How to Post Video on Instagram

Instagram, the popular video-sharing app, has more than a billion users as of 2020. While owned by Facebook, Instagram was already a giant on its own by the time it was bought by the former thanks to its ease of use and many handy features.

To gain popularity on Instagram, you have to know how to create then post videos on the social network. Not only that, you’ll need to make the video entertaining by adding effects, sounds, graphics and others. This helps prevent boredom from your videos and grows the number of your followers.

In this guide, we focus on the ways in which you can post a video on your Instagram account in various ways. These include in-feed video, Instagram stories and IGTV as per your preference. The good news is that these are simple steps that have great effects on your online popularity.

How to Post Video on Instagram from PC and Mobile Device (Phone or Tablet)

The methods available as far posting a video on your Instagram account depend on your destination of choice. We’ll focus on posting videos in your feed, stories, IGTV, and as a live video.

You’ll also notice that posting a video will depend on the gadget you use with the desktop and mobile as the two main categories for this guide.

The procedures are as follows:

a. Posting In-feed Video on Instagram

An in-feed video is the type you’ll be seeing each time you scroll through your news feed on Instagram. This doesn’t require the viewer to go into your account to see it just like a Facebook newsfeed post.

To post this kind of video, follow these steps:

Launch your Instagram app then click on the ‘+’ sign at the bottom of the screen. This opens up your media library.
Choose the ‘videos’ option from the media library options provided.
Choose the video you want to post from your gallery. Given that Instagram accepts square videos, crop it to a square using the arrow icon shown at the lower left side of the video to crop it. In this way, it won’t be cropped by Instagram itself.
Edit the video with the inbuilt tools. You can add filters, choose a cover, trim it, and even combine several videos into one. In the last choice, the videos will play automatically one after the other.
You then finish this off by adding a caption and other descriptive features. These include tagging people, adding a location and sharing at the same time on your other social media handles such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
Choose the share option to share the video to your Instagram feed.

If you don’t already have the video you want to share on your device, you can shoot another one right in the app. This can be done in the steps below:

Launch the Instagram app from your app drawer then choose the ‘+’ sign to add the video.
Choose the ‘video’ option at the bottom of the app.
You’ll be required to give Instagram the permission to use your camera if it’s the first time you’re doing it this way.
Shoot the video and post it when done.

Either of these methods will post the video you want to your Instagram feed.

b. Posting Video to Instagram Stories

The steps to posting a video on your Instagram Stories are very much similar to those of the in-feed video but with some small differences as shown in the steps below:

Launch the Instagram app from your app drawer.
Click on the camera icon in the top left corner of the app’s home screen.
If the video you want to share is already in your device’s gallery, swipe upwards then choose the ‘videos’ folder in the options given. Choose the one you want. If the video isn’t already on your device, Instagram has some video-like alternatives such as Live video, Superzoom, Rewind, Boomerang, Focus and Hands-free.
You then add some elements to the video such as GIFs, stickers, text and polls to spice up the video and make it more interactive.
Sharing is the next and last step in this type of post. you can share the video with a few people or with everyone depending on your needs.

When someone checks on your Instagram Stories, they’ll see this video.

c. Post Video on Instagram IGTV

IGTV is Instagram’s version of YouTube as it allows for much longer and larger videos. You can thus add videos such as short films, explainers, tutorials, demos and many others. Like YouTube, you’ll also need to create a channel for yourself before you post a video on IGTV. With your IGTV channel, follow these steps to add a video:

Launch the Instagram app then click the IGTV icon on the right side of the Instagram name (looks like an old TV with a round screen and two aerials on top).
In the upper right corner, click the ‘+’ sign. This opens the library on your device from which you can post the video to your IGTV.
You then choose the cover and description or title for your video. The cover can either be a picture from your phone or a frame from the video you’re about to post. This step also allows you to make the video visible on Facebook.

After that, hit the ‘post’ button to share the video on your IGTV.

You can also upload a picture to your IGTV using your computer in a few easy steps as shown here:

Launch your computer’s browser then type https://instagram.com/youraccountname to go to your account on Instagram. If your name is THEGOODONE, for example, the address should be https://instagram.com/thegoodone followed by the Enter button.
Above the feed pictures, you’ll see the IGTV button which you’ll select to go to the IGTV section.
Upload your video to this section from your computer storage.
Before posting it, customize the video by adding a description and title to it. You also get the chance to add a video thumbnail or cover in this step of the process. You can also share it on both the IGTV page and your Facebook page at once.

Post the video.

d. How to Post on Instagram Live

An Instagram Live video streams in real-time for up to an hour then ends. After the 1-hour period, the video won’t be available on your Instagram page unless you post it to your IGTV account. The steps to streaming video on Instagram are as follows:

Launch your Instagram app then click on the camera icon in the upper left corner of the home screen.
Swipe the list of options to the right until you have the ‘Live’ option above the round camera activation button.
To go live, simply tap the ‘Live’ option. Alternatively, you can also leave the ‘Live’ option directly above the recording button then hit the ‘Go Live’ button to start streaming. The app will check your internet connection for a while then start streaming what’s on your screen through the camera.

