Scheduling Instagram posts, reels, stories, and notifications
When you use Buffer to publish to Instagram, you can either publish automatically or set a notification to finish the post yourself in the Instagram app. This applies to posts, reels, and stories. This guide covers how to create each Instagram post type, why some posts publish automatically while others are sent to your phone as a notification, and how to fix the most common reasons an Instagram post doesn't go out. Learn more about using notification publishing.
📝 Using the Buffer mobile app? See Scheduling Instagram posts, reels, stories, and notifications on the mobile app.
In this article:
- Should I use automatic publishing or notification publishing for my post?
- Why did my Instagram post go to my phone instead of publishing automatically?
- Features available by Instagram post type
- Creating your Instagram post, reel, or story
- Scheduling Instagram reels
- How to add a thumbnail to your reel or video
- Adding a location
- Tagging users in images
- Using Hashtag Manager
- Scheduling a first comment
- Adding Shop Grid links
- Why didn't my Instagram post publish?
- FAQ
- More resources from our blog
Should I use automatic publishing or notification publishing for my post?
Every Instagram post, Reel, or Story created in Buffer uses one of two publishing methods: automatic publishing or notification publishing. Select your preferred method using the Automatic / Notify Me toggle in the composer. The options available depend on Instagram’s publishing requirements for your post.
Automatic publishing: Buffer posts on your behalf at the scheduled time, with no action needed from you (set it and forget it). Automatic publishing is only available for Instagram professional accounts (Business or Creator) and only for posts that meet Instagram's requirements.
Notification publishing: Buffer prepares your post and sends a push notification to the Buffer mobile app when it's time to publish. You tap the notification and finish posting in the Instagram app. Notification publishing lets you add features that Instagram does not allow third-party tools to publish automatically, including music, stickers, product tags, and Story links. Learn more about using notification publishing.
📝 Notes:
- A post scheduled as a notification will not publish automatically. You must have the Buffer mobile app installed, a mobile device linked to your account, and push notifications enabled. Without these, we're not able to send the notification, and the post will not be published. See the setup steps here.
- If an image or video falls outside of Instagram's accepted aspect ratio ranges, automatic publishing will not be available. Buffer will schedule the post for notification publishing instead.
Why did my Instagram post go to my phone instead of publishing automatically?
If you set a post to Automatic but it was still scheduled as a notification (or shows a Notify label or an orange phone icon), it's because the post doesn't meet Instagram's requirements for automatic publishing. Buffer switches it to notification publishing so the post can still go out.
A post is scheduled as a notification when any of the following is true:
- Your Instagram account is a Personal account. Automatic publishing is only available for Professional (Business or Creator) accounts. Select Switch to a Professional account on your dashboard to change your account type.
- Enable Notifications by default is turned on. When this channel setting is enabled, every Instagram post is scheduled as a notification. To check it, select your Instagram channel, click the Settings (⚙️) gear icon, open the General tab, and make sure Enable Notifications by default is not enabled.
- Your image or video is outside Instagram's accepted aspect ratio range.
- Your Reel is shorter than 5 seconds or longer than 15 minutes.
- Your post includes a feature that Instagram does not allow third-party tools to publish automatically. Examples include music, Story links, Story text or stickers, product tags, collaboration posts, and topics. Adding one of these features automatically changes the publishing method to Notify Me.
📝 Notes:
- Turning off "Enable Notifications by default" does not guarantee automatic publishing. The post still has to meet Instagram's account-type, aspect ratio, reel-length, and supported-feature requirements. See our automatic publishing checklist.
- "Sent" or "Published" in Buffer does not always mean your post is live on Instagram. For a notification post, that status only means Buffer sent the reminder to your phone. The post isn't live until you tap the notification and finish it in the Instagram app. If you missed the notification or the scheduled time has passed, open the Sent tab, find the post, and use Duplicate to create a fresh copy you can reschedule. There is no way to complete a notification post from your desktop.
Features available by Instagram post type
The table below shows which features are available for each Instagram post type, and whether they require notification publishing.
Items marked with * require notification publishing (you'll finish the post in the Instagram app). Learn more about adding music, stickers, and other effects.
