How-To

How to Use Instagram: Every Feature, Task by Task

Updated 10 min read
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How to use Instagram, Meta’s photo and video app, in short: post photos, videos and carousels to your feed, share Stories that disappear after 24 hours unless you add them to a highlight, set up your profile, choose who can see and contact you, chat in messages and, once your account qualifies, go Live.

This page is a task index. Each section answers one group of tasks in a few lines, checked against Instagram’s and Meta’s own help pages, then links to the guide with the full steps. Two more sections cover your activity history and account problems, and a table shows which features of Instagram work on a computer.

Table of Contents

How to use Instagram: what are the main features in 2026?

Instagram’s main features are feed posts, Reels, Stories, Highlights, Notes, Live and chats, and each comes with one rule worth knowing before you start. Here is that rule for each feature on Instagram, with the page it comes from.

Posting: photos, videos and carousels

Feed posts are what stays on your profile: a single photo, a single video (which Instagram’s Help Center documents as a reel) or a carousel that mixes photos and videos. Every post starts from Create. Before you share, you can add a caption and a location, and Instagram’s computer steps add alternative text and an Advanced Settings option to turn off commenting. Videos go up from a computer too, with a choice of cover photo and a trim for the start or end.

Two numbers catch people out. Instagram’s publishing API, which apps use to post on your behalf, takes up to 10 items per carousel, while the Instagram app takes 20. And a Collab post, which also shows on each collaborator’s profile once they accept, can have up to 5 collaborators, invited before you publish.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Post a photo on Instagram (computer).

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Record a reel on Instagram (computer).

Checked against Meta for Developers: Instagram Graph API, IG User Media reference.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Create collaborative posts on Instagram.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Create collaborative posts on Instagram.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Create collaborative posts on Instagram.

Stories, Highlights, Notes and Live

A story lasts 24 hours unless you add it to a highlight, a highlight stays on your profile until you remove it, a note lasts up to 24 hours, and only public accounts with 1,000 or more followers can go Live. None of the four is a feed post.

Stories

Stories are made mainly in the Instagram app: the computer version of Instagram’s help article on sharing to your story says the feature isn’t available on computers. Instagram’s 2026 Stories guide is less strict: it says you can upload a photo or video to a story on instagram.com with basic edits, while some features, like certain stickers, are mobile-only. In the Stories camera, Layout combines several photos into one story. Effects are narrower than they used to be. Some of Instagram’s own help pages still mention effects from independent creators, but Meta shut down its Meta Spark platform for third-party AR effects on 14 January 2025, and only Meta-owned effects remain.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Share a photo or video to your Instagram story (computer version).

Checked against About Instagram: How to Use Instagram Stories: Complete 2026 Guide (2 July 2026).

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Combine multiple photos into one on your Instagram story.

Checked against Meta Spark blog: A Meta Spark Update (2024-08-27).

Highlights and Notes

Highlights keep chosen stories on your profile after the 24 hours are up, and Notes put a short line of text at the top of the inbox.

Live

Live needs a public account with 1,000 or more followers, and Teen Accounts have it turned off by default. On a phone you swipe right in Feed to open Create, then scroll to Live. On a computer, Instagram runs Live through Live Producer, which takes the video from your own streaming software.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Start a live video on Instagram.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Start a live video on Instagram (computer version).

Your profile is the public face of your account: your name, username, profile picture, bio, links and follower and following counts stay public even if the account is private, and Instagram says they can’t be hidden. For links, start with Instagram’s own option: you can add up to 5 websites from Edit profile, and anyone on or off Instagram can see them.

Followers are the other half of a profile. Instagram tells you not to let anyone else access your account, and warns that apps offering likes or followers in exchange for your login can get complete access to it and can lead to limited features or a disabled account. That rules out “unfollower” apps that ask for your password; the guide below shows the manual check.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: What profile information anyone can see on Instagram.

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

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Why you should not use apps that offer likes and followers on Instagram.

Privacy and safety controls you should know

Instagram’s privacy tools work at two levels: the whole account, and one person at a time. This is what each control does, in Instagram’s own terms.

Your activity: searches, likes and watched Reels

Your activity, under Menu on your profile, is Instagram’s record of what you’ve done: time spent, posts you’ve shared, likes, comments, recent searches, link history, and archived or recently deleted content, among other things. Instagram’s article listing what it holds names no Reels watch history. You can clear recent searches in the app or on instagram.com, but Instagram warns that a search you clear can come back if you search for it again.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Your Activity settings on Instagram.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Clear your Instagram search history.

Messages and chats

Chats are Instagram’s private messages, opened from Messages, and some of their extras exist only in the app. You send a GIF from the Stickers button in a chat, but the computer version of Instagram’s help article says that isn’t available on computers. A chat’s theme changes from the chat name, then Theme, and Instagram’s computer article on themes has no steps. On iPhone and iPad, dark mode follows your device setting and can’t be switched inside the app.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Send a GIF or sticker in an Instagram chat.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Choose a theme for your chat on Instagram.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Turn on Dark mode for Instagram.

Account problems: posting blocks, suspensions and verification

When Instagram limits your account, start with Account Status: it shows content removed for going against the Community Standards, features you can no longer use and a way to request a review. Instagram says that in most cases you’ll get a warning before losing access to your account. If it suspends the account, it tells you by email and when you open the app or website, including whether you can appeal, and you appeal by logging in and following the on-screen instructions. If you can’t log in or think someone has taken over the account, Instagram’s official route is instagram.com/hacked.