Below the video stream you’ll see 5 buttons and a dialogue box whose meanings are as follows:

Dialogue box: this one is for composing a message that will be visible as a comment to the video.
Questions: this button allows you to ask your viewers questions before the video goes live. During the video, you’ll access their answers through the same button.
Send: in your live broadcast, you can send the video to a user of your choice with this button.
Add guest: this button makes it possible for you to share the live video. Essentially, it allows for the splitting of the screen between you and the person you add.
Face filters: you can add any face filter you feel will make your video stream better than it is with this button.
Switch camera: you can switch between the main camera and the selfie one with this button.

You can turn off commenting and requests to go live by tapping on the three dots and choose either option.

When you’re done recording, end the stream with the ‘End’ button. You may save the video using the download button in the top left. If you need your viewers to still access the video, share it to your IGTV channel.

e. Post from a Third-Party App

Posting a video you made with a third-party app (and not your camera) to Instagram is quite simple. As long as the format is supported by Instagram, it’ll be similar to uploading a video either from your phone or computer.

You just have to move the video to your phone’s or computer’s gallery then upload it from there as a normal video described above.

f. How to post video on Instagram from YouTube

YouTube videos can also be posted on Instagram with ease. The bad news is that you can’t directly post a YouTube video on to Instagram. Instead, you’ll need to download it then upload it as a normal video. This is shown in the following steps:

First, download the video from YouTube to your device. You can use apps such as ‘Video Get’ or others that can download videos from YouTube. A simple google search will give you various options on this one.
Prepare your video for Instagram through making edits to fit the time, format and other requirements. You can add effects, trim it and do other edits in this stage.
If you’re doing this on mobile, move the video to the camera role or photos app as Instagram can easily take the videos from here.
Launch your Instagram app and upload the video as stated in the previous sections.

The YouTube video will be uploaded to your Instagram account for your viewers.

g. How to post a video on Instagram from a link

Posting a video from a link to Instagram only takes a few minutes to work. However, sharing an Instagram link to a video or photo only works when the video has been shared publicly. If the owner of the video has set their account to be a private one, the link won’t work.

Follow the steps below to share the video link:

On the Instagram video you want to share, tap the 3 dots above the post then choose the ‘copy link’ option. If you’re getting the link from the web, go to instagram.com/yourusername. Click on the post you wish to share then copy the URL.
Share the video on your Instagram page like you would share a normal video.

Your followers will see and interact with the video.

Instagram video format, Size & Other Requirements

When posting a video on your Instagram pages, the requirements are as follows:

1. Instagram in-feed video specs

For in-feed videos, the requirements are as follows:

Video length: maximum of 60 seconds.
Video dimensions: maximum 1080x wide.
Frame rate: 30fps or less.
Preferred format: MP4 with AAC audio, H.264 Code and 3,500 kbps video bitrate.

Your video should meet these specs or below for the best results.

2. Instagram stories video specs

For your Instagram stories, the video specs are as follows:

Video length: maximum 15 seconds.
Video dimensions: 1080*1920 pixels (9:16 aspect ratio).
Video Format: MP4.
File Size: 15 MB and below.

While you can have a video bigger than 15 MB, always make sure it’s less than 15 seconds long for your Instagram Stories.

3. Instagram IGTV video Specs

The required specifications are as follows:

Video length: between 15 seconds and 10 minutes. For large and verified accounts, you can upload a video up to 60 minutes but from your computer only.
Video format: MP4.
Video dimensions: 1080*1920 pixels (9:16 aspect ratio) with a 720 px minimum resolution.
Video size: maximum 650 MB for videos 10 minutes long or less and 3.6GB for videos up to 60 minutes.
Frame rate: 30fps or less.

With these specs, your video will upload and play with ease.

Are there Instagram video uploader Apps?

With Instagram becoming more and more popular even within the corporate world, the need to automatically upload videos at specific times has become dire. As such, 3rd party apps have been developed to take care of this. They include the following:

1. Iconosphere

Iconosphere schedules and previews posts to your Instagram page, has an easy to use interface and is also provides some of the best insights on how to best grow the number of followers on your page. The app also helps you manage the posts you make on Facebook with an included calendar to plan your posts.

2. Later

Later does exactly what its name suggests and that’s posting on your Instagram page at a later period. It employs a visual content calendar to schedule your posts. It helps by previewing posts before posting them. The interface is also a clean and modern one that can be easily navigated. For just $9 each month, you can schedule for up to 100 posts within the month.

3. Sked Social

Previously called Schedugram, Sked Social helps you manage multiple accounts on Instagram with accommodation for videos and posts having multiple images. You also get an impressive arsenal of editing tools to go with it. It’s also one of the most reliable when it comes to the scheduling and previewing of posts.

With these tools and many others, you can comfortably take care of your business as they post your content on Instagram.