How to Update Instagram to 20 Photos

Trying to find a way to post 20 photos to a single Instagram feed post is a common source of frustration, but that limit exists for a reason. Don't worry, there are powerful and creative ways to work around Instagram’s 10-photo maximum. This guide breaks down the platform's current limits and walks you through several effective strategies to tell a much bigger story with your visuals, getting all your best shots in front of your audience.

Understanding Instagram's 10-Photo Limit: The "Why" Behind the Wall

First, let's address the tough part. As of now, you cannot natively upload more than 10 photos or videos into a single carousel post on your Instagram feed. This is a hard-coded limit set by the platform, and there's no official feature or hidden trick to bypass it.

While frustrating, this limit likely exists to protect the user experience. Imagine scrolling through your feed and landing on a post with 30 or 40 slides, you'd probably swipe past it after the first few. Limiting carousels to 10 items keeps the feed moving and encourages creators to be selective and curate only their best content for a single post. Instead of fighting the limit, the best approach is to embrace it as a creative constraint and a starting point for more compelling storytelling. The good news is that there are excellent methods to share your 20 photos in a way that is engaging, easy for your followers to follow, and great for your brand.

Creative Strategies to Share More Than 10 Photos

When you have a big event, a detailed tutorial, or a product line to show off, 10 photos often don't feel like enough. Here are a few professional strategies social media managers use to get around this limitation without disrupting the user experience.

Strategy 1: The Multi-Post Carousel Series

This is the most direct and effective strategy for showcasing a large collection of photos on your feed. The idea is to break your set of 20 images into two (or more) separate carousel posts and publish them sequentially. It’s simple, but doing it well requires a bit of planning.

How to Create a Seamless Post Series:

• Break It Down Logically: Split your photos in a way that makes narrative sense. For an event, "Part 1" could be getting ready and the ceremony, while "Part 2" covers the reception and candids. For a product launch, "Part 1" could unveil the product and its features, while "Part 2" shows it in use or highlights customer testimonials.
• Brand Your Series: Make it clear to your audience that the posts are connected. You can do this by adding text overlays like "Part 1 of 2" or "A Look at Our NYC Trip (1/2)." This manages expectations and encourages them to look for the next part.
• Create a "Cliffhanger": Use the last slide of "Part 1" as a clear call to action. Create a simple graphic that says something like, "Swipe to see the rest on our profile!" or "Stay tuned for Part 2, posting tomorrow!"
• Caption Connections: Your captions are vital. In the caption for your first post, explicitly tell your followers that a second post is coming (or is already live). You can say, "This is just the first half of the story! Head over to our profile to see Part 2 for the full gallery." In the second post, you can reference the first, making it easy for people who discover them out of order.

Example in Action: A clothing brand launching a new collection wants to showcase 18 different looks. They create two carousel posts. The first, titled "The 'Solstice' Collection: Looks 1-9," contains the first nine photos. The final slide is a branded image telling followers to check their profile for the rest of the amazing collection. The second post, published right after, is titled "The 'Solstice' Collection: Looks 10-18," completing the lookbook.

Strategy 2: Use Instagram Stories &, Highlights

Instagram Stories are a powerhouse for long-form visual storytelling because they have no daily upload limit. You can easily add all 20 of your photos (and more) to your story and then save them permanently to a Highlight on your profile.

Steps for This Method:

1. Craft Your Story: Upload all 20 of your photos to your Instagram Story one by one. You can add text, stickers, and music to make them more engaging. Think of it as a virtual photo album your followers can tap through at their own pace.
2. Create a Highlight: Once your stories are live, go to your profile and tap the "New" button under your bio to create a new Highlight. Select all 20 uploaded photos from your story archive, give the Highlight a name (e.g., "Event Recap" or "France Trip '24"), and choose a cover image.
3. Drive Traffic from Your Feed: This last step ties everything together. Create a single feed post using your very best photo from the set. In the caption, direct people to your new Highlight to see the full collection. For example: "Our latest project was too big for one post! See all 20 behind-the-scenes photos in our 'Phoenix Project' Highlight. Tap the link in our bio to see the full story!"

This method keeps your curated feed clean while giving an easily accessible permanent home to your entire photo set.

Strategy 3: Make Video Slideshows &, Photo Collages

Rather than thinking in terms of individual photos, you can combine multiple images into a single video or collage format, allowing you to fit everything within the 10-slide limit of a carousel.

The Video Slideshow (Reels):

Turning your photo set into a short video is one of the most popular ways to showcase more content. Instagram Reels are heavily favored by the algorithm, which can give you a nice boost in reach.

• Gather your 20 photos into a Reels-ready editing app like CapCut, InShot, or the Instagram Reels editor.
• Set the duration for each photo to be very short (around 0.5 to 1 second) and put it to trending audio.
• This fast-paced slideshow packs all 20 images into a dynamic 15-30 second video that feels engaging, not overwhelming. It's perfect for recaps, tutorials, or product showcases.

The Photo Collage Carousel:

If you prefer static images to video, collages are another fantastic option. Instead of one photo per slide, you can feature 2, 3, or even 4 photos on a single slide. This way, one 10-slide carousel can technically showcase up to 40 photos!

• Use a tool like Canva or Adobe Express to create simple, stylish collage templates that match your brand's aesthetic.
• Group your photos thematically for each collage slide (e.g., all detail shots on one slide, all wide angles on another).
• The result is a visually rich post that feels dense with value, showing followers you had too much great content for just a plain post.

Strategy 4: Create an Instagram Guide

Guides are a lesser-used but powerful feature that lets you compile published posts into a single, scrollable article on a dedicated tab on your profile. This is perfect for collecting your two-part carousel series into one permanent long-form piece.

How to Leverage Guides:

1. First, publish your content using another method described above, such as a two-part carousel series.
2. Go to your profile, tap the "+" icon, and select "Guide." Choose the "Posts" type.
3. Select the carousel posts you've just published (e.g., Part 1 and Part 2).
4. Arrange them in order, give your Guide a compelling title and cover image, and add descriptions.

Now you have a single, shareable Guide that contains all 20 of your images in an organized, permanent format. You can link to this Guide in your Stories or from other websites to showcase the full collection.

Final Thoughts

Although you can't technically update Instagram to magically post 20 photos in a single carousel, that limitation opens the door for more creative and strategic thinking. By using multi-post series, engaging Story Highlights, video slideshows, or compelling Guides, you have more than enough tools to tell a compelling narrative beyond the confines of a 10-photo post.

Planning these different content types can get complicated, which is why a scheduling tool is a huge help. Platforms like Postbase have visual calendars that make it easy to see all your content pieces scheduled across different platforms, helping you plan out your series and promotions to ensure a cohesive and impactful campaign.