker to direct traffic or use text overlays to encourage engagement.

Some simple CTAs for Stories:

• "DM us for more info!"
• "Tap the link to read the article."
• "What do you think? Let us know!"
• "Save this post for later." (linking to a related feed post)

Use Text to Support Your Visuals

Many people watch Stories with the sound off, so don't rely on audio alone to tell your story. If you're using a video where someone is talking, add text overlays that summarize the key points or provide captions. This makes your content accessible and ensures your message gets across no matter how someone is watching.

Keep It Visually Consistent

Stories feel casual, but they should still feel like they're coming from your brand. Use your brand colors for text backgrounds, stick to a consistent set of one or two fonts, and apply a similar filter or editing style to your photos and videos. This small effort makes your content look more professional and recognizable.

Tell a Mini-Story Across Multiple Frames

Don't be afraid to use 2-4 Story frames in a row to get a message across. A longer narrative can be more engaging than a single image. You can build anticipation, share a step-by-step process, or break down a complex idea into bite-sized pieces.

1. Frame 1: The Hook (e.g., "3 mistakes you're making with your morning coffee.")
2. Frame 2: Mistake #1 (Briefly explain it.)
3. Frame 3: Mistake #2 (Briefly explain it.)
4. Frame 4: The Solution + CTA (e.g., "See how to fix it at the link in our bio/Story link.")

Final Thoughts

Learning how to schedule Facebook Stories is a simple, effective change that can have a huge impact on your social media workflow. By using Meta Business Suite to plan ahead, you can post consistently, engage your audience at the best times, and free yourself from the pressure of always having to create content on the spot.

And if you're managing multiple social platforms, that's where a dedicated tool can make a real difference. At Postbase, we designed our platform from the ground up for modern social media, which means handling content like Stories, Reels, and TikToks is central to what we do, not an afterthought. We focused on making scheduling across all your accounts incredibly reliable, so when you schedule a Story, you can have complete confidence it will go live exactly as planned, every single time.