To post multiple photos on Instagram, tap Create (the plus icon), choose Post, tap the Select multiple icon in the gallery, pick your photos and videos, then tap Next through the edit and caption screens and tap Share. As of August 2026, Instagram's help center says a single post, called a carousel, can hold up to 20 photos and videos in any mix. For Stories, the gallery picker lets you select two or more photos and share them as what Instagram calls a classic multi-story. Everything below is taken from Instagram's official help pages as published in August 2026; menu labels can differ slightly by app version and region.
The per-post limit: up to 20 photos and videos
Start with the cap. Instagram's current help page is explicit: "You can share a post with up to 20 photos and videos as a single post, also known as a carousel, to your Instagram feed." The same wording appears in the iPhone, Android, and computer instructions, so the limit is the same everywhere.
The 20 is a combined count. Photos and videos share the same allowance, so 12 photos plus 8 videos is the ceiling, and so is 20 photos with no video.
How to post multiple photos on Instagram from your phone
These are Instagram's own steps for the iPhone app. The Android page reads almost identically; the only textual difference is one extra "in the top right" hint on the second Next.
- Tap Create at the top of the screen, or swipe right anywhere in Feed.
- Tap POST at the bottom, then tap the Select multiple icon.
- Select up to 20 photos and videos from your library.
- Tap a photo or video and touch the screen to adjust how it fits in the frame. Note that the orientation you choose (square, portrait, or landscape) applies to every item in the post.
- Tap Next. On the edit screen, tap a filter at the bottom to apply it to every slide, or tap an individual slide to edit it and filter it on its own.
- Tap and hold a slide and drag it to change the order. Tap Next again.
- Choose Single caption for one caption on the whole post, or Multiple captions to write one for each slide.
- Add a location if you want one (only one per post), and use Tag People to tag accounts on individual slides.
- Tap Share.
In the feed, viewers see your first slide with a row of dots under it and swipe to see the rest. On your profile grid, the post carries a small icon in the top right so people know there is more behind it. Likes and comments belong to the whole post, not to individual slides.
The first slide does all the work of earning the swipe, so pick it deliberately. If you are also choosing when to publish, see our best time to post on Instagram guide.
Mixing photos and videos in one post
You can mix them freely. The help page describes one selection of "photos and videos" rather than separate pickers, and the 20-item cap applies to the combined selection. Two things from the help page are worth knowing before you build a video-heavy carousel:
- Carousel videos are not Reels. Instagram states that "videos in carousels are not considered reels and will not show up in the Reels tab or have reels features." If you want a clip to live in the Reels tab, post it as a Reel separately.
- Uploads take longer. Instagram warns that "posts containing multiple videos may take longer to upload" and tells you to be on a reliable network. On a weak connection, a video-heavy carousel is the post to expect trouble from.
Crops, filters, and edits per slide
Instagram lets you crop each item individually but forces a single orientation across the post. In its words: "the orientation you choose (square, portrait or landscape) affects all of the photos or videos in your post. You can't select a different orientation for each photo or video." In practice, that means a vertical portrait and a wide landscape shot in the same carousel will both be cut to whichever frame you pick. If the set matters, crop the images to one ratio before you open Instagram.
Filters are more flexible. You can tap one filter to apply it to every slide, or tap a single slide to edit it and add a filter on its own. Individual edits do not change the rest of the post.
Reordering and removing slides before you share
On the edit screen (after the first Next), tap and hold any slide and drag it to a new spot. To remove a slide, tap and hold it and drag it to the delete icon; both the iPhone and Android help pages show the same icon as the drop target. Before you share is the only time you can swap a slide out: once the post is published, slides can be removed but not added.
Adding music to a carousel
Instagram has a dedicated help page for this, and its first note is the one that trips people up: "Music cannot be added to carousels with videos." Music is a photos-only feature. The page also says the feature is not available on computers. On your phone:
- Tap Create, then POST, then Select multiple, and select your images.
- Tap Next. If you want filters, tap Filters, choose one, and tap Done. Tap Next again.
- Tap Add music. Pick a suggested song under For you, browse, or search by name.
- Choose the segment of the song you want, tap Done, finish your caption, and tap Share.
