What Is Repost on Instagram? How the Button Works
Repost on Instagram is a button, added in August 2025, that shares someone else’s public post or reel with your friends and followers, credited to the original creator, and saves it to a Reposts tab on your profile. It’s the icon with two arrows forming a loop, and it doesn’t make a copy: the post stays the creator’s.
Tapping it is the easy part. This page covers what follows: who sees it, what the creator gets, what can’t be reposted and how to switch it off, drawn from Meta’s launch post and developer docs, with gaps marked where Meta hasn’t said.
Before August 2025, “repost” meant something else on Instagram: re-uploading someone’s photo with a credit, or sharing a post to your Story. Both still exist, and they’re compared with the button below.
Table of Contents
- What Is Repost on Instagram? What One Tap Does
- How Do You Repost a Post or Reel on Instagram?
- Where Do Reposts Show Up, and Who Sees Them?
- What Does the Original Creator Get From a Repost?
- Repost, Share to Story, Remix or Collab: Which Should You Use?
- Repost on Other Platforms
- Should Brands Repost Their Customers’ Posts?
- Words That Travel With Repost
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Repost on Instagram? What One Tap Does
Reposting puts someone else’s post in front of people who know you, under your name, without copying it. That’s what reposting does on Instagram in one line. Here’s the detail, with what Meta has documented and where it hasn’t:
| Question | Answer | Documented by |
|---|---|---|
| What can I repost? | Public reels and feed posts. Not Stories, and not posts from private accounts | Meta’s launch post, 6 August 2025 |
| Who can see it? | Your friends and followers, in their feeds, where Instagram may recommend it; and anyone who can see your profile, on your Reposts tab | Meta’s launch post |
| Is it a copy? | No. It’s credited to the original poster and stays off your main grid | Meta’s launch post |
| What does the creator get? | A shot at new viewers: it “may be recommended to that person’s followers, even if those people don’t follow you” | Meta’s launch post |
| Does it add to the creator’s numbers? | There’s no copy to split them: people see and react to the creator’s own post, and Meta counts its reposts as a separate number | Meta’s developer docs (the repost count) |
| Is the creator notified? | Not documented. They can see how many times a post was reposted | Meta’s developer docs |
| Can I add my own words? | A short note, typed into a thought bubble | Meta’s launch post |
| Can I take it back? | Yes. Meta’s repost count subtracts deleted reposts | Meta’s developer docs |
| Can creators block it? | Yes, in Settings under Sharing and reuse | In-app setting; not in Meta’s post |
The sources: Meta’s announcement of reposts, and the Instagram API changelog, which added a reposts metric on 3 December 2025 and a reposts_count field on 22 April 2026, the “number of times the media has been reposted by other users.”
How Do You Repost a Post or Reel on Instagram?
Tap the two-arrow icon under any public post or reel. Step by step:
- Open a public post or reel.
- Tap the Repost icon, two arrows forming a loop, in the row with like, comment and share (on a reel, in the column on the right).
- To add a note, type into the thought bubble that appears on screen and press Save, as Meta describes it.
- That’s it. The post is on your Reposts tab, and Instagram may show it in your friends’ and followers’ feeds.
To undo it, tap the Repost icon on the post again. Seeing two curved arrows in the camera instead? That’s the button that flips between the front and back cameras, not Repost.
Notes tend to be short and personal. You’ll see reposts and the word itself used like this:
- A note on a repost: “the only packing list you need”
- A comment on the original: “reposting so I can find this again”
- A DM to the creator: “reposted your reel, my whole team needs this”
Where Do Reposts Show Up, and Who Sees Them?
In two places: your friends’ and followers’ feeds, and a Reposts tab on your profile. In Meta’s words: “Reposts will be recommended to your friends’ and followers’ feeds, and they’ll also be in a separate tab on your profile, so you can always go back to revisit your reposts.”
So anyone who can see your profile can browse your reposts. On a private account, that means approved followers only, as with the rest of your profile. Reposts stay off your main grid, so reposting doesn’t change how your own posts look to a new visitor.
What Does Reposted Mean on Instagram?
When a post in your feed shows someone’s name and the word “reposted,” a person you follow tapped Repost on it, and that’s why it reached you. Everything else on it, from the caption to the likes and comments, belongs to the original creator. Tap the creator’s name to go to the source.
What Does the Original Creator Get From a Repost?
Credit, a count and a chance at people who don’t follow them. Meta’s launch post says reposts are “credited to the original poster,” and tells creators that a reposted post “may be recommended to that person’s followers, even if those people don’t follow you.” That’s the only first-party statement on reach. Meta hasn’t said how often it happens, and we found no published measurement of it.
The count is newer. Meta’s API gained a reposts metric in December 2025 and a per-post reposts count in April 2026, so creators and their analytics tools can see how often a post was reposted, net of deleted reposts.
Is the creator notified each time? Meta’s launch post doesn’t say. Assume they can find out anyway: your reposts sit on a visible tab of your profile, with their name on them.
