How to change instagram video cover after posting


How to Change Instagram Video Thumbnail & Cover with Preview App?

Alexandra | Mar 5, 2021

As you might have noticed, you cannot change the Instagram video thumbnail after posting on Instagram.

But can use your Preview App to check if your video thumbnail and cover image look fine in your grid.

You can upload different thumbnails and cover images.

You can see which one looks the best or catches people’s attention the most – before you post on Instagram.

Ready?

Here’s how to change Instagram video thumbnail in Preview.

1. Upload your Instagram video

The first thing you want to do is upload a video in Preview.

You can upload a normal video, IGTV or an Instagram Reels.

To upload your video:

  • Press on the “+” button
  • “Library”
  • Choose your video

Done!

Your video will appear in your Preview feed.

Click here to use it

2. Open the caption

Now press on the video and open your caption.

3. Press on “Edit” to change the Instagram video thumbnail and cover

Press on the “Edit” button that is on your cover image. 

This will allow you to change your Instagram video cover frame.

4. Choose “Set Cover Image”

Now choose “Set Cover image”.

5. Change Instagram video thumbnail

You have 2 options.

Option 1:

Slide the slider to choose a video clip as your cover image.

Let’s look at option 2.

6. Upload your custom video thumbnail

Press on “Upload image” to upload a cover image from your camera roll.

This is to upload your own custom cover image for your IGTV videos and Instagram Reels.

As you can see you have different options:

  • Library: Upload a photo from your camera roll / gallery
  • Repost: Repost an image from Instagram
  • Free Photos: Don’t have an image? Choose any of these beautiful photos for free
  • Take Photo: Take a photo
  • Other: Upload an image from Google Drive or Dropbox

7.

Post on Instagram

Once you’re happy with your video thumbnail, you can post your video on Instagram.

Here is how to post:

  • Press on your video
  • Press on the “Share” button
  • Your video and cover image will automatically be saved to your camera roll by Preview (along with your prepared caption if you added one)
  • Post on Instagram!

And you’re done!

That’s it!

Now you know how to change your Instagram video thumbnail and cover image!

Let me know if you have any questions.

And have fun planning your posts!

– Alex

You might also like:

  • Download Preview
  • How to schedule Instagram Reels?
  • How to Save Instagram Reels in Gallery with Audio, and Without Posting

Click here to use it

How to Edit a Video After Posting it to Instagram

Instagram is an amazing social media platform due to its focus on sharing experiences through photos, videos, and impactful animated stories. It gave self-made internet celebrities a chance to shine, and this platform also changed the way advertising is done.

It comes as no surprise that Instagram offers some of the most extensive editing tools for videos and photos. However, all those tools are available only before you post something.

Once you actually upload a video to your album or your story, all the editing features will disappear. There are some changes you can make to a posted piece of content, but they are very limited. Let’s take a closer look at what you can do.

Change Captions

Quick Links

  • Change Captions
  • Tag New People
  • Add a Location
  • Can You Change Thumbnails?
  • Editing Posted Content Is Not Easy
  • Frequently Asked Questions
    • How do I edit the entire video after posting?
    • Can I edit an IGTV video after posting?

One of the easiest changes you can make to an already posted video is changing the caption. Whether you want to add hashtags to reach more people write something more clever, this is one of the things you can change after posting.

  1. Log into your Instagram account
  2. Go to your profile page
  3. Tap on the video you want to change the caption for
  4. Tap the three-dot icon in the upper right corner
  5. Tap Edit
  6. Delete the existing text and type in something new
  7. Tap Done (iOS) or the checkmark (Android)

That video won’t get a bump after you’ve edited or removed a caption. Instagram also doesn’t send anyone notifications about the change.

Tag New People

Just as you can tag people in photos before and after posting, you can do the same for videos. It’s easy to forget to tag some friends in your post when you’re excited about it. If you accidentally left someone out, do this:

  1. Bring up the Instagram app
  2. Go to your profile page
  3. Select a video
  4. Tap the three-dot menu icon
  5. This will bring up the editing feature
  6. Tap the “Tag People” icon that appears on your video
  7. Tap someone in the video to bring up the search function
  8. Type in the name of that person
  9. Tap the name to select it
  10. Tap Done (iOS) or the checkmark (Android)

If you tag someone, even in an already posted video, that person will receive a notification. Other people who follow that post will not receive a notification.

Add a Location

You can also make changes in regards to the location. You can add a location (if you posted the video without one) or you can edit the existing location associated with your posted videos.

  1. Select the video you want from your profile page
  2. Tap the three-dot menu
  3. Tap Edit
  4. Tap “Add Location”
  5. Type in the location
  6. Tap Done (iOS) or the checkmark (Android)

If you want to edit a location, you must first remove the old one.