| Post | Reel | Story | |
| Images |
✅ (up to 10 images, between 4:5 and 1.91:1 aspect ratio) |
✖️ |
✅ (9:16 aspect ratio) |
| Videos |
✖️ (as of December 2023, Instagram’s API treats all video posts as Reels) |
✅ (one video, 4:5 to 9:16 aspect ratio, max 1920px wide) |
✅ (9:16 aspect ratio; 23–60 fps) |
| Video length | N/A | 3 seconds to 15 minutes | 3 to 60 seconds |
| Tagging users (in caption) | ✅ |
✅ (notification only)* |
✖️ |
| Tagging users in images | ✅ | ✖️ | ✖️ |
| Adding a location | ✅ | ✅ | ✖️ |
| First comment |
✅ (not supported for notifications) |
✅ | ✖️ |
| Hashtag Manager | ✅ | ✅ | ✖️ |
| Shop Grid | ✅ | ✖️ | ✖️ |
|
Music
|
✅
(notification only)* |
✅
(notification only)* |
✅
(notification only)* |
|
Story Text
|
✖️
|
✖️
|
✅
(notification only)* |
|
Story Link
|
✖️
|
✖️
|
✅
(notification only)* |
|
Topics
|
✖️
|
✅
(notification only)* |
✖️
|
|
Tag Products
|
✅
(notification only)* |
✅
(notification only)* |
✖️
|
|
Collaborator post
|
✅
(notification only)* |
✅
(notification only)* |
✖️
|
📝 Good-to-knows:
- Video posts: As of December 2023, Instagram treats all videos as Reels in its API. A single video always publishes as a Reel. To also show a reel in your main feed grid, turn on Share to Feed (see Scheduling Instagram reels).
- Carousels: Instagram supports up to 20 images when publishing directly in its app. Posts published through Buffer are limited to 10 images due to Instagram’s API restrictions for third-party tools.
- The 3:4 Instagram grid: Instagram now displays images in a taller 3:4 format in the grid, but images still need to be uploaded at 4:5 in both Buffer and Instagram. Buffer’s composer, calendar, and queue may show a square (1:1) thumbnail, but the post preview to the right of the composer will always show the correct format (4:5).
Creating your Instagram post, reel, or story
To create any Instagram content in Buffer:
- Select your Instagram account on the left-hand side of your dashboard.
- Open the composer at the top of your queue.
-
Select your post type: Post, Reel, or Story.
- Upload the image(s) or video you want to include.
- Type or insert the caption you'd like to use. (To include a caption on a story, or music on a reel, you'll need to schedule it as a notification.)
-
Select a publishing mode: Automatic to publish automatically or Notify Me to receive a notification. If you select Add Sticker or choose a feature that isn't supported for automatic publishing, such as Music, Tag Product, Text, Link, or Topics, Buffer switches the post to Notify Me. You can add a note for each feature as a reminder when completing the post on Instagram.
- Schedule your post using one of our scheduling options, and you're all set!
📝 Good-to-knows:
- Videos must be 300 MB or smaller.
- An Instagram carousel can only contain images. Carousels don't support mixed media, so you can't combine an image and a video, or include multiple videos, in one carousel post.
- For carousel posts, the first image determines the aspect ratio for the entire carousel. All subsequent images are cropped to match it. For example, if the first image is square (1:1), the remaining images will be cropped to appear square as well. This behavior is the same in Buffer and Instagram.
- To schedule a story with multiple images or videos, schedule each one as a separate story in Buffer.
- If your image or video falls outside Instagram's accepted aspect ratio range, it will be scheduled as a notification, and you'll finish publishing it manually.
Scheduling Instagram reels
You can schedule Instagram reels in Buffer by choosing Reel in the composer. A reel accepts one video (between 4:5 and 9:16 aspect ratio, no wider than 1920 pixels), 3 seconds to 15 minutes long, and up to 300 MB.
A few things about reels that often surprise people:
- All Instagram videos are published as Reels. Instagram no longer has a separate "video post" type in its API, so any single video you schedule (including through Buffer) publishes as a Reel. We don't support scheduling standard/landscape feed videos as a separate post type.
-
Share to Feed determines whether your Reel appears in your main profile grid as well as the Reels tab. Enable it in the composer before scheduling. This setting cannot be changed after publishing, so you’ll need to delete and repost the Reel if you want to change it later.
- Reels with music, effects, or caption links may use notification publishing so you can complete them in the Instagram app. Links in reel captions are not clickable and may cause publishing failures, so add them to your link-in-bio or first comment instead
💡 If a reel gets stuck on "processing" or "your post will go live soon," it may still be uploading in the background. Sharing the post Now may not leave enough time for the video to finish processing, so schedule the reel a few minutes into the future instead. For more help with videos that won't upload or publish, see Troubleshooting video uploads in Buffer.
📝 Trial reels are not supported. Buffer can schedule regular Instagram reels, but not Instagram's "trial reels" (reels shown only to non-followers to test content). This isn't available through Instagram's API for third-party tools. If you'd like to see this on Buffer, please submit a feature request.
How to add a thumbnail to your reel or video
You can choose a thumbnail for your reel or video by picking a frame from the video itself. You can't upload a separate image as a custom cover through Buffer, because Instagram's API doesn't support it for third-party tools. By default, the first frame of the video (0 seconds) is used as the thumbnail.
To choose a different frame as the thumbnail:
- Once your video has finished uploading, click Edit Thumbnail,
- Drag the slider to the point in the video you'd like to use as the thumbnail image.
- Click Save.
📝 Notes:
- If you want to use a designed cover image that isn't in the video, schedule the reel with Notify Me and add the cover in the Instagram app when you finish publishing. Alternatively, add the cover frame into the video itself before uploading.
