Home » Misc » How to add more pictures on instagram

How to add more pictures on instagram


How to post multiple photos on Instagram 2022

As one of the most popular social media apps, Instagram constantly keeps coming up with new ways to share snippets of your life with others. One of the major breakthroughs over the years has been the release of Stories, adopted from Snapchat. 

The core of Instagram Stories is the ability to share photos or videos that can only be viewed for 24 hours, after which they disappear forever. This eases the burden of having to create permanent content of the highest quality and incentivizes people to share more. 

Furthermore, instead of forcing users to choose the best photo for their Story or regular feed post, Instagram has also allowed them to share a post with multiple photos, so they can tell their story in the best way possible. 

Let’s review how you can share multiple photos in one Instagram post or Story as well as how to add images or video to an existing Instagram Story and a few other tips and tricks.

How to add multiple photos to Instagram

When you upload multiple images to Instagram, you not only tell a better story but also save time, increase engagement, and maintain clear theme separation in your overall narrative.

There are a few ways to add multiple photos or upload multiple videos to Instagram. You can do so from your phone or Mac, both using the official Instagram app or leveraging the extra functionality of third-party alternatives. 

How to add more than one photo to Instagram Story

When you want to add multiple photos in one Instagram Story, your instructions might differ based on what version of Instagram you’re using and whether you’re trying to do that on iPhone or Mac. 

Historically, the way to upload multiple images to Instagram Stories has been the following: 

  1. Launch your Instagram app
  2. Tap the camera icon in the top-left corner of the screen
  3. Open your camera roll by tapping on your recent photos
  4. Use the Select Multiple button to select more than one photo for posting
  5. Choose Next to modify any images
  6. Select Next again to share your post

Instagram has recently removed the Select Multiple option on the iPhone (still there on Android). However, the functionality still exists — you just need to tap and hold any of your images for it to appear. 

There also are a variety of situations where posting Stories from your Mac would be much more preferable, especially if you tend to edit your photos with macOS software. As you might know, there’s no official Instagram client for Mac. But there’s Grids, and it’s just as good. 

Grids is a fully-functional Instagram experience for Mac that lets you like, comment, follow, search, explore and, most importantly, post just like you would do with your phone. You can post single or multiple photos or videos to your regular feed and even post Stories. Besides, Grids features a beautiful customizable design, which lets you send direct messages and use separate accounts at once. 

How to add multiple photos in one Instagram Story

Using a carousel in your Instagram feed opens a ton of possibilities for a new kind of storytelling. But posting multiple photos to your Stories can bring your creativity to a whole new level.  

Luckily, it’s very easy to learn how to add images or video to an existing Instagram Story: 

  1. Launch your Instagram app
  2. Long-press your existing Story
  3. Tap on Add to Your Story 
  4. Choose additional media you’d like to add
  5. Pick Send To when you’re done

How to lay out your Instagram Stories

Instagram is changing the functionality of its app so frequently that it’s sometimes difficult to catch up. One of the newer Instagram features that you might not have tried yet is called Instagram Layout. 

Basically, you can use the Instagram Layout tool to create custom collages of your favorite photos and post them as Stories. 

Here’s how to use it: 

  1. Go into Instagram Stories via the camera icon in the top-left corner
  2. Find the Layout icon on the left
  3. Browse through various layout options
  4. Use the photo icon to select your collage photos
  5. Add any extra flourishes to your Story
  6. Select Your Stories to share your photo collage

Alternatively, you can use the sticker functionality instead: 

  1. Open your Stories
  2. Add the first photo to your story
  3. Select the sticker icon
  4. Choose the photo sticker
  5. Repeat the process until you have enough photos in your Story
  6. Drag the photos and transform them as you see fit
  7. Add anything extra (e. g. text or music)
  8. Tap Your Stories to post

How to share multiple photos in one Instagram post

Sometimes, instead of adding multiple photographs to Stories, you want to create a carousel in your feed instead. How do you do that? It turns out, it’s even easier to do: 

  1. Launch Instagram
  2. Tap the plus (+) icon to create a new post
  3. Select the multiple photo icon at the top
  4. Pick the photos you want to feature in the right sequence
  5. Tap Next
  6. Add filters, if needed. Tap Next. 
  7. Include a caption or any other extra information
  8. Select Share

This process works in the official Instagram iPhone app, but what if you want to share on Mac instead? Here, once again, the Instagram Mac client, Grids, will help you.

