How to Share Things on Instagram

Sharing content is the core of the Instagram experience, but the platform gives you a surprising number of ways to do it. Whether you're trying to put a user's brilliant post on your Story or send a hilarious Reel to a group chat, knowing the right steps is essential. This guide walks you through every method for sharing on, from, and within Instagram.

The Basics: Creating and Sharing Your Own Content

Before you share content from others, it’s important to master sharing your own. Your feed posts, Stories, and Reels are the foundation of your profile and what others will be sharing.

How to Share a New Feed Post (Photo or Video)

Feed posts are the permanent content that lives on your profile grid. This is your curated portfolio, highlight reel, or brand catalog. Creating an engaging feed post builds your long-term presence.

• Step 1: Open Instagram and tap the plus icon (+) at the bottom center of the screen.
• Step 2: At the bottom, make sure you're on the “Post” tab. Select a photo or video from your camera roll. You can select multiple items to create a carousel post by tapping the multi-select icon (a square on top of another square) on the right.
• Step 3: Tap “Next.” Here, you can add filters or use the “Edit” tab to adjust brightness, contrast, and more. Tap “Next” again when you’re done.
• Step 4: Write your caption. This is your chance to add context, ask a question, and connect with your audience. You can tag other accounts, add a location, and input relevant hashtags.
• Step 5: Tap the blue “Share” button in the top right corner to publish it to your feed.

How to Share a New Instagram Story

Stories are temporary, 24-hour posts, ideal for behind-the-scenes glimpses, interactive polls, and timely updates. They are more casual and created for in-the-moment connection. Story sharing also gives you direct access to stickers, text designs, music, and more to jazz things up.

• Step 1: From the home screen, tap the plus icon (+) in the bottom menu.
• Step 2: Select “Story” from the menu at the bottom.
• Step 3: You can either take a new photo or video right from the app, or swipe up to access your phone’s gallery.
• Step 4: Customize your Story. Tap the icons at the top to add text (Aa), stickers (the smiley-faced square), drawings, or filters. This is where you can add polls, quizzes, links, and the "Add Yours" sticker.
• Step 5: Once you’re ready, tap “Your Story” in the bottom left to share it with all your followers or "Close Friends" to share it with just that list.

How to Share a New Reel

Reels are short-form, vertical videos designed for discovery and entertainment. They are Instagram’s direct answer to TikTok and are currently the format with the most potential for organic reach with non-followers. Sharing Reels regularly can significantly accelerate your account’s growth.

• Step 1: Tap the plus icon (+) and select “Reel” from the bottom menu.
• Step 2: You can record a video within the app or upload one from your gallery. Use the tools on the left to add music, select a video duration, adjust speed, and set a timer.
• Step 3: After recording or uploading your clips, tap “Next” to enter the editor. Here you can add more audio, voiceovers, text, stickers, and filters.
• Step 4: Tap “Next” again to get to the sharing screen. Write a compelling caption, choose a cover image, and tag any relevant accounts.
• Step 5: Make sure the "Also share to feed" toggle is on if you want the Reel to appear on your main profile grid. Tap “Share” to publish it.

Sharing Content From Others on Instagram

Amplifying other people’s content is a fantastic way to build community, show appreciation, and fill your content calendar when you don't have something original to post. Here's how to do it right.

How to Share Someone's Feed Post to Your Story

This is the most common and accepted way to share another person's content on Instagram. It’s perfect for highlighting user-generated content, sharing a post you love, or promoting a collaborator.

• Step 1: Navigate to the feed post (photo or video) you want to share.
• Step 2: Tap the paper airplane icon below the post (next to the comment button).
• Step 3: A menu will pop up. Tap the first option, “Add to story.”
• Step 4: The post will now appear in the Story editor. You can pinch to resize it, drag to reposition it, and add text, stickers, or mentions. Pro Tip: Tapping on the post will toggle between two styles: one with the original caption and username, and a cleaner version.
• Step 5: Tap “Your Story” to publish. Viewers will be able to tap the post in your Story to visit the original creator's content.

Important Note: You can only share posts from public accounts. If an account is set to private, you will not see the “Add to story” option.

How to Share Someone's Reel to Your Story

Sharing Reels to a Story works almost identically to sharing a feed post and is a great way to participate in trends or share entertaining content your audience will appreciate.

