How-To

How to Post YouTube Clips to Instagram (Your Own)

Updated 10 min read
Title card reading 'How to Post YouTube Clips to Instagram (Your Own)' with a phone outline and layered screens on an emerald gradient

If the video is yours, download it from YouTube Studio and upload the file to Instagram as a Reel. If it’s someone else’s, share the link instead, with a Link sticker on your story or in your profile links. YouTube only lets you download videos you uploaded yourself, and Instagram says the best way to avoid copyright problems is to post only content you created.

Checked against YouTube Help: Download YouTube videos that you've uploaded.

Below is how to post YouTube clips to Instagram both ways, with official features only. For Instagram itself, from your first post to privacy settings, see how to use Instagram.

Table of Contents

Can you post a YouTube video on Instagram?

Yes, if it’s your own video. Instagram’s Help Center answers “How do I post a video?” with its Record a reel article, so posting a video is documented as posting a reel, up to 20 minutes long in the app. For anyone else’s video, the route is a link.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: How do I post a video? (serves "Record a reel on Instagram").

Check first: is it your video?

Ownership decides your route: repost your own upload, link to anyone else’s. YouTube’s download tool works only for videos you uploaded yourself; YouTube says you can’t download other people’s videos. Instagram adds that posting someone else’s content can infringe even if you downloaded it, gave credit, added a disclaimer or modified it. It suggests getting written permission, such as a license, first. To point people to one moment of someone else’s video, YouTube’s Clip tool shares a short link instead of a copy.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: How to make sure content you post to Instagram or Threads doesn't violate copyright law.

How to download your own YouTube video

Use YouTube Studio on a computer, or Save to device in the YouTube or YouTube Studio app. YouTube says you get an MP4 file in 720p or 360p, depending on the video’s size.

On the web:

  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
  2. From the left panel, select Content.
  3. Select a video you'd like to download, and select Menu, then Download.

Checked against YouTube Help: Download YouTube videos that you've uploaded.

On a phone, YouTube publishes the same steps for iPhone and Android, in either app:

On iPhone: in the YouTube app:

  1. Open the YouTube app.
  2. Tap your profile picture on the lower menu.
  3. Tap Your Videos.
  4. Tap the Shorts or Videos tab.
  5. Scroll to the video you'd like to download, and select Menu, then Save to device.

On iPhone: in the YouTube Studio app:

  1. Open the YouTube Studio app.
  2. Tap Content on the lower menu.
  3. Tap the Shorts or Videos tab.
  4. Scroll to the video you'd like to download, and select Menu, then Save to device.

Checked against YouTube Help: Download YouTube videos that you've uploaded (Android and iPhone & iPad).

YouTube blocks the download if the video was removed, has a copyright or Community Guidelines strike, or uses a preapproved audio track, or if you’ve already downloaded it five times in the last 24 hours. Checked against YouTube Help: Download YouTube videos that you've uploaded (Troubleshoot issues downloading your videos)

How to post YouTube clips to Instagram as a Reel

Upload the saved file, trim it to the part you want, and share it. On instagram.com, a video goes up through Create, then Post, and you can choose a cover photo and trim the start or end before sharing:

On the web:

  1. Click Create on the left.
  2. Click Post.
  3. Click Select from computer and choose the content you want to share from your device. Click Media in the bottom right, then click Add to add another file.
  4. Click Next in the top right. Use the slider below Cover photo to choose a cover photo from the clip or click Select from computer to choose one on your device. Use the slider below Trim to trim the beginning or end of your clip.
  5. Click Next in the top right. Here you can write a caption, add a location, tag people, add alternate text, and adjust your post's settings.
  6. Click Share in the top right.

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

In the app, start from Create, then REEL on iPhone, or from your profile, then Create new, then Reel on Android, and tap your camera roll in the bottom left to add the saved video. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Record a reel on Instagram

Before sharing, check the clip:

  • Vertical. The reel ratio is 9:16, the usual upload in pixels is 1080 x 1920 (widely reported), and Instagram lists vertically filmed reels among those it recommends. More in Instagram post size.
  • Three minutes or less for new viewers. “Reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences.” More in Instagram video length.
  • No borders, logos or watermarks, which Instagram shows less often (below).
  • Sound you may use. If the soundtrack has music you don’t hold the rights to, don’t repost it as is; see Instagram audio for the sounds you can add.

How to share a YouTube link on your Instagram Story or profile

Add a Link sticker to a story, or add the video’s URL to your profile links. It sends people to YouTube instead of copying the video, so it works for any video you didn’t make, and anyone who can see your story can tap the sticker. Android uses the same steps:

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.

New accounts, and accounts that repeatedly share content that breaks the Community Guidelines, don’t get the Link sticker. Checked against About Instagram: Share Links in Instagram Stories to Everyone (2021-10-27) Instagram’s story-sharing article says the feature isn’t available on computers, Checked against Instagram Help Center: Share a photo or video to your Instagram story (computer version) and its stickers article says stickers may be unavailable in Japan and in European countries. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Using stickers on Instagram (availability note) More in how to add a link to an Instagram story.

For a link that stays put, your profile can hold up to 5 websites, added under Edit profile, then Links, and visible to anyone on or off Instagram. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Add a website to your Instagram profile

Will Instagram show a reposted YouTube clip to new people?

It can, but Instagram shows reels less often when they aren’t original, carry borders, logos or watermarks, are blurry or low resolution, or are mostly covered by text. That applies to suggested reels, the ones shown to people who don’t follow you; reels from accounts people follow aren’t made less visible.

Checked against Instagram Help Center: What kind of reels you may see on Instagram.

Its Recommendations Guidelines also hold back “unoriginal content repurposed with only minor edits”. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Recommendations on Instagram Instagram doesn’t say how that applies to creators reposting their own videos. Our reading, not Instagram’s: post a clean vertical cut, unbranded.

Can Outfeed publish your clip as a Reel?

If you’d rather queue the clip than post it on the spot: we build Outfeed AI, and with a video file it works like this:

So start from the file you downloaded above. For the YouTube side, see how to schedule YouTube videos, or, for a shared first viewing with live chat, YouTube’s own Premiere feature, which you set up in YouTube Studio.

Schedule your next Reel in Outfeed AI

YouTube clips on Instagram: FAQ

Is it legal to post YouTube clips on Instagram?

It depends on who owns them. Instagram says the best way to avoid copyright problems is to post only content you created yourself, and that someone else’s content can infringe even if you give credit or don’t profit from it. For other people’s videos, share the link or get written permission.

How do I download my own YouTube video?

In YouTube Studio on a computer, select Content, choose the video, then Menu and Download. In the YouTube or YouTube Studio app, find the video, then choose Menu and Save to device. YouTube gives you an MP4 file and blocks the download once you’ve downloaded a video five times in 24 hours.

How do I share a YouTube link on my Instagram story?

In the Instagram app, add a photo or video to your story, tap Stickers at the top, choose Link and enter the YouTube URL, then tap Done and place the sticker. Anyone who can see your story can tap it. New accounts don’t get the Link sticker.

How long can a YouTube clip be on Instagram?

Instagram lets you record and edit reels of up to 20 minutes, but it says reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences. To reach people who don’t follow you yet, keep a clip to 3 minutes or less.

instagram youtube instagram reels repurposing copyright