How to Share a TikTok to an Instagram Story

Found a perfect TikTok video and need to get it onto your Instagram Story? We’ll show you exactly how to do it. This guide covers everything from the fastest, simplest ways to share a video to the best methods for repurposing content for a cleaner, more professional look on your Instagram profile.

Why Share TikToks to Your Instagram Story?

Before jumping into the "how," let's quickly touch on the "why." Cross-posting content between platforms is a smart strategy used by brands and creators to maximize their reach and save a tremendous amount of time. You’ve already done the hard work of creating a great video, sharing it in more than one place lets you get more out of that effort.

Sharing your TikToks to Instagram allows you to:

• Reach a Different Audience: While there’s plenty of audience overlap between TikTok and Instagram, many of your followers on one platform might not follow you on the other. Sharing your video to your Instagram Story introduces your content to a new set of eyes.
• Keep Your Audience Engaged: Instagram Stories are a fantastic way to maintain a high-touch, consistent presence with your audience. Filling your content calendar can be a challenge, and repurposing successful TikTok videos is an efficient way to keep your Stories active and interesting without creating something new from scratch.
• Promote Your TikTok Channel: It serves as a direct pipeline to grow your TikTok following. When your Instagram audience sees fantastic content you’re creating elsewhere, it gives them a compelling reason to follow you on TikTok, too. It builds a cohesive, multi-platform brand presence.

In short, it’s about working smarter, not harder. You leverage one piece of content to engage two distinct audiences, building your brand organically across the social landscape.

Method 1: Directly Saving Your TikTok to Your Phone and Uploading

This is the most straightforward method for sharing your own TikTok videos. It’s quick, easy, and uses the built-in features of the TikTok app. The main downside is that the final downloaded video will include a small TikTok watermark that bounces around the screen.

Here’s the step-by-step process:

Step 1: Open TikTok and Find Your Video

Launch the TikTok app and navigate to your profile. Select the video that you want to share to your Instagram Story.

Step 2: Tap the Share Button

On the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see a series of icons. Tap the arrow icon, which is the "Share" button. It often looks like a curved arrow or, on some devices, the standard three-dot share symbol.

Step 3: Save the Video to Your Device

A share menu will pop up with a variety of options. In the bottom row of icons, look for and tap the "Save video" button. A download progress indicator will appear, and once it's complete, the video will be saved directly to your phone's camera roll or photo gallery.

Step 4: Open Instagram and Create a New Story

Now, switch over to the Instagram app. From your home feed, swipe right or tap the plus (+) icon at the bottom and select "Story" to open the Story creation screen.

Step 5: Select the Video from Your Camera Roll

Swipe up from the bottom of the Story screen or tap the gallery icon in the bottom-left corner. This opens your phone’s photo library. Your recently saved TikTok video should be the very first item. Tap on it to import it into your Instagram Story.

Step 6: Customize and Post

Once the video is loaded into the Story editor, you can treat it like any other piece of content. Add interactive elements like polls, stickers, or text overlays to make it feel native to Instagram. This is a great opportunity to add a call-to-action, like asking a question or directing people to your link in bio. When you're happy with it, tap "Your Story" to post.

Method 2: Remove the Watermark Before Sharing

Sometimes you want your video to look completely native to Instagram, without the TikTok watermark. This creates a cleaner, more professional branding experience and makes the repurposed content feel less like an advertisement for another platform. This method requires an extra couple of steps but is often worth the effort.

A Quick Note on Crediting: If you are using this method to share someone else's video, it is absolutely essential to give them proper credit. Add a simple text overlay saying "Credit: @[username] on TikTok" or use the Mention sticker in Instagram to tag their account if they have one. Being a good digital citizen is non-negotiable.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Copy the Video Link from TikTok

Instead of hitting "Save video," you're going to copy its link. Find the TikTok you want to share, tap the "Share" icon, and then select "Copy link." The video’s URL is now copied to your clipboard.

Step 2: Use an Online Video Downloader

Open a web browser on your phone or computer and search for a "TikTok video downloader without watermark." Several free websites specialize in this. They all work in a similar way: you paste the video link into a field and hit a download button.

Step 3: Paste the Link and Download

On the downloader website, paste the URL you copied from TikTok into the search bar and click download. The site will process the link and provide you with a download option, typically for an MP4 file without the watermark. Download the video to your device. It will save to your camera roll (on mobile) or your downloads folder (on desktop).

Step 4: Upload to Your Instagram Story

From here, the process is the same as Method 1. Open the Instagram Story editor, access your phone’s gallery, and select the newly downloaded, watermark-free video. Adjust, add stickers, and post it to your Story. The result is a seamless video that looks like it was created just for Instagram.

Best Practices for Repurposing TikTok Content on Instagram

Simply re-uploading your video is a good start, but a few additional steps can dramatically increase your engagement and make your shared content more effective.

1. Add Native Instagram Elements

Don't just post the video as-is. Instagram's algorithm and users appreciate content that feels native to the platform. After you’ve imported your TikTok into the Story editor, use Instagram's unique features:

• Interactive Stickers: Add a Poll, Quiz, Slider, or Question sticker on top of your video to get your audience involved. This is one of the single best ways to boost Story engagement.
• Captions and Text: Many people watch Stories with the sound off. While your TikTok might already have baked-in captions, you can add key takeaways or summarizing text using Instagram’s fonts to ensure the message gets across.
• @Mention and #Hashtag Stickers: Tag any relevant accounts or add a trending hashtag to increase the visibility of your Story.

2. Respect the Safe Zones

Remember that the Instagram Story interface has elements at the top (your profile picture and name) and bottom (the "Send message" bar). Make sure any important visual elements or on-screen text from your original TikTok aren't covered by these UI elements. You may need to slightly adjust the video’s positioning or scale by pinching and zooming in the editor.

3. Check Your Audio

If your TikTok used a trending sound from TikTok's library, be aware that music licensing doesn't always transfer across platforms. While this is less of an issue for Stories than for Reels or main feed posts, the sound could potentially be removed by Instagram. To be safe, rely on videos where the audio is original (your own voice or original music), or be prepared for the sound to possibly not play.

4. Add a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

What do you want your audience to do after watching your Story? Tell them!

• Use the Link sticker to drive traffic to your blog, website, or product page.
• Add text that says "Follow me on TikTok for more!" with your username.
• Encourage replies by asking a question and saying "DM me your answers!"

Without a clear CTA, your video is just entertainment. With one, it becomes a marketing strategy.

Final Thoughts

Repurposing your best TikTok videos for your Instagram Story is a powerful way to expand your reach, keep your audience engaged, and maintain a consistent content flow without creating everything from scratch. Whether you choose the quick direct-save method or take a few extra steps to remove the watermark, you're leveraging your creative work to make a bigger impact.

Once you nail the workflow of sharing content between platforms, the next step is often streamlining your entire social media strategy. This is where we built Postbase to help. Since our tool was designed from the ground up for the realities of modern social media - short-form video, stories, Reels, and TikToks - it avoids the clunky feel of older platforms. You can plan all your content in one visual calendar, schedule it reliably, and manage your engagement in a single inbox, making the daily juggle between platforms feel effortless instead of overwhelming.