The steps in the app
Instagram calls this a carousel: one post holding up to 20 photos and videos that people swipe through.
- Tap Create at the top of the app, or swipe right anywhere in Feed.
- Tap POST.
- Tap SELECT MULTIPLE. This is the step people miss; without it you can only choose one photo.
- Tap the photos and videos you want, in the order you want them, up to 20.
- Tap a photo and touch the screen to adjust how it sits in the frame, then tap Next.
- Apply a filter to everything, or tap one item to edit it alone, then tap Next.
- Choose Single caption, or Multiple captions for one per photo.
- Add a location, tag people, then tap Share.
The rest of the flow, from hashtags to alt text, is the same as for a single photo, and how to post on Instagram covers it for every format.
Order, cropping and captions
- Order. Photos appear in the order you tapped them. To change it, tap and hold one and drag it. To remove one, drag it to the bin.
- Cropping. The orientation you choose, square, portrait or landscape, applies to every item in the post. There is no separate shape per photo, so a tall photo next to a wide one means one of them gets cropped.
- Captions. Single caption writes one for the post. Multiple captions gives each photo its own, which suits a step by step post.
- Tagging. One location for the post, and people can be tagged in each photo separately through Tag People.
The cropping rule is the one that spoils otherwise good posts, so decide the shape before you start and prepare every photo to it. Portrait at 1080 by 1350 pixels is the safest choice: Instagram keeps a photo's resolution when it is 320 to 1080 pixels wide with a ratio between 1.91:1 and 3:4, and portrait uses the most of a phone screen. Every platform's sizes side by side are in social media post sizes.
Posting several photos from a computer
There are two routes, and they do not have the same limit:
- instagram.com. The Help Center lists computer steps for posting.
- Meta Business Suite. Create post, choose the Instagram profile, and add your photos. The limit for an Instagram post there is 10 photos, half of what the app allows.
For a full 20 item carousel, use the phone. Business Suite is still the easier route when you want to schedule the post rather than share it now, as set out in how to schedule Instagram posts.
Several photos in one story
A story works differently. Each photo becomes its own frame, and people tap through them rather than swipe. The story tools also have a layout option that combines several photos into one frame as a collage.
If the photos belong together as one idea, a carousel keeps them in one post on your profile. If they are moments from a day, stories are the right home, and how long Instagram stories last covers what happens to them afterwards.
When it will not work
| What you see | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No SELECT MULTIPLE button | You are on the wrong tab, or the app is out of date. | Make sure POST is selected, not STORY or REEL, then update the app. |
| Only some photos can be selected | You have reached the limit of 20 items. | Split the post in two, or drop the weakest photos. |
| Photos are cropped badly | One orientation applies to all of them. | Prepare every photo in the same shape before posting. |
| A video in the post is not in the Reels tab | Videos in carousels are not treated as Reels. | Post the video as a Reel if it needs to reach new people. |
| Quality looks poor | The upload was resized. | Upload at 1080 pixels wide, within the supported ratios. |
| The post will not save as a draft | A draft needs an edit, caption, tag or location first. | Add a caption, then save the draft. |
Editing after posting
The caption, the alt text and the tags can be edited at any time, and the items in a shared post can be reordered, which is how a carousel whose second photo should have been first gets fixed.
What you cannot do is replace a photo or add one later. There is a feature that lets other people add to a post, but the Help Center says it is not yet available for everyone. What to do instead, and how to repost without losing much, is in can you add a picture to an Instagram post.
Doing it well, for a business account
- Put the strongest photo first. It is the only one most people see.
- Keep one idea per post. Twenty photos of three different things is three posts.
- Use the last slide for one action, not three.
- Write alt text before sharing, under More options, especially on photos that carry text.
- Judge it by saves and shares, not likes. A like belongs to the whole post, so it says nothing about which photo worked.
How a brand structures these, slide by slide, is in our guide to the Instagram carousel, and planning them week to week is part of Instagram management.
How we will test this
Not run yetEverything above comes from the published sources listed below, and nothing here is presented as something we measured. Our own test on live accounts has not been run yet.
This is the test we will run: we post carousels from our own test accounts on iPhone and Android: 20 photos, a mix of portrait and landscape, one with a video inside, and one saved as a draft first. We record every screen, what is cropped and what the profile shows.
Platforms change behavior without announcing it, so once the first test is run we repeat it every quarter, and this section will say when it was run and on which devices and app versions.
Sources
Read on September 23, 2026.
- Instagram Help Center, Share a post with multiple photos or videos on Instagram
- Instagram Help Center, Image resolution of photos you share on Instagram
- Instagram Help Center, Save a post as a draft on Instagram
- Instagram Help Center, Allow others to add photos or videos to your posts on Instagram
- Meta Business Help Center, Create and manage posts in Meta Business Suite on desktop
Questions people ask next
How do I post multiple photos on Instagram?+
Tap Create, tap POST, then tap SELECT MULTIPLE and choose up to 20 photos and videos. Crop, reorder, add a caption and share.
How many photos can I post at once?+
Up to 20 photos and videos in a single post.
Why can I not select more than one photo?+
You have not tapped SELECT MULTIPLE, or you are on the STORY or REEL tab instead of POST.
Can each photo have a different shape?+
No. The orientation you choose applies to all of the photos and videos in the post.
Can I give each photo its own caption?+
Yes. Choose Multiple captions instead of Single caption before sharing.
Can I add a photo to a post after sharing it?+
Not in general. There is a feature for letting other people add to a post, and it is not yet available for everyone.
Can I change the order after posting?+
Yes. The items in a shared post can be reordered by editing the post.
How do I post multiple photos from a computer?+
Use instagram.com, or Meta Business Suite, where an Instagram post takes up to 10 photos.
What size should the photos be?+
1080 pixels wide, with a ratio between 1.91:1 and 3:4. Portrait at 1080 by 1350 uses the most screen on a phone.
Do videos in the post count as Reels?+
No. Videos in carousels are not treated as Reels and do not appear in the Reels tab.
Can I post multiple photos on Instagram from a browser?+
instagram.com can create a post from a computer, and Meta Business Suite can too. Business Suite caps an Instagram post at 10 photos, half the app's 20, so the app is still the place for a full carousel.
Can a carousel have photos with different aspect ratios?+
No. One orientation applies to every item in the post, and the shape is chosen on the first one. Mixing a tall photo and a wide one means one of them gets cropped, so decide the shape before you shoot.