Instagram Story hacks

29. Record video hands-free

How to do it:

1. Swipe right from your home screen to open the Instagram Stories camera
2. Swipe through the options at the bottom of the screen—normal, Boomerang, etc.—and stop at the HANDS-FREE recording option
3. Tap the record button at the bottom of the screen to begin recording
4. To stop recording, either let the maximum time run out or tap the capture button again

30. Add as much text as you want to posts in Stories

How to do it:

1. Swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera
2. Snap an image or record a video
3. Tap the screen to add text OR tap the Aa icon in the upper right-hand corner
4. Write your desired text
5. Tap the > icon
6. Repeat as many times as needed to add more text

31. Change the color of individual letters or words in your text

How to do it:

1. Swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera
2. Snap an image or record a video
3. Tap the screen to add text OR tap the Aa icon in the upper right-hand corner
4. Write your text as usual
5. Press and hold on a word or individual letter to select and highlight
6. Choose your desired color
7. Continue editing and share as usual

32. Change the colors or info displayed on a sticker

How to do it:

1. Select a sticker to add to your post
2. Tap it for different color options, or, in the case of things like the temperature sticker, you can choose between celsius and fahrenheit

33. Share someone else’s post in your feed on Instagram Stories

The Instagram Story version of a regram—great for sharing user-generated content or giving a shoutout to another relevant brand or influencer.

How to do it:

1. Click on the paper airplane icon below the post you want to share
2. Tap Add post to your story
3. The post will appear as a sticker with a custom background
4. You can rotate, scale, move the sticker, and tap it to explore other styles
5. Once you’re happy with how it looks, tap the Your Story button to add it to your post. The post will show original poster’s username. When someone taps the post, they’ll be able to see the original post and more content from the person who created it.

Note: You can only share posts from public accounts. If you don’t want your posts shared on Instagram Stories by other people, you can opt out in settings.

34. Add a soundtrack to your Story with Instagram’s music library

There are thousands of songs to choose from!

1. Once you taken a photo or video to add to your Story, tap the Stickers icon (folded smiley face) at the top of the screen
2. Then tap the MUSIC sticker from the menu to open Instagram’s music library
3. Choose your song by searching for a specific track or browse by mood, genre, or what’s trending
4. Tap play to preview the song before adding it to your Story
5. Once you’ve selected a song, you can fast-forward or rewind it to start it at a specific point
6. Finish adding to your post as usual and click the Your Story button at the bottom to publish it

35. Share a song or album from Spotify on Instagram Stories

Show off how hip your brand is.

How to do it:

1. Open the Spotify app
2. Find the song or album you want to share
3. Tap the three dots to open the options menu
4. Scroll down and tap Share
5. Tap Instagram Stories
6. This will open the Instagram app and you can add a sticker, text, or doodle to the image of the album you’re sharing (if you’re sharing a specific song, the app will still display the album it’s on)
7. Then tap Your Story to add the song

36. Get music recommendations with the questions sticker

Whether you want fresh music to get in the holiday mood, or new tunes to get you through the last few weeks of school, your friends can now help you find the perfect tracks.

How to do it:

1. Tap the square happy face on your Story to Add a questions sticker.
2. Tap the questions sticker and then tap the music icon to let people send you a song. People can tap the sticker in your Story, then type a question to ask you or send you a song.
3. When you view your own story and swipe up, you can see who responded. Tap a response from someone to share it. Their photo and username won’t be shown.

37. Save your entire Story to your camera roll

In case you want to publish it on a different channel at a later date.

How to do it:

1. Open your Story
2. Swipe up on the screen
3. Tap the arrow in a circle icon in the top right corner of the screen

Note: You can also save individual posts from your Story as you upload them by tapping the downward arrow icon in the bottom left corner of the screen. If you’ve already shared it, go to the photo or video you’d like to save, tap the three dots icon in the bottom right corner, and select Save Photo.

38. Share your Story to your profile

If your Story’s hot and you want everyone to see it—even those who don’t login during the 24 hours that it’s live—publish it on your profile.

How to do it:

1. Open your Story
2. Tap the three dots icon in the bottom right corner of the photo or video you’d like to share
3. Tap Share as Post
4. Edit—add filters, tags, a caption, etc.—and post as you normally would

39. Find out how your Story’s performing

Want to know how your Story’s doing? Check out this little-known feature to find out who’s watched it.

How to do it:

1. Open your Story
2. Swipe up on the screen
3. Instagram will display the number of views as well as the names of people who have seen each photo or video in your Story

40. Zoom in and out on videos with a single finger

How to do it:

1. Swipe right to open the Instagram Stories camera
2. Hold down the capture button with one finger to begin recording video
3. Slide up or down with the same finger to zoom in or out

41. Hide your Story from specific users

How to do it:

Method 1

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Privacy and Security > Story Controls.
4. Tap Hide Story From.
5. Select the people you’d like to hide your story from, then tap Done (iOS) or the checkmark symbol (Android).
6. To unhide your story from someone, tap the blue checkmark to unselect them.

