How-To

How to Add a Link to an Instagram Story (Link Sticker)

Updated 10 min read
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To add a link to an Instagram story, use the Link sticker. Capture or upload your story, tap Stickers at the top, tap Link, enter the URL and tap Done, then place the sticker. There’s no follower minimum: every account can use it except new accounts and accounts that repeatedly break Instagram’s Community Guidelines.

The steps are the same on iPhone and Android, and Instagram says sharing to your story isn’t available on computers. This page is part of our hub on how to use Instagram. It covers Instagram’s own steps, who gets the sticker, what to check when it’s missing, how to count the taps and where links live outside Stories.

Table of Contents

How to add a link to your Instagram story

In the app, the Link sticker is how you attach a link to a story, and you add it before you share. Capture or upload a photo or video, open Stickers, choose Link and enter the address. See Preview shows what the link will look like when someone opens it. Once the story is up, anyone who can see it can tap the sticker to visit the link. Instagram publishes the same steps for iPhone and Android:

On iPhone:

  1. Capture or upload content to your story.
  2. Tap Stickers at the top.
  3. Tap Link and enter the URL you want the sticker to link to. Tap See Preview below the link to see what the link will look like when someone opens it.
  4. Tap Done, then place the sticker on your story; tap the sticker to see color variations.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Using stickers on Instagram (Link) + About Instagram link-sticker announcement.

Three things to know before you share:

  • Colour: tap the sticker after you place it to see its colour variations, as in the last step above.
  • The sticker’s text: Instagram’s help doesn’t describe changing it. Its 2021 announcement only said Instagram was “working on ways to customize the sticker so it’s clear what someone will see when they tap your link.”
  • Several links: neither the sticker help page nor the announcement gives a number per story. Our suggestion is one link per story frame, each with one clear reason to tap.

Every account, personal or professional, except new accounts and accounts that repeatedly break the Community Guidelines. Instagram opened story links to all accounts on 27 October 2021, “regardless of your account size”. You don’t need a follower minimum, a verified badge or a business account.

Before that date, Instagram says, links in Stories were “limited to verified accounts or those with a certain number of followers.” That’s where the old follower-count advice comes from, and it no longer applies. Meta’s Business Help Center is just as plain about the old method: “You can no longer add swipe up to Instagram Stories. Add a link sticker instead.” Checked against Meta Business Help Center: How to add product stickers to Instagram stories

The exclusions, in Instagram’s words: “New accounts and accounts that repeatedly share things like hate speech and misinformation, or other content that violates our Community Guidelines will not have access to the Link sticker.” Instagram doesn’t say how long an account counts as new, and it describes no way to get the sticker sooner, so be wary of any app or service that claims one.

Checked against About Instagram: Share Links in Instagram Stories to Everyone (2021-10-27).

Why can’t I add a link to my story?

Work through five checks, all taken from Instagram’s and Meta’s own help pages: your account’s age, its standing, the app, your region and your device. Only the app and the device are yours to change.

  1. Your account is new. New accounts don’t get the Link sticker, and Instagram publishes no timeline for when that changes.
  2. Your account has repeated violations. Repeatedly sharing content that breaks the Community Guidelines removes access. Account Status shows what has been removed and which features you can no longer use, and lets you request a review if you think Instagram got it wrong (steps below).
  3. The app is out of date. Instagram’s sticker help page says to update the app if you’re not seeing certain stickers, and adds that “not all stickers are available to everyone”. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Using stickers on Instagram Its general troubleshooting goes further: restart your phone, try both Wi-Fi and mobile data, then delete and reinstall the app. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Troubleshooting
  4. Your region. The same sticker page opens with a note: “This feature may be unavailable in Japan and for countries located in Europe.” Checked against Instagram Help Center: Using stickers on Instagram
  5. You’re on a computer. Instagram’s Help Center article on sharing to your story says the feature isn’t available on computers. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Share a photo or video to your Instagram story (computer version) Its 2026 Stories guide describes a basic story uploader on instagram.com but says some features, like certain stickers, are mobile-only. Checked against About Instagram: How to Use Instagram Stories: Complete 2026 Guide (2 July 2026) If the account is managed in Meta Business Suite, its desktop story editor has an Add link option, and Meta says you need full control of the account or Content permission. Checked against Meta Business Help Center: Create and manage stories in Meta Business Suite on desktop

Check your Account Status

Account Status is where Instagram shows content removed for going against its Community Standards and the features you can’t use. In most cases, Instagram says, you get a warning before losing access to your account.