Grids integrates the whole posting process, from choosing high-quality photos and videos to editing how they look and adding captions. You can post multiple photos and videos too, as well as add emojis and hashtags. What’s more, Grids is the only app that allows you to post Stories from Mac. 

How to share uncropped photos on Instagram

Long time ago, when Instagram used to be all squares, every photo was automatically cropped to fit the default ratio. Today, there are no longer ratio restrictions. However, if you try to upload multiple images to Instagram, all the photos in the batch will be cropped to the ratio of the first one, which might not necessarily be what you want. 

Luckily, it’s easy to change: 

  1. Launch Instagram and start creating a new post 
  2. Select your first photo by which all others would be measured
  3. Individually drag out the borders of the cropped photos to get them to the ratio you like
  4. Choose Next to add all the extra information
  5. Tap Share to post

Frequent questions about posting on Instagram

In addition to all the information shared above, there are a few questions that tend to come up over and over again, and which we should clarify.

HQ: How many photos can you post on Instagram at once?

A: The current limit for an Instagram carousel is 10 photos.

Q: Can you add photos to an existing post?

A: Although you can add extra photos to an Instagram Story, you can’t do so with posts, since they are meant to be more permanent. Your only way out here is to delete the post and resubmit it again with the correct number of images.

Q: Can I add several photos to Stories?

A: The multiple photo workflow described above might not yet be available everywhere in the world. So, depending on where you live, you might get it at a later date. Try keeping your Instagram app updated to the latest version and watch out for it. 

As you can see, there are indeed many ways to post multiple pictures on Instagram,  both from your iPhone, in the official Instagram app, and from your Mac using a full-featured app like Grids.

Best of all, Grids is available to you absolutely free for seven days through the trial of Setapp, a platform with more than 220 outstanding Mac and iPhone apps for everything from creating beautiful color palettes (Aquarelo) to turning images into icons (Image2icon). Try every Setapp app at no cost today and expand your collection of favorites!

5 Ways to Add Multiple Photos to an Instagram Story

  • You can add multiple photos to any Instagram Story or post.
  • Selecting multiple photos from your camera roll will upload each as its own slide in your story.
  • Instagram also has a built-in collage feature that allows you to drop photos into the same slide.

Instagram gives you several different ways to add multiple photos at once to an Instagram Story. After all, sometimes just one photo isn't enough to tell your story. Whether you're assembling a group of family photos, preparing holiday photos or scheduling an Instagram post for your small business or marketing pitch, there's a method to bundle multiple images for your needs. 

You can select up to 10 photos and videos from your camera roll, which get uploaded to your Story as 10 separate slides. Alternatively, you can layer several photos on the same slide as stickers, create a collage using Instagram's built-in Layout feature, or even rely on third-party apps to get the job done.

Add multiple photos to an Instagram Story

The simplest way to add multiple photos to an Instagram Story is to use the Select button to choose up to 10 photos and videos that will play one after the other, like a slideshow. 

1. Swipe right on the home screen to open the Stories page.

2. Tap the photo icon on the bottom-left of the screen to open your Camera Roll.

3. Tap Select, then select up to 10 photos and videos, and each will become its own side in your Story. Then tap the arrow at the bottom-right of the screen to continue.

You can make a multi-photo Story using the Select button at the top right of the page. Dave Johnson/Insider

4. On this screen, customize each photo or video with text, stickers, or other effects. There are a wealth of ways to further customize your Instagram Story.  

