Connecting your Instagram account to Buffer
Buffer can connect to both Personal accounts as well as Professional accounts. The publishing, analytics, and engagement features vary depending on which type of Instagram account you have connected to Buffer:
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Connection Flow
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Plan
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Features available
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Personal Instagram flow
No login required—uses mobile notifications to help you publish posts manually.
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All plans
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✅ Yes - Notification publishing* ❌ No - Analytics ❌ No - Engagement
*(Read more about Using notification publishing here)
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Connecting your Professional Instagram (Business or Creator) account through Instagram login
Log into instagram.com with your username and password to connect a Professional (Business or Creator) account.
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All plans supported
Recommended for Buffer’s Free plan
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✅ Yes - Notification publishing ✅ Yes - Automatic publishing* ❌ No - Analytics ❌ No - Engagement *Creator accounts can’t automatically publish stories when connected through the linked Facebook Page. Convert your Instagram to a Business account to get full automatic publishing. |
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Connecting your Professional Instagram (Business or Creator) account through a linked Facebook Page.
Log in with your Facebook profile that's an admin of the Facebook Page connected to your Instagram Professional (Business or Creator) account.
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All plans supported
Recommended for Buffer’s paid plans.
Also recommended for those who only have access to Instagram via Facebook / Meta Business Suite.
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✅ Yes - Notification publishing ✅ Yes - Automatic publishing* ✅ Yes - Advanced analytics & reporting ✅ Yes - Engagement features
Use this plan if you:
*Creator accounts can’t automatically publish stories when connected through the linked Facebook Page. Convert your Instagram to a Business account to get full automatic publishing.
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- Not sure what kind of Instagram account you have? Check out our guide here.
- If you see that your social channel is marked as "Unavailable" (like this), check out our article: Why channels are appearing as "Unavailable" when attempting to connect them to Buffer
- If the only way you can connect to Instagram is through Facebook, please use these these steps.
In this article:
- Connecting your Professional Instagram (Business or Creator) account through an Instagram login
- Connecting your Professional Instagram (Business or Creator) account through a linked Facebook Page
- Troubleshooting common connection errors
Connecting your Instagram Personal account through an Instagram login
- ⚠️ Due to API limitations, we are not able to:
- post automatically to Instagram Personal accounts
- access analytics or comments within Engage for Instagram Personal accounts.
- If you prefer to post automatically or wish to use Analyze and Engage with Instagram, you’ll need to switch your account type to an Instagram Business or Creator account and authorize through Facebook using these steps: Getting advanced analytics, engagement, and locations for your Instagram account.
- 📝 Scheduling to Instagram Personal accounts is only available on our new plans. On a Legacy plan? Get in touch with us at hello@buffer.com to discuss your options!
- In Buffer, head to the Channels page by clicking this link or click on your profile avatar at the top right of your dashboard and then choose Channels on the left menu.
- Click Instagram (If you already have channels connected, click Connect New Channel and then find Instagram and click Connect).
- Select Connect a Personal account.
- Next, enter your Instagram Personal account username and click Continue.
Set up mobile notifications if you haven’t already.
- Then you’ll be good to go!
Switching a connected Instagram Personal account to a Professional account in Buffer
If you've connected your Instagram Personal account to Buffer and want to switch to a Professional account instead, head to your Channels page and click the 3-dot menu and choose 'Switch to Professional.'
Connecting your Instagram Professional (Business or Creator) account through an Instagram login
- After you have connected Instagram to Buffer, if you’d like to add locations to Instagram posts, access advanced analytics and our engagement features, you’ll need to link your Instagram to a Facebook Page and refresh the connection using these steps.
- If taking the steps above, we recommend using an Instagram Business account because Creator accounts will no longer be able to automatically publish Stories if they are connected through a linked Facebook Page.
- If you need to switch from a Creator account to a Business account, please take these steps.
- If the only way you can connect to Instagram is through Facebook, please use these these steps.
- In Buffer, head to the Channels page by clicking this link or click on your profile avatar at the top right of your dashboard and then click Account from the drop down menu and choose Channels on the left menu.
- Click Instagram (If you already have channels connected, click Connect New Channel and then find Instagram and click Connect).
- Under “Professional,” select Connect to Instagram.
- Next, you’ll be prompted to log into Instagram.
- Allow your permissions. The first permission option will be automatically pre-selected. If your permissions look like this, you are all set and you can click "Allow" to finish connecting your Instagram professional account to Buffer.
Having trouble connecting? See our guide to common connection errors below for troubleshooting steps.
Connecting your Professional Instagram (Business or Creator) account through a linked Facebook Page
- Instagram needs to be linked to its own Facebook Page (not profile).
- You must be signing in with your Facebook profile that is an Admin with “full control” on the Page that is linked to the Instagram account
- Log into Buffer on your computer (not mobile)
- Click here to manage channels, then choose to connect a channel and choose Instagram
- Click the “Help” option in the bottom corner and choose “Connect Instagram via linked Facebook Page”
- If you’re having trouble linking your Instagram account to a Facebook page to complete this process, we have a troubleshooting guide here that can help you get everything linked correctly.
- If you already have your Instagram account connected to Buffer, but want to use our Analyze and Engage tools on our paid plans or use locations for your Instagram posts, you need to convert your connection by following this guide.
Troubleshooting common connection errors
Error: We've hit a snag!
This error can come up for a few reasons:
- If your Instagram account is new and you have not completed the "setup" steps in Instagram.
- Please check your account and make sure to complete all setup steps, such as adding a bio and profile picture.
- If you cancel the connection flow mid-way and try to connect the channel again.
- To fix this, please try opening Buffer in a private browser window and then try connecting Instagram again, making sure to go through all steps in the connection process.
Error: {"error_type": "OAuthException", "code": 400, "error_message": "Your activity off Meta technologies is currently turned off."}
- Log into the account on Instagram.com.
- Visit https://accountscenter.instagram.com/info_and_permissions/off_facebook_activity/?entry_point=ACCOUNTS_CENTER
- A new page will appear, and you will select "Manage Future Activity."
- In order for things to work properly, the option for "Connect Future Activity" would need to be selected (screenshot).
- Once you've gone through this steps, please try connecting Instagram to Buffer again.
Note: you may need to repeat these steps for any other Instagram account you are trying to connect to Buffer.
Error: Failed to get instagram login credentials: Request failed with status code 400 (Mobile error)
This error can appear in the mobile app if your Instagram account is new and you have not completed the "setup" steps in Instagram.
- Please check your account and make sure to complete all setup steps, such as adding a bio and profile picture.
Error: Invalid session error 400
This is a known issue that Meta is working to resolve.
Troubleshooting steps:
In some cases, customers have been able to connect Instagram by waiting a few hours and trying again.
Otherwise, you can try connecting to Buffer by linking your Instagram account to a Facebook page and following these steps to authorize Buffer.
❓ Can our Customer Advocacy team answer any questions for you? Feel free to reach out via hello@buffer.com.