If the Add music option is missing and your carousel contains a video, that is the reason. Remove the video or post the clip on its own.
Posting multiple photos to your Story at once
There are two different things people mean by "multiple photos in a Story," and Instagram documents both.
Several photos as separate Story slides
Open the Story camera (tap Create, then scroll to Story), swipe up to open your gallery, and select two or more photos. Instagram's help page on AI transitions says that after you select several photos you will see options to apply an AI transition, create cutouts, or "share as a classic multi-story without transitions." That last option shares them as what Instagram calls a "classic multi-story" without transitions; the help page does not describe the result beyond that. It also does not give a maximum number of photos for this multi-select, so we are not quoting one. If you cannot select more than one photo, update the app first (see the troubleshooting section below).
Several photos in one Story frame with Layout
If you want them combined into a single image, use Layout: tap Create, then Story, then Layout on the left. Tap the grid on the left to change the arrangement, tap Take a photo to take your photos, tap Approve, then finish and share. The help page documents only the camera route for Layout; it does not describe adding photos that are already in your gallery to the grid. This produces one collage slide rather than a sequence. For getting more eyes on either format, see how to get more Instagram Story views.
Posting a carousel from a computer
Yes, instagram.com supports carousels, and Instagram's help page has a "Computer Help" tab with its own steps. The flow is the same idea with a mouse:
- Click Create in the left menu, then Post, then Select from computer and pick a first photo or video.
- Click the multi-select icon, then the plus icon, to add more files, up to 20 in total; the help page shows both as unnamed icons.
- Click and hold an image and drag to adjust the crop; the orientation you choose applies to all slides. Click Next.
- Drag thumbnails to reorder them, or click the remove icon next to one to remove it. Click Next.
- Apply a filter to every slide or click a single slide to edit it individually, add your caption, location, and tags, and click Share.
Two desktop differences: the help center says music for carousels is not available on computers, and the desktop steps describe one caption for the entire post rather than the single-or-multiple caption choice the phone apps offer. If you schedule content across several platforms from a desktop, the tools that do that are compared in our social media management tools roundup.
Editing a carousel after it is published
Instagram's help page lists what you can change after sharing; the table below has it. To edit, open the post, tap the three-dot menu, choose Edit, long-press to reorder slides, and tap Done to save. The one thing you cannot do is add: "While you can't add new photos or videos after you've shared the carousel, you can delete the post."
| After publishing, can you... | As of August 2026 |
|---|---|
| Reorder slides | Yes (Edit, then long-press and drag) |
| Remove a slide | Yes |
| Edit the caption or captions | Yes |
| Change the location or tagged accounts | Yes |
| Add a new photo or video | No. Delete and repost, or post a new carousel |
| Change the crop or filter on a slide | Not listed on the help page; we would not count on it |
Because you cannot add slides later, double-check the set before sharing. Removing the wrong one afterward is easy; replacing it is not.
Why carousels are worth the extra effort
None of the help pages cited here give carousel-specific engagement figures, so the case rests on mechanics. A carousel asks the viewer to swipe, so every slide is another chance to say something the first did not. Likes and comments accrue to the whole post, so one set gathers its engagement in one place instead of splitting it across up to 20 separate uploads. A caption per slide lets you explain each image where it is seen. If growing the account is the goal, the carousel is one format among several; the full picture is in how to get more followers on Instagram, and you can check whether your posts are landing with the Instagram engagement rate calculator.
If the Select multiple button is missing or the upload fails
- Update the app. Instagram's own advice for a missing Story tool is to update to the latest version, and an outdated build is the first thing to rule out when a control is missing.
- Count your selection. The help page says to select up to 20; if the picker will not take another item, check whether you already have 20 selected.
- Check the network when videos are involved. Instagram explicitly says multi-video posts take longer and need a reliable connection. Switch to Wi-Fi and retry.
- Check the music rule. Instagram says music cannot be added to carousels with videos, so if Add music is missing, look for a video in your selection first.
- Clear the cache if the app is misbehaving generally. The steps are in how to clear the Instagram cache.
Instagram publishes no fix specific to a missing Select multiple icon; the "I can't upload multiple photos" option on its help page opens Meta's support assistant rather than an article. If updating does not bring the icon back, reinstall the app.