How to Turn Off Reposts of Your Content
Open Settings, go to Sharing and reuse, and switch off the option that lets people repost your posts and reels. With it off, nobody can repost your content with the button. Sharing your posts to Stories has a separate switch, so turn that off too if you want neither.
Repost, Share to Story, Remix or Collab: Which Should You Use?
Repost to pass something along as it is, Remix to add your own take, Collab when you made it together, and share to Story when it only matters today.
| Option | What it creates | Where it shows | How long it lasts | Your own post? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repost | Nothing new: the original, shared under your name | Friends’ and followers’ feeds, your Reposts tab | Until you undo it | No, it stays the creator’s |
| Share to Story | A Story frame with the post as a tappable sticker | Your Story | 24 hours, unless saved to a Highlight | No |
| Remix | A new reel of yours, next to or after the original | Wherever your reels go | Until you delete it | Yes |
| Collab post | One post with more than one author | Every collaborator’s profile and audience | Until it’s deleted | Yes, shared |
| Re-upload (regram app or screenshot) | A separate copy of someone else’s post | Your grid, as your post | Until it’s deleted | On your grid, but not original in Instagram’s eyes |
That last row carries the risk: accounts that mainly re-upload other people’s content can lose eligibility for Instagram’s recommendations, and a caption credit does not make a re-upload original. The detail sits in how the Instagram algorithm ranks content. The Repost button avoids the problem entirely, because the post stays the creator’s.
Made your own version instead of reposting? Credit the idea in the caption; creators often use IB, short for “inspired by”.
Why Older Advice Says Avoid Reposting
Because in 2023, “repost” meant re-upload. Instagram’s May 2023 tips for improving your reach said: “We’re less likely to recommend reposts of a reel that’s already on Instagram, content with noticeable watermarks, or accounts that regularly collect and reshare others’ content on their feed.” The native button arrived two years later. So “avoid reposted content” in 2023 and “use reposts” in 2026 aren’t a contradiction; they’re two meanings of one word.
Repost on Other Platforms
The idea is the same everywhere; only the button name changes. TikTok and Threads both have a Repost button, and on X the old Retweet button has been called Repost since 2023. For what “RT” and “reposted” mean across X and in texts, see what RT means.
Should Brands Repost Their Customers’ Posts?
Yes, when the post is public and the customer has left reposts switched on: it’s credited, it isn’t a copy, and it’s the option Instagram itself points to. Four things to know first:
- It stays theirs. If the customer deletes the post, your repost goes with it.
- You get a note, not a caption. Use it to thank them or say why you’re sharing; the credit is automatic.
- A repost isn’t a license. Putting the same photo in an ad or on your grid needs the creator’s permission.
- It goes out the moment you tap. Repost when your audience is online; our guide to the best time to post on Instagram has the day-by-day data.
Native reposts happen in the Instagram app, one tap at a time, and Outfeed AI doesn’t press that button for you. It covers the other half of the job: publishing your own posts, Reels and Stories to Instagram, Threads and seven other platforms from one chat message, with a preview of each before anything goes out.
Words That Travel With Repost
- Regram: older slang for re-uploading someone’s Instagram post with a credit, usually through a third-party app.
- Quote: a repost with your own words on top, on Threads, X and Bluesky.
- Reposts tab: the section of your profile that lists everything you’ve reposted.
- Collab post: one post co-authored by several accounts, shown to all of their audiences.
The rest of the A to Z lives in our social media glossary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is repost on Instagram?
Repost is an Instagram button, added in August 2025, that shares someone else’s public post or reel with your friends and followers without copying it. The post stays credited to its creator and is saved to a Reposts tab on your profile, and you can add a short note when you repost.
What are the two arrows on Instagram?
The two arrows forming a loop under a post or reel are the Repost button. Tap it to share that post with your friends and followers, credited to its creator, and tap it again to undo. In the camera, two curved arrows are a different button: the one that flips between the front and back cameras.
Does someone know when you repost their post on Instagram?
They can find out. Your reposts sit on a tab of your profile, credited to them, and Meta’s API has counted reposts per post since December 2025, so creators and their analytics tools can see how often a post was reposted. Meta’s launch post doesn’t say whether a notification is sent each time.
Can you undo a repost on Instagram?
Yes. Tap the Repost icon on the post again to take it back. Meta defines its repost count net of deleted reposts, so an undone repost also drops out of the creator’s count.
Can you repost a post from a private account on Instagram?
No. Meta limits the Repost button to public reels and feed posts, and creators can also switch reposts off for their own content. If your own account is private, your profile, Reposts tab included, is visible only to the followers you’ve approved.
What does reposted mean on TikTok?
On TikTok, a line such as “maria reposted” above a video means someone you’re connected to tapped Repost on it, which is why TikTok showed it to you. TikTok’s Repost button lives in the Share panel, and Remove Repost in the same panel takes one back.