- Edit Thumbnail isn't available on posts scheduled as notifications (only on automatically published posts).
- If the thumbnail does not generate or appears black or blurry, the video format or first frame is usually the cause. Export the video as an MP4 using H.264 instead of HEVC/H.265 or MOV formats, and ensure the first frame is not black. See Troubleshooting video uploads in Buffer.
- Uploading a custom cover image isn't supported at this time. If you'd like to see this available on Buffer, give this feature request a comment or upvote.
Adding a location
You can add a location to Instagram posts and reels, but not to stories or to posts published as notifications.
📝 To add locations, your Instagram channel needs to be linked to a Facebook Page, and you'll need to connect Instagram to Buffer through the linked Facebook Page. Locations are only available for posts scheduled for automatic publishing.
To add a location, start typing a location name (or the name of a Facebook Page you'd like to point to) in the location field. Learn more about how location tags work.
Tagging users in images
Tagging users in an image is only available on posts published automatically. It's not available for reels or stories.
- After uploading an image to your post, click the Tag button on the image.
- Click the spot on the image where you'd like to insert the tag, enter the @ handle, and click Add Tag.
-
The tagged account is added to your tag list, where you can confirm the handle. You can add up to 20 image tags per post.
For carousels, tags added to the first image are applied to every image. Each application counts toward the 20-tag limit, along with tags added to individual images. If you exceed the limit, reduce the number of tags before publishing. To remove a tag, click the x next to it, then click Save and continue scheduling.
📝 Notes:
- Instagram’s API does not support handle autocomplete, so enter the user’s exact @ handle. Use the account link on the right to confirm you tagged the correct user before scheduling.
- Posts that tag private or non-existent users will fail to publish.
Using Hashtag Manager
Hashtags can help make your Instagram posts more discoverable. Use Buffer’s Hashtag Manager to save hashtag groups, test different combinations, and easily reuse your top-performing hashtags. This feature is only available on our paid plans. See how hashtags work in Buffer.
Find it by clicking the # symbol in the composer. Click the + sign to save a group of hashtags, then click Insert to add a group to your post.
📝 Instagram's API limits posts to 5 hashtags. A post with more than 5 hashtags may be rejected.
Scheduling a first comment
The first comment feature is available on our paid plans for Instagram Professional accounts (Business or Creator). You can use it to add a first comment to any post or reel scheduled for automatic publishing.
This is helpful for information you don't want included in the caption itself. Type your first comment into the first comment field, and it will publish alongside your Instagram caption.
Adding Shop Grid links
If you're using Shop Grid, add the link you'd like to direct users to in the Shop Grid Link field.
Why didn't my Instagram post publish?
If an Instagram post didn't go live, work through these common causes:
- If the post shows a Notify label or an orange phone icon, it was scheduled as a notification and needs to be finished in the Instagram app. Tap the push notification on your phone, or open the Sent tab and use Duplicate to reschedule. See using notification publishing.
- If you never got a notification, check that the Buffer mobile app is installed and push notifications are enabled. The error "Whoops! We are having trouble sending notifications to your mobile device. Please try linking a mobile device to your account!" means no mobile device is linked to receive the reminder.
- Is your account a Personal account? Automatic publishing is not supported for Instagram Personal accounts. Switch to a Business or Creator account to use automatic publishing.
- If the post failed with an "unknown error," check the aspect ratio of every image or video first.
- If a post with a location keeps failing, try removing the location and publishing the post again.
📝 If everything looks correct but the post still won’t publish, there may be a temporary issue with Buffer or Instagram. Check our status page to see if there's an outage.
FAQ
Is it possible to hide the number of likes on Instagram posts or reels?
No, this isn't possible while scheduling in Buffer. To hide likes, open the published post on Instagram and use the Hide Likes feature there.
If automatic sharing is enabled in Instagram, will posts published through Buffer also be shared to Facebook?
Instagram posts published through Buffer will not automatically be shared to Facebook, even if automatic sharing is enabled in Instagram. To publish on both platforms, connect your Facebook Page to Buffer as a separate channel and schedule the post for both, or publish directly through Instagram to use its automatic Facebook sharing feature.
Can I schedule posts to Instagram broadcast channels?
Instagram doesn't support sending messages, photos, or videos into a broadcast channel through its API, so we aren't able to schedule content there.
Can I move the position of my text or change the font on my Instagram story or reel?
Instagram’s API does not allow third-party tools like Buffer to reposition text or change fonts for stories or reels. Buffer’s preview is only a guide. To customize the font or placement, use Notify Me, then add the text in the Instagram app when you receive the notification.
More resources from our blog
- The Best Times to Post on Instagram — Backed by Data
- How to Get More Followers on Instagram
- How to Increase Your Reach on Instagram
- How the Instagram Algorithm Works
- Instagram Stories: The Complete Guide
📝 Need help scheduling your Instagram content? Send us an email at hello@buffer.com, and our Advocacy team will be standing by to assist!