Can You Schedule an Instagram Post? Yes: Steps and Limits

Yes, you can schedule an Instagram post. In the Instagram app, start a Post or Reel, tap More options, turn on Schedule this post (or Schedule this reel), pick a date and time, and tap Schedule. Instagram's Help Center says you need a public account, and you can schedule up to 25 posts a day, up to 30 days ahead. On a computer, use Meta Business Suite, which also schedules Stories.

Ways to schedule an Instagram post

Meta One is a subscription, and the Advanced, Expert and Max plans include the longer window. Without one, the app lets you schedule up to 30 days ahead.

How to schedule Instagram posts and Reels in the app

These are the steps from Instagram's Help Center.

1. Tap Create in the top left, or swipe right anywhere in Feed. Then tap Post or Reel.
2. Select a photo or video, then tap Next.
3. Add a caption, effects or filters.
4. Tap More options.
5. Turn on Schedule this post or Schedule this reel, then choose a date and time.
6. Tap Done, then tap Back.
7. Tap Schedule.

A scheduled post keeps the privacy and audience settings you had when you scheduled it. Instagram lists four features that do not work with scheduled content at this time: product tagging, collaborative posts, sponsored posts and fundraisers.

With a Meta One plan, the same screen accepts dates up to a year (365 days) away, and shows Follower active times, which Instagram bases on your followers' activity over the last 28 days.

Schedule a Story

The Instagram app can schedule a Story only with a Meta One plan, up to 30 days ahead. Tap Create, tap Story, choose your photo or video, tap the Share arrow, select Schedule, tap Share, pick a date and time, and tap Schedule. Meta One scheduling is not available to teens.

Without Meta One, schedule Stories in Meta Business Suite (next section).

Schedule from a computer or from Meta Business Suite

Meta Business Suite schedules Facebook and Instagram content from one place. The Help Center describes scheduling in the Instagram app only, so on a computer this is the route Meta documents.

Meta says that to use Business Suite for an Instagram account that is not connected to a Facebook Page, the account must be a business or creator account. To create a post you also need full control of the Instagram account or content permission for it. The steps to connect your Instagram account are in the Business Help Center.

To schedule a post on a computer:

1. Go to Meta Business Suite and click Create post, from the home page or the Content tab.
2. Under Post to, choose your Instagram profile. Facebook destinations are listed there too.
3. Add your media. The limit for posting to Instagram from Business Suite is 10 photos.
4. Write your text, and add hashtags or a location if you want them.
5. Under Scheduling options, choose the date and time. Click Active times to see times based on when followers were most active on Facebook and Instagram over the past 7 days.
6. Click Schedule. You can also click Finish later to save a draft.

For a Reel, click Create reel, add your video, choose a thumbnail, write the details, and click Next. A later step lets you schedule the reel in advance. If you post to Instagram, Business Suite cannot make a reel from photos or edit a reel made from a video. Finish editing the video before you upload it. The Instagram Reel size guide covers the format.

For a Story, click Create story, add up to 10 photos or videos, and under Scheduling options choose Schedule.

On a phone, open the Meta Business Suite app, tap Content, choose Posts, Reels or Stories, tap Create, add your content, tap Next, tap Schedule for later, choose the time and tap Schedule. You need at least partial access to the Instagram account. Meta notes that the phone app experience may not be available to everyone yet.

If you manage both a Page and an Instagram account, the same composer can publish to both. For Facebook-specific steps and limits, see the guide to scheduling Facebook posts.

Edit, reschedule or delete a scheduled post

In the Instagram app, tap Profile, tap Menu in the top right, and under Your insights and tools tap Scheduled content. You can also tap Scheduled while creating a new post or Reel. Tap Options next to the item and choose Delete, Edit post, Reschedule or Share now.

In Meta Business Suite on a computer, click Content, open Posts & reels, and select the Scheduled tab. Click the three dots on the post, choose Manage post, and then pick Edit post, Reschedule post, Move to drafts or Delete post. The Planner calendar also lets you click an upcoming item and choose Reschedule or Delete. Scheduled Stories are under Content, Stories, then Scheduled.

In the Business Suite phone app, tap Content, choose Scheduled from the dropdown, tap Options next to the item, and tap Reschedule post. The same menu offers edit, duplicate and delete.

Where the limits differ

Scheduling in the app and in Business Suite follows different rules:

• Carousel size. Instagram's Help Center says a carousel can hold up to 20 photos and videos, but Business Suite's limit for posting photos to Instagram is 10. Count your slides before you pick a route. The Instagram carousel guide covers what you can change after sharing, and the beginner guide to posting multiple photos covers the basics.
• Stories. The app needs a Meta One plan to schedule a Story. Business Suite's Story steps mention no subscription.
• Reels. Business Suite cannot turn photos into a reel for Instagram.
• Daily cap. The 25 posts a day limit is stated for the app. Meta's Business Suite pages do not give a number.

If the Schedule option is missing

Instagram does not publish a troubleshooting list for this, so these are the conditions its Help Center states:

• Your account is private. Scheduling in the app requires a public account. Switching a private account to a professional one makes it public, and Instagram says business profiles cannot be private.
• You already scheduled 25 posts for that day.
• The post uses product tagging, collaborators, sponsorship or a fundraiser.
• You want to schedule a Story in the app without a Meta One plan.
• In Business Suite, your account is not a business or creator account, or you lack full control or content permission.

Why some guides say 75 days and professional accounts only

Several top-ranking scheduling guides, including two updated in 2025, say you can schedule up to 75 days ahead and that you need a professional account. The Help Center page read for this guide says a public account and up to 30 days in advance, and does not mention professional accounts or 75 days. Instagram does not say what changed or when. If the date picker in your app shows a different range from this guide, trust what the app shows. Professional accounts are public, so a professional account meets the in-app requirement, and it is also what Business Suite expects.

If you use a third-party scheduler

This guide does not compare scheduling tools or cover their own features. Meta publishes limits for tools that post through its Instagram API, in the developer documentation on content publishing:

• It covers Instagram professional accounts.
• Accounts are limited to 100 API-published posts within a 24-hour moving period, and a carousel counts as one post.
• JPEG is the only supported image format, and shopping tags and filters are not supported.
• The carousel section limits a carousel to 10 items and quotes a 50-posts-in-24-hours figure, which disagrees with the 100 figure elsewhere on the same page. Treat the tool's own help page as the authority for what it supports.

Sources

Read on October 19, 2026:

• How to create and manage scheduled posts and Reels on Instagram (Instagram Help Center)
• How to schedule posts and reels further in advance on Instagram with Meta One (Meta Help Center)
• How to schedule your story on Instagram with Meta One (Meta Help Center)
• Create and manage posts in Meta Business Suite on desktop, Create and manage Reels, Create and manage stories and Use Planner (Meta Business Help Center)
• Schedule Facebook and Instagram content on the Meta Business Suite mobile app and Reschedule on mobile (Meta Business Help Center)
• Set up a professional Instagram account and Make your Instagram account private (Instagram Help Center)
• Content Publishing (Meta for Developers, updated June 30, 2026)

Instagram changes its menus and limits, so check the Help Center if a detail matters to you. To plan for another platform, see the guide to scheduling LinkedIn posts.