5. When you're finished, tap the arrow at the bottom-right of the screen.

6. Tap the circle next to your intended audience (Your Story or Close Friends), then tap Share.

Quick tip: If you'd rather publish a short video than a series of photos to Instagram, you can create an Instagram Reel.

Layer photos in a Story using stickers 

You can use stickers to add multiple photos to a Story. Start by selecting the background image, and then you can layer additional photos on top, adjusting their size and position, as well as rotating them for artistic effect.  

1. Swipe right on the home screen to open the Stories page.

2. Tap the photo icon on the bottom-left of the screen to open your Camera Roll. Select a photo.

3. Tap the Stickers icon at the top of the screen. 

Select a background photo for your Story, then use the Sticker button to add more. Dave Johnson/Insider

4. In the stickers library, find and tap the Photo sticker.

Select the Photo sticker to add more photos on top of your background image. Dave Johnson/Insider

5. Select the photo you want to insert. Repeat this process until you have all the photos you want to include.

6. Tap each photo you want to edit and then drag, pinch, and rotate them as needed to position and size them to taste.

After adding a photo to your Story, you can pinch, zoom and rotate it. Dave Johnson/Insider

7. Once you're finished, tap the arrow at the bottom-right of the screen.

8. Tap the circle next to your intended audience (Your Story or Close Friends), then tap Share.

Quick tip: If you're especially proud of a group of photos you've posted, you can save them permanently despite the fact that Stories usually expire after 24 hours. To do that, follow our guide to saving your Instagram stories.

Use Instagram's built-in collage maker

Instagram's built-in collage maker lets you organize a set of photos into a grid-like pattern, so they appear organized on the screen without a background.

1. Swipe right on the home screen to open the Stories page.

2. Tap the Layout icon on the left side of the screen and then tap the Change Grid icon to customize the layout.

Use the Layout icon to design your collage, then fill it in with photos. Dave Johnson/Insider

3. Tap the photo icon on the bottom-left of the screen to open your Camera Roll. Select a photo to add it to your collage. Repeat that process for each part of your grid. 

4. Once you're finished creating your collage, tap the check mark at the bottom of the screen.

5. Add any additional elements you want to add, such as text or stickers, and then tap the arrow at the bottom-right of the screen.

6. Tap the circle next to your intended audience (Your Story or Close Friends), then tap Share.

Add multiple photos to an Instagram post

1. You can select up to ten photos to place in an ordinary Instagram post. 

Create your Instagram post. Dave Johnson/Insider

2. Tap the multi-photo select icon and then choose up to 10 photos that you want to appear in the post.

Add multiple photos to your Instagram post. Dave Johnson/Insider

3. Tap Next and, if desired, add any filters you wish to apply. Then tap Next again.

4. Write a post caption and fill in the optional settings if desired.

5. Tap Share.

Quick tip: The order that you select the photos is the order in which they will appear in your finished story. You can tell the order based on the number in the corner of the photo's icon.

Check out third-party apps

While Instagram offers a slew of ways to add multiple photos to a post or Story, you might yet be looking for more options. If none of these can quite get the job done, you can rely on other third-party apps for additional options. 

  • Use Canva. Canva is a powerful but free graphic design app that's especially handy for Instagram; you can use it to create sophisticated Instagram posts using the app's custom-designed templates. Canva has thousands of Instagram-ready templates to choose from, including many that let you create multiple-photo layouts. 
  • Use Google Photos. You've probably used Google Photos to store your photo collection, but don't overlook its value as a way to customize layouts for Instagram. The app includes an easy-to-use collage builder in the Utilities section of the app. 
  • Try other free photo editors. There are a slew of photo editing apps which can help you create multi-photo layouts and collages in Instagram. Be sure to check out our roundup of seven of the best free photo editing apps for details. 

