How to schedule Instagram posts
In the Instagram app, with Meta’s tools or with a scheduler: the steps, the limits and what each can post.
First brand read free. No filming.
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The short answer
To schedule an Instagram post, start a post or reel in the app, tap Next, add your caption, open More options, turn on “Schedule this post” (or reel), pick a date and time and confirm. You need a public account, and you can schedule up to 25 posts a day, up to 30 days ahead. Reels, photos and carousels can be scheduled in the app.
Updated
Schedule it in the app
- 01
Start a post or reel
Tap Create at the top left, or swipe right from your Feed, then choose Post or Reel.
- 02
Pick your media
Select the photo, video or carousel and tap Next.
- 03
Write the caption
Add your caption, effects or filters as usual.
- 04
Open More options
Tap More options and turn on “Schedule this post” or “Schedule this reel”.
- 05
Choose the time
Pick the date and time, then confirm. It goes out by itself.
- 06
Edit or post early
Go to your profile, open the menu, then Scheduled content under Your insights and tools. Tap Options to edit it or share it now.
Before you schedule a month
Public accounts only
Scheduling in the app needs a public account. Switch in Settings if yours is private.
Thirty days, not more
The app schedules up to 30 days ahead. Older guides saying 75 days describe an earlier limit.
Pick the hour your audience is up
Scheduling only helps if the time is right. See where the published studies agree for Instagram before you fill the slots.
Scheduled is not made
The slow part is making something worth posting every day, not pressing schedule. Plan the ideas first.
The sources
Read on 7 October 2026. Meta Business Suite’s help pages did not load their details for us, so this guide states no limits for it.
Schedule posts on Instagram
“You can schedule up to 25 posts a day, up to 30 days in advance.” You must have a public account.
Source: help.instagram.com, read Invalid Date
- Says
- Reels, photos and carousels; steps and Scheduled content
- Page
- Instagram Help Center
- Date
- Read 7 October 2026
Instagram Content Publishing API
“Instagram accounts are limited to 100 API-published posts within a 24-hour moving period.”
Source: developers.facebook.com, read Invalid Date
- Says
- Images, videos, reels, carousels (up to 10) and stories
- Page
- Meta for Developers
- Date
- Read 7 October 2026
Three ways to schedule
The Instagram app
Free and built in: reels, photos and carousels, up to 30 days ahead and 25 a day, for any public account.
Meta Business Suite
Meta’s own planner for Facebook and Instagram together, on desktop and mobile, for accounts connected to a Facebook Page.
A scheduling tool
Third-party tools post through Instagram’s Content Publishing API: images, videos, reels, carousels of up to 10 items and stories, up to 100 API posts per account in 24 hours. It needs a professional account connected to a Page.
Read next
Your questions, answered
Short answers to what people ask next.
Yes, in the app: reels, photos and carousels, from a public account, up to 30 days ahead and up to 25 posts a day. Turn on “Schedule this post” under More options.
Up to 30 days in the Instagram app, per Instagram’s Help Center as of October 2026.
The in-app scheduler lists reels, photos and carousels, not stories. Tools that use Instagram’s Content Publishing API can publish stories.
Profile, then the menu, then Scheduled content under Your insights and tools. From there you can edit a post or share it now.
Instagram’s ranking looks at the post and how people respond to it. Its own explainers name no penalty for scheduling.
Yes. Percify makes a short video for your brand each day and, once you approve it, posts it to Instagram and up to nine other platforms. Posting accounts come with Scale (3) and Ultra (10), or $5 a month each on any plan.