  1. Get to the Edit feature on your video
  2. Tap the location name
  3. Tap “Remove Location” (Android) or “Change Location” (iPhone)
  4. You can alternatively tap “Find a location”
  5. Tap Done (iOS) or the checkmark (Android) when you’re satisfied

Can You Change Thumbnails?

Unfortunately, this is yet another thing that Instagram doesn’t let you do once a video has been posted. In order to have a great thumbnail, you should select one before posting the video. Just in case you don’t know how to do that, here are the steps you need to follow.

  1. Bring up Instagram
  2. Tap the plus icon (or the camera icon in the upper right-hand corner depending on which version of the app you’re running).
  3. Select a video from the library
  4. Select one of the cover options in the bottom left corner
  5. Scroll through the available covers and frame captures
  6. Tap “Next”

Editing Posted Content Is Not Easy

As you can see, your editing options go away when you upload and post something on Instagram. Short of changing the caption, changing the location, and tagging people you’ve forgotten about before posting, there’s not much you can do.

It’s nice to have at least that, but also somewhat unsatisfactory given how popular this social media platform is. One would expect better tools by now.

Are you content with the current state of affairs on Instagram? Would you consider using third-party apps to make modifications if Instagram fails to deliver on post-posting editing tools? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I edit the entire video after posting?

Unfortunately, aside from the options we’ve mentioned above, Instagram does not allow you to make extreme edits to your videos after you’ve posted them. You will need to delete the video and re-upload it if you want to change any filters, stickers, etc.

If you no longer have the video available, making edits in this manner could be an issue. What you may need to do is screen record the content that is playing then re-upload it.

Can I edit an IGTV video after posting?

Similar to regular posts, IGTV videos only let you edit certain aspects. But, you will need to do so from the website because the app doesn’t have these options.

From the website version of Instagram you can edit the caption and the title but not much else.

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How to change the cover art of Instagram videos

Videos hosted as Reels will appear in users' Overview tab as well as their profiles in the Reels tab.

To make your reels appear and get the most views, the first thing you can do is change the cover photo of the videos that others interact with before watching them.

This post will help you understand what is Instagram Reels cover and how you can change it for your Reels video.

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What is an Instagram Reels cover?

When creating a Reels video on Instagram, you need to keep in mind that users will not only view it from their Explore tab, but also access it from your profile's Reels tab.

This is where the Instagram Reels cover plays a significant role as it allows you to show a sneak peek of your Reels video without revealing all of its content and to make sure viewers have clicked on your video.

So the Reels cover is just as important as choosing a Youtube video thumbnail because it can be the deciding factor between clicking on a video or not. Instagram allows you to select a cover image by selecting a frame from a video you upload or by selecting an image from your gallery.

How to change the cover photo of your Instagram videos before posting

You can change the cover image of your Instagram videos when you are about to post it. To get to the part where you change the Reels cover, you first need to record a Reels video by opening the Stories camera, tap the right arrow to confirm recording, and then tap the arrow icon in the bottom right corner.

You will now be taken to the Share screen in Reels which will allow you to complete the snippets and snippets of your Reels video. To change the cover image of your Reels video, click on the box labeled "Cover" on the left side of the headings section.

In the next step, you can either set the cover art from a frame present inside the video, or select an image from your gallery.

Selecting a frame from a Reels video

Tapping the cover art field on the Share screen will take you to the Cover screen. If you'd like to select a frame to use as the cover, swipe across the frame bar at the bottom to browse from the set of frames available inside the video you're about to post as reels.

Once you decide which frame to set, click on it and check the preview image at the top to double check your selection.

Once everything is sorted, click the Done button in the top right corner and then click the Share button to upload your video to Reels. Your video will appear with the cover art you choose from your profile's Reels tab.

Selecting an image to upload as cover art

If you are not happy with the selection of frames from a recorded Reels video, you can also upload a separate image that will be set as the Reels cover image that users will see before clicking on your video. To do this, navigate to the cover section of your Reels video by tapping the cover art box inside the Share screen.

On this screen, you will not immediately notice the option to add an image from the gallery. You will need to scroll down to see it and then click the "Add from Gallery" button at the bottom. Select an image from your library and click Done.

You can now upload your reels with your chosen image by clicking the share button at the bottom and you will now be able to see your reel video with the cover you uploaded from the reels tab in your account.

How to change the cover photo of your Instagram videos after posting

Unfortunately, Instagram does not allow you to edit or change the cover image if your videos have already been published online. We tried to post the Reels video and then edit it again. Apparently, you can only change the Reels video that is hosted in the profile grid, and even that only offers you limited video uploads.