Abigail Abesamis Demarest

Abigail Abesamis Demarest is a contributing writer for Insider based in New York. She loves a good glazed donut and nerdy deep dives into the science of food and how it's made. 

Read moreRead less

Kyle Wilson

Kyle Wilson is an editor for the Reference team, based in British Columbia, Canada. Outside of Insider, his work has also appeared in publications like The Verge, VICE, Kotaku, and more. He periodically guest co-hosts the Saturday tech show "Tech Talk" on the iHeartRadio station C-FAX 1070. Feel free to reach out to him on Twitter, where he can be found most of the time, @KWilsonMG.

Read moreRead less

How to add multiple photos to Instagram* from computer and phone - detailed instructions

One of the popular content formats on Instagram* is image galleries in posts. Users choose the carousel for a number of reasons. For example, you need to tell a single visual story or publish a series of useful cards. Or you don’t want to bore subscribers with photos from the same location / event, but at the same time there is a need to post several equally cool ones. Agree, sometimes it is very difficult to choose? :-)

An example of a series of cards in an Instagram post*: informative tips from the magazine "Dagger"

Posting several photos on Instagram* may also be needed for Stories. Collages of photos and videos in stories:

  • remain a visual trend in design;
  • allow you to demonstrate the effect of "before and after", different sides of the product;
  • allow you to detail the elements of the big picture and show the integrity of the product;
  • help the brand achieve a certain effect from the Stories and stand out.

Let's look at all the technical possibilities to attach multiple photos to Instagram* and what are the limitations.

Read also: What are presets, where to find them and how to make them.

How many photos can be posted on Instagram*: requirements and restrictions

Feed gallery: 2 to 10 photos per post.

In Stories Collage mode: 2 to 6 photos.

With photo sticker - no limit on the number of added photos. But, of course, one should not add too much, so as not to clutter up the already small space of History. You can choose the shape of the added photo: rectangle, rounded rectangle, square, circle, star, heart. There is also a sticker through which it is convenient to search and add gif.

Choosing a grid in Collage mode and working with Photo/GIF stickers on Instagram* is very easy

Since Stories as a format is ahead of the classic feed in terms of popularity and functionality, they have more opportunities for publishing a series of photos and they are more interesting . The photo gallery in the feed has not changed much since the release, but the developers have made some improvements, for example:

  1. You can change the order of pictures in the photo carousel.
  2. The filter can be applied both to a single picture and to the whole series.
  3. At the creation stage, you can delete a photo from the future gallery at any time.

Why is posting multiple photos on Instagram* OK?

Who most often needs to publish several photos at once? Definitely all retail trade: from cosmetic companies to clothing brands. Showing a product from different angles is priceless.

The entire field of online education. A series of pictures-stories, informative and not very informative, is a good and visually attractive trend. When the story is accompanied by illustrations, it turns out intelligibly.

In fact, the niche is not important. It is important to understand what kind of content your audience wants and what opportunities you have to provide it. For example, we have written for you what services you can sell on Instagram*.

Why posting a lot of photos at once on Instagram* is ok? Because you can talk about a corporate holiday, post a few photos from a family trip, hold a vote, publish a cool recipe, post a series of tips from an expert ... Or continue the story by posting a screenshot of the text, because it did not fit entirely in the post description.

A postcard article in a magazine account, an illustrated travel guide and a lingerie gallery in a store profile

The main advantage of the format is the ability to fit a cool, visually meaningful story of your brand or your own into one single post. Another plus is that the presentation in the series format will be concise and concise.

A group of photographs or hand-drawn pictures must be carefully considered, from sequence to content. It's basically a mini-series. And in order for such a format to be appreciated, you will have to try. In addition, collages of several published photos on Instagram* suggest a visual combination of elements: contrast or vice versa the overall color scheme does not matter. You need to have taste or a good designer so that users can appreciate your creativity.

