Photo Taking, Editing and Sharing
Taking and Sharing Photos
To upload a photo or take a new one:
- Tap
at the top, then scroll to Post at the bottom:
- To upload a photo from your phone's library, select the photo you'd like to share.
- To take a new photo, tap
above your phone's library. You can tap
to switch between front and rear-facing cameras and
to adjust flash.
- Tap Next (iPhone) or
(Android), then add a caption or your location.
- When you're done, tap Share (iPhone) or
(Android).
- Tap
- To upload a photo from your phone's library, select the photo you'd like to share.
- To take a new photo, tap
. You can tap
to switch between front and rear-facing cameras.
- Tap Next to tag people or add a location.
- Tap Share.
Once you've taken or uploaded a photo, you can add effects or filters, a caption and your location before posting. You can also post a video.
Note: You can't take or upload photos from a desktop computer.
After you've uploaded or taken a new photo, you can crop it. To crop a photo:
- Tap Edit, then tap Adjust
.
- Touch the screen and pinch to zoom in. Then move the photo and adjust how it fits within the frame. Use the grid to help you frame the photo.
- Tap Cancel to cancel or Done to save your change.
You can also add effects to your photo.
When you take a photo using the Instagram in-app camera or upload a photo from your phone's library, you can straighten it with the Adjust tool. Once you upload a photo:
- Take or upload a photo, then tap Edit at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap Adjust
, then swipe the slider left or right to straighten the photo. Use the grid to help you frame the photo.
- Tap Cancel to cancel or tap Done to save your change.
To add a caption to your photo or video:
- Tap
at the top.
- Take a photo or video or choose one from your phone's library.
- Tap Next (iPhone) or
- Tap Next (iPhone) or
- Enter your caption and tap OK, then tap Share (iPhone) or
Learn how to add or edit the caption of a photo or video you've already posted.
After you upload or take a photo or video and add any effects or filters you want, you can add your location. To add your location:
- Tap Add Location.
- Find your location in the suggestions or search for the location and select it.
- Tap Share.
You can also use a public Facebook event as a location. Just like a location page, you can tap the event name to view all photos and videos shared publicly at that event or location.
You can also add or edit the location of a photo or video you've already posted.
No, you can't create a new location on Instagram.
If you already have a business profile on Instagram, you can add an address to your business profile so people will know where your business is located.
Adding Filters and Effects
Once you've taken or uploaded a photo or video, you can edit it by applying filters:
- Tap Next, then tap the filter you’d like to apply.
- Tap the filter again if you want to adjust filter strength left or right using the slider. Tap Done to save your change.
- Tap Next (iPhone) or
- Tap Share (iPhone) or
Note: You can rearrange the order of your filters by pressing and holding a filter at the bottom of the screen, then dragging it to the desired position.
- Below the photo, tap the filter you’d like to apply.
- Tap Next to tag people or add a location.
- Tap Share.
You can edit photos you take or upload from your phone's library. Once you've taken or uploaded a photo, tap Next, then tap Edit at the bottom of the screen. Learn more about the effects you can create:
- Tap
- Tap
Brightness to make your photo brighter or darker.
- Tap
Contrast to make the bright areas of your photo brighter and the dark areas darker.
- Tap
Structure to bring out the detail and texture in your photo.
- Tap
Warmth to shift the colors of your photo toward warmer orange tones or cooler blue tones.
- Tap
Saturation to increase or decrease the color intensity of the image (example: adjust up to make the red redder).
- Tap
Color to add a color (yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, cyan or green) to either the shadows or highlights of your photo. Tap the color you want to use twice to adjust the strength of the color.
- Tap
Fade to give your photo an aged look.
- Tap
Highlights to adjust the focus on the bright areas of the image.
- Tap
Shadows to adjust focus on the dark areas of the image.
- Tap
Vignette to darken the edges of the photo. Adding a vignette can direct the attention away from the edges towards the center of the photo.