On the web:

  1. Click More in the bottom left, then click Settings.
  2. Click Account Status below More info and support.

On iPhone:

  1. Tap Profile or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
  2. Tap Menu in the top right.
  3. Below More info and support, tap Account Status.

On Android:

  1. Tap Profile or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
  2. Tap Menu in the top right.
  3. Below More info and support, tap Account Status.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Check your Account Status on Instagram.

How to track clicks on a story link

Instagram counts link taps in a story’s insights, and UTM tags tell your own analytics which visits came from that story. Use both: the first shows how many people tapped, the second what they did once they arrived.

To see the taps, open the story while it’s live, tap Activity, then Insights; link taps are counted in Interactions. For an older story, go to your profile, tap More, then Insights (professional accounts) or Your dashboard (personal accounts), and find it under Content you shared. On a computer, go to your profile, click Options at the top right of the story, then View insights. Insights need a public account, personal or professional, and stay available for up to two years after the story is created. Checked against Instagram Help Center: View insights on your Instagram Stories

To follow the visits, tag the URL before you paste it into the sticker. Our free UTM generator adds utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign to any link, so a story link might look like this:

https://example.com/spring-sale?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=spring-sale

Your analytics then groups those visits under the source, medium and campaign you chose. Pick one naming pattern, such as one campaign name per promotion, and reuse it, so your stories, posts and profile links can be compared.

Your profile holds up to 5 websites, and anyone, on or off Instagram, can see them. Unlike a story, they don’t disappear after 24 hours, so the profile is the place for links people should still find next month. Add them from Edit profile; Instagram publishes the same steps for Android:

On iPhone:

  1. Tap Profile or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
  2. Tap Edit profile at the top of the screen.
  3. Tap Links, then tap Add external link to add the URL for your website.
  4. Tap Done. You can remove a link by tapping on the link and tapping Remove link.
  5. Tap Back.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Add a website to your Instagram profile.

To change their order, go to Edit profile, then Links, then Options, then Reorder links. A story, sticker and all, disappears after 24 hours unless you add it to a highlight. Checked against Instagram Help Center: How long Instagram stories remain visible

Your profile links are what “link in bio” refers to. For the words around them, see how to write a bio for Instagram.

Can you add a link to an Instagram post?

Instagram’s Help Center doesn’t document tappable links in feed post captions, so we don’t promise one. The routes it does document for sending people to a website are your profile’s links, the Link sticker in Stories, and links in Reels, a perk of Meta Verified’s Plus, Premium and Max plans for creators, which Meta says may vary by region, app and account. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About Meta Verified for creators

To point story viewers at one of your own feed posts, you don’t need a link at all: share the post to your story instead.

Schedule the feed posts that go with your stories in Outfeed AI

FAQ

Why can’t I add a link to my Instagram story?

Instagram doesn’t give the Link sticker to new accounts or to accounts that repeatedly share content that breaks its Community Guidelines. Check Account Status (your profile, then Menu, then Account Status): it lists features you can no longer use and lets you request a review if you think Instagram got it wrong. Otherwise, update the app; Instagram’s sticker help also notes that not all stickers are available to everyone.

Do you need 10k followers to add a link to your Instagram story?

No. On 27 October 2021 Instagram opened links in Stories to all accounts, regardless of account size. Before that, it says, story links were limited to verified accounts or those with a certain number of followers. The exclusions its announcement names are new accounts and accounts that repeatedly break its Community Guidelines.

How do I see how many people clicked my story link?

While the story is live, open it, tap Activity, then Insights. Instagram counts link taps in the story’s Interactions. You need a public account, personal or professional, to see insights, and they stay available for up to two years after the story is created. To see what those visitors did on your website, add UTM tags to the link before you paste it into the sticker.

Can you add a link to an Instagram story on desktop?

Not in any way Instagram documents for instagram.com. Instagram’s help on sharing to your story says the feature isn’t available on computers, and its 2026 Stories guide, which describes a basic story uploader on the web, says some features, like certain stickers, are mobile-only. If the account is managed in Meta Business Suite, its desktop story editor has an Add link option; Meta says creating a story there needs full control of the account or Content permission.

What happened to swipe up on Instagram?

It’s gone. Meta’s Business Help Center says you can no longer add swipe up to Instagram Stories and should add a link sticker instead. Since 27 October 2021 the Link sticker has been open to all accounts, except new accounts and accounts that repeatedly break Instagram’s Community Guidelines.

instagram instagram stories link sticker links