So the complexity of this format simultaneously affects the quality of content on the social network, requires more investment and effort from brands, and makes us, the layman, a little happier. Visual perfection is an important part of content, which is why we have released an article for businesses on how to write a TOR for an Instagram profile designer*.

Do you want to learn how to make effective creatives for posts and ads and save on designer services? Sign up for the course " Design for social networks from 0 and free ". In 10 practical lessons, you will master the free Canvas editor, learn how to independently and quickly create visuals and advertising for your projects using ready-made templates or from scratch. The editor is available online without VPN, does not require design skills and downloads of additional software.

Now to the technical part - how to upload a series of photos to Instagram*.

How to post a lot of photos on Instagram * - instructions

Let's analyze all the possible ways to publish several photos.

Through the mobile application on your phone

It's simple - regardless of the operating system you use on your smartphone. Click the plus sign, select the format - for example, History. In Stories, to add multiple photos, you can either select Collage mode or post multiple photos to Instagram* using a sticker.

How to post multiple photos in Stories mode

To post multiple photos to your Instagram feed*, click on the plus sign, select Post in the list, click on the double square icon at the bottom right, and circles will appear on the screen next to the photo - select the ones you need photos in the correct order. Next, select the desired filters if necessary, or add more pictures to the future gallery.

Done, it remains to sign and publish.

How to add several photos to Instagram*

If you hold your finger on the slide before posting, the trash icon will appear at the top - you can delete an unwanted object by simply moving the picture to the icon. Please note that in the gallery with only two shots, this will not work.

On the web version of Instagram* from a computer

In 2023, you can add several photos to Instagram* from a computer simply through the website - no need to open developer mode or install an emulator. You can upload several photos in the same way as from your phone: click on the plus sign, find the box in the lower right corner to attach up to 10 pictures.

Instagram* added the ability to make a carousel in the feed from a computer

However, this only works for posts. Making a collage in stories from a computer will not work.

From a computer via the SMMplanner service

In addition, you can publish several photos from your computer using the SMMplanner delayed posting service. The service offers various options for regular posting, for example, through the official Instagram API*.

To add multiple photos to Instagram*, just click the "Schedule Post" button and select a photo/video to post. You don’t need to download additional post-processing applications to edit photos – the service has built-in tools.

Click "Schedule a post", select a few photos, edit if necessary by clicking on the pencil in the corner of the picture

SMMplanner has a built-in Story Builder with multiposting. This means that you can duplicate the Story created in the service, reopen it and publish it again on another day or even on another account.

When I uploaded several photos to Instagram* at once after a good walk

As you can see, any user can figure out how to attach several photos to Instagram*. But if after reading this guide you still have questions, I'm waiting in the comments!

*The social network is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.

The article has been updated. First published: June 16, 2021

How to add multiple photos to Instagram from a computer

Need to post multiple photos to Instagram* from a computer? We will tell you how to do this through the social network and through the SMMplanner scheduling posting service.

How to add multiple photos via Instagram on the web*

If you're going to post multiple photos to Instagram* from your computer, the first thing to remember is that no matter how hard you try, you can't fit more than 10 photos or pictures into one post. The rest of the process is simple and fast, let's do it.

Home page

Open your profile home page or feed. On the top option panel there is a plus sign in a square. Click on it to post some photos to Instagram* from your computer.

Drag and drop a photo here

For convenience, it is better to create a folder on your PC with a photo to publish in advance and drag a photo from it to this window.

You can also click the blue "Select from Computer" button and upload photos from any folder on your PC. You can navigate between folders, but you won't be able to select pictures from several at once.

Uploaded photos

After uploading several photos and before posting them, you can edit them. To do this, click in the menu " Crop ".

Grid helps to center the desired part of the frame

Use the grid to move the image to select the desired area of ​​the photo. To do this, move the cursor over the photo and hold down the left mouse button. Everything, you can move the image.