Meta Verified is a separate, paid subscription. Meta lists its creator plans from USD $11.99 a month (Standard, bought on the web in most regions) to $499.99 a month (Max), as of October 2026.

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

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Why was my Instagram account disabled?.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: If you think your Instagram profile has been hacked.

Checked against Meta: Meta Verified product page.

Can you use Instagram on a computer? App vs web

Yes, for most everyday tasks. On instagram.com you can post photos, videos and carousels, create highlights, leave a note, make your account private and go Live through Live Producer. The computer versions of Instagram’s help articles say posting a story, Layout, Collab invites and GIFs in chats aren’t available on computers; for stories, Instagram’s 2026 Stories guide disagrees and describes a basic uploader on instagram.com. Here is how to use Instagram features in the app and on the web, task by task.

TaskInstagram appinstagram.com on a computer
Post a photo, video or carouselYes, up to 20 items per carouselYes, up to 20 items per carousel
Invite a Collab collaboratorYesNot available on computers
Share a storyYesHelp Center: not available on computers. 2026 Stories guide: upload a photo or video, some features mobile-only
Combine photos with LayoutYesNot available on computers
Create a highlightYesYes
Leave a noteYesYes, from Messages or your profile
Go LiveYesYes, with Live Producer and streaming software
Send a GIF in a chatYesNot available on computers
Change a chat themeYesNo steps documented
Dark modeiPhone: follows the device setting. Android: an in-app settingYes, with Switch appearance
Make the account privateYesYes
Mute someonePosts, stories and messagesOnly muting messages is documented
Clear recent searchesYesYes
Check Account StatusYesYes
Buy Meta VerifiedEvery planStandard plan only

Each row comes from an Instagram or Meta help page stamped on this page. The rows for notes, dark mode and muting, which aren’t stamped above, come from these:

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Share a note with others on Instagram.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Turn on Dark mode for Instagram.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Mute or unmute someone on Instagram.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: Mute or unmute someone on Instagram.

Pros and cons of Instagram

For: it’s free, it puts posts, Reels, Stories, Notes, chats and Live in one app, and its privacy controls are fine-grained. Against: some features depend on your device or account, some profile details can’t be hidden, and Instagram’s own rules cap reach and access.

Pros

  • Free to use. Instagram says the Instagram you know today “will always be free”. Instagram Plus and Meta Verified are optional paid extras. Checked against About Instagram blog: Introducing Instagram Plus
  • Many formats in one app. Carousels of up to 20 items, reels of up to 20 minutes, Stories, Highlights, Notes, chats and Live.
  • Quiet controls. You can block or mute someone without them being notified, restrict them, or share only with Close Friends.
  • Works on a computer. Posting, highlights, notes, privacy settings and Live all work on instagram.com.

Cons

  • Uneven availability. Layout, Collab invites and GIFs in chats need the app, most story tools are documented only there, and even Reels “isn’t currently available to everyone”, according to Instagram’s help article on recording one.
  • Not everything can be hidden. Your name, bio, links and follower and following counts stay public on a private account.
  • Rules that cap reach and access. Reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences, and Live needs a public account with 1,000 or more followers.
  • Public stories are used to improve Meta’s AI. Instagram says stories shared publicly, including those in your archive, will be used to improve AI at Meta unless you delete them from your archive or change your account to private.
  • Instagram decides. Removed content and lost features show up in Account Status, and Instagram tells you whether a suspension can be appealed.

Where Outfeed fits (and where it doesn’t)

Outfeed AI publishes this guide, so here is what it can and can’t do with the tasks above, starting with feed posts.

For the rest of this page, from Stories to settings:

Schedule your next Instagram feed post with Outfeed AI

For each network’s own scheduling options, see how to schedule social media posts. For any term on this page you don’t recognise, try the social media glossary.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use Instagram for beginners?

Start with your profile: a photo, a bio and up to 5 links. Your name, bio, links and follower and following counts stay public even on a private account. Then choose public or private, and post a photo, video or carousel to your feed, or a Story, which disappears after 24 hours unless you add it to a highlight. Restrict, Mute and Block handle anyone who bothers you.

Can you use Instagram on a computer?

Yes. On instagram.com you can post photos, videos and carousels, create highlights, leave a note, make your account private and go Live through Live Producer with streaming software. The computer versions of Instagram’s help articles say posting a story, Layout, inviting a Collab collaborator and sending GIFs in chats aren’t available on computers, though Instagram’s 2026 Stories guide describes uploading a photo or video to a story on instagram.com.

What is the difference between a post, a Story, a Reel and Live?

A post is a photo, video or carousel of up to 20 photos and videos that stays on your profile. Instagram documents posting a video as a reel, which can run up to 20 minutes. A Story disappears from Feed, your profile and Direct after 24 hours unless you add it to a highlight. Live is video broadcast as it happens, and only public accounts with 1,000 or more followers can start one.

Is Instagram free to use?

Yes. Instagram says the Instagram you know today “will always be free”. Paid extras are optional: Instagram Plus, a subscription that isn’t available to everyone yet, and Meta Verified, which Meta lists from USD $11.99 a month for the Standard plan bought on the web in most regions, as of October 2026.

Does Instagram tell people when you block, mute or restrict them?

Instagram says people aren’t notified when you block them, and it won’t let them know you muted them. Its current Restrict article doesn’t say whether the person is told, but it says a restricted person can’t see when you’re online or whether you’ve read their messages.

instagram instagram features instagram stories instagram privacy how-to