You will only be able to add location, caption or tag people when editing a Reels video uploaded to your profile grid. To do this, click on the video in the main profile tab (not the Drums tab), click the three dots icon in the upper right corner, and select the Edit option. However, this option is not available for Reels videos.

If you want to change the cover art of your Reels video after it has been posted, the only way to do so is to first delete the video and upload it again. To delete a Reels video, select it by going to your profile > Reels tab, click on the three dots icon at the bottom of the video, and then click on the "Delete" option in the list. Confirm the process by clicking Remove when prompted.

You can then re-upload your Reels video by following the process above.

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Cover for video in IGTV: how to make, size, format, preview reflects the essence of the video.

In IGTV, it is needed to draw the attention of users to the video on the channel and they want to click on it and watch the entire video. It's like a YouTube preview. The cover can contain the title of the video, a good shot, a call to action, corporate identity elements (if you have an account for a business).

In the article we will tell you what size and format the cover should be, how to make it and how to set the preview for the IGTV video.

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Read also : Top 10 Instagram promotion courses

IGTV cover technical requirements: format, size, feed preview

format is PNG or JPG.

Size - at least 420 x 654 pixels, aspect ratio 1: 1.55 (the video itself for IGTV has a ratio of 9:16).

Feed preview - allows you to display the video in the general Instagram feed. When clicked, a preview opens, after which the user can go to IGTV. If you do not enable the preview function when uploading a video, then it will be published only in IGTV, it will not be in the general feed. When you turn on the preview in the main feed, you can select only the square frame of the cover, this must be taken into account when creating it.

This is what the IGTV video preview looks like in the general Instagram feed:

It doesn't have to be text, most covers are just a photo without text or a piece of video.

An example of how well-made IGTV covers look like:

How to make an IGTV video cover

Any simple photo editor or application will do, for example Canva - it has both an application and a web version. To register in the service, open the main page: canva.com and activate a 30-day trial period ( later you can refuse it and use the service for free ).

Step 1 . We show how you can create an image for IGTV - go to Canva. There are no separate templates for IGTV here, so we will do it from scratch - click on the "Custom sizes" link and specify 420 x 654 pixels. Click "Create Design", a white canvas appears where you can add elements.

Step 2 . You can choose an option from ready-made templates - it automatically adjusts to our size.

Or do it from scratch, for example, add a background - a photo or a color.

Step 3 . We add elements over the background - frames, arrows, lines, objects to draw attention to the preview.

We write the text so that the picture contains information about what the video will be about.

If you are going to do a preview in the feed, then you need to immediately make a cover with this in mind. The ribbon will display only the square - what is shown in the central part of the cover. That is, it is cut off at the top and bottom. To fit into the tape, you need to determine in advance where this square will be. To do this, go to the Elements, find a square shape there and add it to the picture.

Step 4 . Stretch it to the full width of the cover. We look to get an even square in a ratio of 1: 1, and that it is in the middle of the preview (top and bottom should be the same indent).

You can make the square more transparent and then put it in the background. We get a template, under which we adjust all other elements so that they do not go beyond this square after publication in the feed.

When everything is ready, we delete our square template - it is no longer needed. Download the picture to a computer or phone for a future video.

Article in the topic : How to make covers for current stories

How to add a video cover to IGTV

You can add a video cover when uploading a video to IGTV or when saving a live stream. When the video has loaded, you need to set up a preview - you can select a frame from the video or upload a pre-created cover from the gallery. Click "Add from gallery".

Then click Next. Write the title and description of the video.

Setting the preview in the feed

If you want the video to appear in the Instagram feed, move the "Publish preview" slider to the ON position (blue color).

You can edit the display in the feed, click on "Edit Profile Cover".

We see a grid of squares - in the middle is what will be displayed in the feed. You can reduce, enlarge and move what is in the square. If you follow our advice above and make a square template in Canva in advance, it will automatically fit into the grid.

When everything is ready, click "Publish".

How to change or change the cover

Unfortunately, after publication, you can not change the cover either in Instagram itself, or in a separate IGTV application, or in the online version. You can only change the name and description of the video, to do this, click 3 dots on the video, and then "Edit".

Tip : make covers that are in harmony with the overall style of your Instagram page. If you have a business profile, make sure your IGTV preview has brand colors. Pictures with text look good - it’s immediately clear what the video is about.

Conclusion

IGTV is an “app within an app”, video hosting on Instagram. The section is becoming more and more popular, as live broadcasts are saved here, here you can upload videos from 1 minute to an hour long, and soon monetization will start working in IGTV, like in YouTube. Therefore, it is now important to work on the quality and design of your content on IGTV.

Useful links :

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  • How to order advertising from bloggers on Instagram
  • How to recover an Instagram account

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