How do I schedule a post, Reel, carousel or story?

Before you start

• Your Instagram professional account must be connected to InstantDM.
• Scheduling is on Legend Pro and above. On lower plans New Schedule shows a crown and “Please upgrade your plan to access this feature”.

Steps

1. Click Later in the sidebar. You’ll see a two-week calendar with Prev, Today and Next.
2. Click New Schedule.
3. Under Post Type, pick Image, Carousel, Reel or Story.
4. Set the Schedule Time. It uses your computer’s time zone, in 5-minute steps.
5. Drag your media in or click to upload.
   • Image, Reel and Story take one file.
   • Carousel takes 2 to 10 files. Drag the thumbnails to change the order.
   • Click ALT on an image to add alt text (a description for people who can’t see the image).
6. Write the Caption. Stories have no caption. You can reuse text with Saved Captions or store it with Save Caption.
7. For a Reel, set the Cover Photo: Upload Custom, or Select from Video and then Use this Frame.
8. Check the Preview on the right.
9. Click Schedule. You’ll see “The post is Scheduled!” (“The story is Scheduled!” for a story).

To also send a DM to everyone who comments, click Setup Automation in that popup. See How do I schedule a post with comment-to-DM already set up?

On the phone app

Tap Later on Home. Pick a date, tap +, and choose IMAGE, CAROUSEL or REEL (no stories in the app). Add the caption and media, set the Schedule Time, and tap Publish. The time must be at least 10 minutes ahead and no more than 3 months ahead.

Good to know

• Use JPEG for images. PNG and WebP are accepted on upload but may fail when Instagram publishes them.
• Finish edits 10 or more minutes before the post time. InstantDM prepares your media about 10 minutes early, so later changes may not be used.
• Posts can go out a minute or two early.
• Trial reels: for a Reel on the web, switch on Post as trial reel to show it to non-followers first. If Instagram doesn’t allow trial reels on your account yet, it fails; schedule it again with the option off.
• Edit a scheduled post by clicking it in the calendar, then Update Schedule. Delete Post removes it before it goes out.
• Published posts open read-only with Post Published. Use Duplicate to copy one into a new schedule.
• Calendar badges show the type: IMG, CAR, REEL, STORY or TRIAL. A green tick means published.

What you can’t do

• Schedule Facebook Page posts.
• Add story stickers or links, music, collaborators or a location.
• Upload many posts at once from a file.
• Delete a post from Later after it’s published. Delete it in Instagram.

If it doesn’t work

• Schedule is greyed out → no media is added yet, or a carousel has fewer than 2 items.
• “Can’t publish the post” → check the carousel count and choose a later time.
• The post didn’t go out → Instagram rejected the media. Try JPEG images, or for a trial reel, turn the trial option off.