Picture formats, you can choose the appropriate one

Click on the button with the checkmarks in a circle to select the format of the uploaded image and use the grid to move it horizontally or vertically.

Zoom - when you need to get closer to your subscribers :–)

There is also an option Zoom , which is controlled by a button with a magnifying glass in a circle. You can zoom in and out of objects in the photo to place the areas you need. This is a great way to help followers pay attention to the right part of the frame.

Add a photo

With the plus button you can add photos to the carousel . It works provided that there is space left - the number is less than or equal to 10. You can change the order of the photos in which they will be shown to subscribers. To do this, click "Next", and then on the plus in the circle and select files from your PC in the window that opens. Nothing complicated :-) In this way, you can set not only consecutive frames, but also a variety of pictures.

Click Next

After all the manipulations with the number and scale of the photo, click "Next" and go to the "Edit" menu. There you can apply filters and change image settings.

Applying filters

In the image editing menu, you can apply 1 of 12 suggested filters to each photo. Click on "Filters" and use any of the ones you like. You can choose a separate filter for each image, but we still recommend choosing similar filters so that the photos do not look too scattered within the same post.

Image Settings

Image settings allow you to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. Click Settings and move the slider along the line, adjust the level of each parameter until you like the result. Already changed values ​​can be transferred back if you do not like what happened. Or generally click on the arrow to the left of "Edit" to exit the editor and enter it again. In this case, the settings will be reset, and you will not have to reattach the pictures.

We talked about creating a beautiful visual in the article “How to create a beautiful visual for Instagram* in 2022”. In it, we tell you how to design posts in your account so that readers like your profile, and show what rules and tricks you should follow.

Image settings applied

This is what the photo looks like after editing. After applying the settings and photo filters, click "Next" to move on and add a caption, hashtags, and more.

We talked more about hashtags in the article “How to use hashtags to promote on Instagram *: examples, opportunities, mistakes” - we talked about how to use tags correctly so that they benefit your account.

Menu before publication - do not forget to enter the text

By the way, about the text. It is better that subscribers are hooked not only by the picture, but also by the text under it. This will help users stay on your profile. If you need ready-made texts, take a look at our article Posts for Instagram*: where to get ready-made texts. And if the text turns out to be too large - it does not matter. What to do in this case, we tell in the article "Large texts on Instagram *: why are they needed and how to design. "

In the Create Publication menu, you can add a signature, geodata, and take advantage of Accessibility and Advanced Settings.

Accessibility

By selecting the Accessibility option, you can make a caption for each photo for people with visual impairments. Write your own text or it will be generated automatically. Alternative text is displayed only for special programs that recognize such texts and use them to describe the content of the photo aloud.

Advanced settings

If you don't want your post to be commented on, disable this feature in the Advanced settings.

Description of the publication

Create a caption with or without hashtags, add a geotag to your publication. It all depends on the nature of your post: if you have a “local” business and you want your photos to be easy to find, use geotags and geotags, without neglecting hashtags with your brand. More about place hashtags in our articles “80 hashtags for promotion and promotion in social networks” and “How to correctly search for posts and people by hashtags on Instagram *: instructions”. In them you can find detailed information on how to use it and why, as well as what benefits it can bring.

Ready post

How to publish several photos from your computer using SMMplanner

A great way not only to publish several photos in one post, but also to prepare posts in advance before publication is to use the SMMplannert delayed posting service. When registering via the link, you will get free access to all functionality for 2 weeks.

So, how to post a few photos on Instagram* from a computer:

Log in to the site, go to the "Posts" tab.

In the same way, you can publish a post in several social networks at once

Click "Schedule a post". An active window appears, in which we will create a future post for the profile.

In an empty box, write the text for the future post

Add photos. We click on "Photo / Video", a page with folders on the computer opens. Among them we find what we will publish.

To post multiple photos on Instagram* from your computer, simply select all the photos you want to post.

Learn more