- Tap
Sharpen to add crispness to your photo and make the photo appear clearer.
- Tap
Tilt Shift to give the appearance of a shallow depth of field, or placing the focus on a subject in the background while blurring out the foreground and vice versa.
- Tap
at the top to balance exposure and increase brightness.
In preview mode, a gray dot will appear below each of the effects you’ve applied to your photo. For example, a gray dot below Brightness
Before posting a photo, you can tap on it and hold to see what the original version looks like.
Connecting with Others
If your account is set to private, anyone who wants to see your photos or videos will have to send you a follower request.
To approve or deny a follower request on Instagram:
- Tap
at the top to see Follow Requests.
- Tap Confirm to approve a request. Tap Delete to deny a request.
If you accidentally deny a follow request, you can ask the person to request to follow you again.
To unfollow someone:
- Go to the profile of the person you'd like to unfollow.
- Tap Following, then tap Unfollow to confirm.
Once you've unfollowed someone, their profile will say Follow instead of Following. People won't be notified when you unfollow them.
Note: If your account is set to private, you can remove people from your followers list. You can also block them. When you block someone, the blocked person can't see your photos or videos or search for your Instagram account. The blocked person isn't notified when they're blocked.
You can add hashtags in the caption or comments of your post. If you have a public account and add hashtags to a post, the post will be visible on the corresponding hashtag page.
To tag a photo or video with a hashtag:
- Take or upload a photo or video.
- Choose to add a filter, then tap Next (iPhone) or
- Tap Write a caption... and type # followed by text or emoji (example: #flower).
- Tap Share (iPhone) or
If you want to add a hashtag to a post you've already uploaded, edit the caption or include your hashtag in a comment on your photo.
After you tag your post with a hashtag, you'll be able to tap the hashtag to see a page that shows all photos and videos people have uploaded with that hashtag.
Things to keep in mind:
- When people with private profiles tag posts, they won't appear publicly on hashtag pages.
- Numbers are allowed in hashtags. However, spaces and special characters, like $ or %, won't work.
- You can only tag your own posts. You can't tag other people's photos/videos.
- You can use up to 30 tags on a post. If you include more than 30 tags on a single photo/video, your comment won't post.
Editing and Deleting
On your own posts, you can delete both your and other people's comments. On other people's posts, you can only delete comments that you've written.
To delete a comment:
- Tap
below the post or tap any comment.
- Swipe left over the comment (iPhone) or tap the comment (Android) you'd like to delete.
- Tap
(iPhone) or
(Android).
Note that you can also delete multiple comments at a time.
- Tap
- Tap the comment you'd like to delete.
- Tap Delete Comment.
To delete a photo or video that you've posted:
Tap 
You can also archive posts to hide them from your profile and make it so your followers and other people on Instagram can't see it. When you archive a post, it keeps all its likes and comments.
Learn more about what happens when you delete content on Instagram.
You can use Layout from Instagram to combine multiple photos into one. Download Layout for iPhone app or Android app.
You can add a caption to a photo or video you've already shared, or edit or delete the caption you originally included. To add, edit or delete a caption:
- Tap
(iPhone) or
(Android) above your photo or video.
- Tap Edit.
- Edit, delete or add a caption to your post, then tap Done (iPhone) or
When you tap 
You can add a caption to a photo or video you've already shared, or edit or delete the caption you originally included. To add, edit or delete a caption:
- Tap
above your photo or video.
- Tap Edit.
- Edit, delete or add a caption to your post, then tap Save.
When you tap
You can add a location to a photo or video you've already shared or edit the location you originally included.
Add a location
To add a location:
- Tap
(iPhone) or
(Android) above your photo or video.
- Tap Edit.
- Tap Add Location and enter the location.
- Tap Done (iPhone) or
Edit a location
To edit a location:
- Tap
- Tap Edit.
- Tap the location name, then tap Remove Location or Change Location (iPhone), or tap Find a Location... or tap X next to Select a Location (Android).
- Tap Done (iPhone) or