• Step 1: Find the Reel you want to share.
• Step 2: Tap the paper airplane icon on the right side of the screen.
• Step 3: Select “Add to story.”
• Step 4: The Reel will appear in your Story editor. Unlike a feed post, the Reel will play automatically within your Story. You can resize it, position it, and place text or stickers around it.
• Step 5: When you're ready, tap “Your Story.”

What About Reposting to Your Feed? (The "Regram")

Instagram does not have a built-in "repost" or "regram" button for the main feed. This is intentional, as the platform prioritizes original content. However, creators and brands often repost user-generated content. If you want to put someone else’s post on your own feed, there are generally two methods, but both come with a very big rule: always ask for permission first and give clear, visible credit.

Method 1: The Screenshot/Screen Record Method (with permission)

The simplest way to repost is to take a screenshot of a photo or a screen recording of a video. The downside is that this can lower the quality of the media.

• Step 1: Send a direct message to the original creator asking for permission to repost their content. Wait for their explicit "yes."
• Step 2: Once you have permission, take a high-resolution screenshot of the photo or screen record the video.
• Step 3: Tap the plus icon (+) to create a new post, just as you normally would. Crop the screenshot to remove the app's interface elements.
• Step 4: Write your caption and - this is critical - start by giving credit. The best practice is to tag their account in both the photo itself and at the very top of the caption (e.g., “ Amazing shot by @username!”).
• Step 5: Share the post.

Method 2: Using a Third-Party Repost App

There are numerous apps designed for reposting Instagram content. These apps often maintain the original quality and add a small watermark with the original creator's username, which makes giving credit easier. While convenient, you still need to get permission from the creator before using their content.

Sharing Content Within and From the Instagram App

Sometimes you don’t want to share something publicly. Instagram also offers powerful tools for sharing directly with individuals, groups, or even to other platforms.

How to Share via Direct Message (DM)

Sending a post, Reel, or Story to a friend or group is a highly personal and engaging way to share. Brands can use this to send exclusive content to top fans, or friends can use it to share memes and ideas.

• Step 1: Under any feed post or Reel, or on any Story, tap the paper airplane icon.
• Step 2: A list of your recent conversations will appear, along with a search bar. You can tap on a profile to send it to them directly.
• Step 3: You can also search for a specific person, or create a new group to share with multiple people at once.
• Step 4: You have the option to add a message along with the shared content. Tap “Send.”

How to Share an Instagram Profile

If you want to recommend an entire account to someone, you can share their profile link directly.

• Step 1: Go to the profile you want to share.
• Step 2: Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of the screen.
• Step 3: A menu will slide up. Select "Share profile."
• Step 4: From here, you can send it as a DM to your Instagram contacts or use your phone's native share menu to send it via text, email, or another messaging app.

Advanced Sharing Tips for Brands and Creators

Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can use Instagram’s more advanced features to encourage sharing and expand your reach.

Leverage the "Add Yours" Sticker in Stories

The "Add Yours" sticker is a powerful tool for creating community-driven content chains. You create a prompt (like "show me your desk setup" or "photo of your pet"), and viewers can tap the sticker to add their own photo or video to the chain.

• Create a Story and tap the sticker icon.
• Select the "Add Yours" sticker.
• Write your prompt and post it to your Story.
• As others add to your sticker, you get notified and can re-share their submissions, driving massive engagement and user-generated content.

Create Collab Posts for Double the Reach

The "Collab" feature allows you to co-author a feed post or Reel with another account. The post appears on both of your profiles and shares the same set of likes and comments, instantly exposing your content to a new audience.

• Create a new post or Reel as usual.
• On the final sharing screen, tap "Tag People," followed by "Invite Collaborator."
• Search for and select the account you want to collaborate with.
• Once you share the post, they will receive a request to accept the collaboration. When they do, the post will appear on their profile as well.

Final Thoughts

Mastering Instagram's sharing features allows you to circulate your own content, amplify posts from others, and build a stronger, more interactive community. From simple DM shares to creative Collab posts, you now have a complete toolkit to distribute content effectively across the platform.

While knowing how to share is the first step, consistently managing when and where you share across different formats and platforms can be challenging, especially with the demand for short-form video. We designed Postbase to simplify exactly that. Our visual content calendar and rock-solid publishing reliability for Reels and Stories help you plan your content ahead of time, so you can focus more on creating stuff people want to share in the first place.