Method 2

You can also choose people to hide your story from as you’re looking at who’s seen your story.

1. Tap the three horizontal dots (iOS) or the three vertical dots (Android) to the right of their name and select Hide Story From [Username].

Note: Hiding your story from someone is different from blocking them, and doesn’t prevent them from seeing your profile and posts.

42. Hide your Story from a location or hashtag

How to do it:

1. Tap Seen by on your Story.
2. Viewers who are seeing your story via a location or hashtag page will appear at the top.
3. Tap x to the right of a location or hashtag page to hide your story from it.

43. Only share your Story with close friends

Make a “close friends list” to share more personal moments with a smaller group that you choose.

How to create a “close friends list”:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu
2. Tap Close Friends
3. Tap Add next to the people who you want to add to your close friends list. You can also tap Search to search for a friend.
4. Tap Done when you’ve finished adding people to your list.

You can update your list and remove people at any time. People won’t be notified when you add or remove them from your list.

How to share your Story with close friends:

1. Tap the camera icon in the top left or swipe right from anywhere in feed.
2. Tap the circle at the bottom of the screen to take a photo, or tap and hold to record a video. To choose a photo from your phone’s library or gallery, swipe up anywhere on the screen.
3. When you’re ready to share, tap Close Friends in the bottom left.

People on your close friends list will know they’re on it, but they can’t see who else is on your list. If someone has added you to their list, you’ll see a green badge when you’re viewing their stories and a green ring around their profile photo.

44. Hide someone’s Instagram Stories without unfollowing them

Whatever the reason, we all follow at least one account whose content we may not like but for some reason can’t unfollow. The solution? Muting their Instagram Stories.

How to do it:

• Tap and hold on the Instagram Stories avatar of the account you’d like to mute.
• Tap Mute. This moves the story to the end of the queue and prevents it from autoplaying.
• To unmute, just tap and hold on the stories icon and tap Unmute.

45. Add a text-only post to your Story

A picture says a thousands words, but sometimes you only want to say a few words.

How to do it:

1. With Instagram Stories open, select Type under the capture button
2. Tap the screen and write your message
3. Click the button at the top-middle of the app to cycle through the various styles
4. Choose a background color and text color(s)
5. Press the > icon when you’re happy with the design to post it to your Story

46. Share any size photo or video without cutting anything out

Now you can share that wide-angle company photo without cutting out Gary from accounting.

How to do it:

1. Upload your large photo or video and pinch to zoom out to share the original dimensions
2. Any extra room will be filled with a custom color gradient that matches what you’re sharing

47. Pin your best Stories to the top of your profile

Brands can now keep their best Stories on their profiles for as long as they like with the Instagram Stories Highlights feature.

How to do it:

1. Tap the New circle at the far left on your Instagram for business profile
2. Choose any Stories from your archive (note: Stories from business profiles are automatically saved to the archive when they expire)
3. Select a cover icon for your Highlight and give it a name
4. Your Highlight will appear as a circle on your profile that plays as a stand-alone Story when someone taps it
5. To edit or remove a Highlight, tap and hold it on your profile

Note: Highlights stay on your profile until you remove them, and you can have as many Highlights as you’d like. Check out these free Highlights cover icons to make sure yours really stand out.

48. Share your Instagram Story to your Facebook Story

You can do this for individual post, or set it up so all your Instagram Stories automatically our published on Facebook as well.

How to do it for a specific Story:

1. Start creating a story, then tap Next.
2. Tap Your Facebook Story.
3. Tap Share.

How to set up automatic Facebook Story sharing:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Privacy and Security > Story Controls.
4. Next to Share Your Story to Facebook, toggle on to allow sharing.

49. Share a replay of your live video on Instagram Stories

Another feature available to business accounts.

How to do it:

When you finish broadcasting a live video, simply tap Share at the bottom of your screen and the video will be added to your Story.

Note: The recording will be available for 24 hours. While it plays, it will display all the comments and likes from the original broadcast. Brands will also be able to see exactly how many people watched the video—both live and in Stories.

50. Share a sneak peak of your Instagram Story

Want to entice your audience to watch the rest of your Instagram Stories? We’ve got a simple trick for that.

How to do it:

• Open Instagram Stories and take a photo, or select one from your library by swiping up.
• Tap the pen icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
• Select a color.
• Tap and hold on your screen for 1-3 seconds until the screen is filled with a solid color.
• Tap the eraser symbol in the top right corner.
• “Erase” the part of the picture you would like to show by swiping or tapping the screen with your index finger.
• Tap Your Story to share the finished product.

51. Link to your IGTV video from Instagram Stories

If you’ve just started an IGTV account, give your followers an easy way to find your new content—by sharing it to your Instagram Stories.

How to do it:

• In Instagram Stories, select the image you would like to post (a screenshot or a still from your IGTV video).
• Tap the link icon on the top right-hand side of your screen and select IGTV video from the Add Link menu.
• Select the correct video and tap Done in the top right corner of your screen.

Now your followers can go to your IGTV video by swiping up on your Instagram Story.