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With Instagram Reels, you can create fun videos to share with your friends or anyone on Instagram. Record and edit 15-second multi-clip videos with audio, effects, and new creative tools. You can share reels with your followers on your Feed or, if your account is public, make them available to the entire Instagram community through a new dedicated space within the Explore section. Reels in Explore offers anyone the chance to become a creator on Instagram and reach a new audience on a global stage.
How Instagram Reels Works
Creating Reels
Select Reels at the bottom of the Instagram camera. On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a set of creative tools to help you create your reel, including:
- Audio: Search for a song from Instagram’s music library. You can also use your own original audio. When you share a reel with original audio, your audio will be attributed to your profile, and if you have a public account, people can create new reels using your audio by selecting “Use Audio” directly from your reel.
- AR Effects: Select one of the many effects from our library, created by Instagram and creators worldwide, to record multiple video clips with different effects.
- Timer and Countdown: Set the timer to record your clips hands-free. Once you press the record button, a 3-2-1 countdown will appear, indicating the actual start of recording for the selected duration.
- Align: You can align subjects from the previous video before recording the next one, allowing for smooth transitions, useful for outfit changes or adding new friends to the reel, for example.
- Speed: You can choose to speed up or slow down parts of the selected video or audio to keep up with the pace or create slow-motion videos.
Reels can be recorded in a series of clips (one at a time), all at once, or by using videos from your gallery. To record the first clip, simply press and hold the record button. At the top of the screen, you’ll notice a progress indicator throughout the recording period. To finish the videos, simply stop recording.
How to Share Instagram Reels
With Reels, you can share content with your followers and be discovered by the rich and vast Instagram community on Explore.
- If you have a Public Profile: You can share your reel in a dedicated space within Explore, where you’ll have the chance to be seen and discovered by the large Instagram community. You can also share your created reels with your followers by posting them directly to your Feed. When you share reels with specific songs, hashtags, or effects, your reel might also appear on dedicated pages whenever someone clicks on that song, hashtag, or effect.
- If you have a Private Profile: Reels follows your Instagram privacy settings. You can share to your Feed so that only your followers can see your reel. People won’t be able to use your original audio or share it with others who don’t follow you.
Once your reel is ready, go to the sharing screen where you can save a draft of your reel, change the cover image, add a caption, hashtags, and tag your friends. After sharing, the reel will appear in a separate Reels section within your profile, where people can find all the reels you’ve shared. If you also share it to your Feed, the reel will also appear on your main profile grid, but you can always remove it.
Whether you have a public or private account, you can share your reels in Stories, with your close friends, or in a direct message. If you do so, your reel will behave like a normal Story: it won’t be shared on Reels in Explore, it won’t appear on your profile, and it will disappear after 24 hours.
How to Watch Instagram Reels
Reels on Explore showcase the best of Instagram trends. You can discover a selection of fun reels created by Instagram users in a personalized vertical feed. If you love a reel, you can easily like, comment, or share it with your friends. You’ll also see some reels highlighted with a special tag. If your reel is published on Explore, you’ll receive a notification. Reels with the tag represent a selection of public reels chosen by Instagram to help you discover original content that we hope will entertain and inspire you. Reels offers people new ways to express themselves, discover new things to fall in love with on Instagram, and helps anyone ambitious to become a creator conquer the stage.
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