Quick answer: Tap your profile photo in the top left, record or upload content, edit with Instagram's built-in tools, choose your audience, and hit publish. Stories go live instantly and disappear after 24 hours.
What Is an Instagram Story?
Stories are short-lived photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours. Per the Instagram Help Center, Stories appear at the top of your followers' feeds and are separate from your permanent profile posts.
24-hour disappearing content format
Stories vanish after 24 hours by default. Save them to Story Highlights on your profile if you want them to stick around.
Accessible from your profile and camera icon
Tap your profile photo in the top-left corner of the home feed. Or swipe right from anywhere in the app. Both routes open the Story camera.
Difference between Stories and feed posts
Feed posts live on your profile permanently. Stories are temporary, high-frequency, and built for quick interaction. Use both for different goals.
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Step 1: Open Instagram and Access the Story Camera
Tap your profile photo (top left) or swipe right from the home feed. The camera loads immediately.
Tap your profile photo (top left) or swipe right from feed
Both routes drop you into the same Story creation screen. No extra menus.
Or use the camera icon to go straight to Story creation
Some versions of the app show a camera icon in the top-left corner of the feed. It works the same way.
Difference between recording live and uploading from camera roll
Recording live captures the moment in real time. Uploading from your camera roll lets you use content you already shot.
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Step 2: Choose Your Content Source
Decide whether to record fresh content or pull from your gallery.
Record a new photo or video in-app
Tap the white circle once for a photo. Hold it down to record video.
Upload from your camera roll
Swipe up from the camera screen to open your gallery. Select any photo or video. Supported file types include PNG, JPG, MP4, and MOV. Images must be under 30MB. Videos under 4GB.
Select video length and format (photo vs. video)
Photos display as static frames. Videos play through automatically. Pick based on what your content needs.
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Step 3: Edit Your Story with Creative Tools
Per Instagram's Help Center guide on uploading, recording, and editing Stories, you have text, stickers, drawing tools, filters, and effects all available before you post.
Add text, emojis, and stickers (including interactive stickers)
Tap "Aa" to add text. Tap the sticker icon to browse emojis, GIFs, and interactive stickers. Drag each element anywhere on the canvas.
Use the draw/pen tool and fill backgrounds with color
The pen tool lets you draw freehand on your Story. Press and hold any color swatch to flood the entire background with that color.
Apply filters, Boomerang effects, and Layout collages
Swipe left or right to apply a filter. Tap the Boomerang icon to create a looping effect from a live photo. Use Layout to assemble a multi-photo grid in one Story frame.
Add Frames, Reveal, Add Yours Music, or Cutouts stickers
Instagram has launched four newer stickers: Frames (shake-to-reveal photos), Reveal (DM-gated hidden content), Add Yours Music (share a favorite song), and Cutouts (turn any photo or video into a custom sticker).
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Step 4: Add Interactive Elements (Stickers)
Interactive stickers turn passive views into real engagement. Use them on every Story you want a response from.
Add Yours sticker for public threads and templates
Add Yours starts a public Story chain. Viewers respond with their own version and build on your original prompt.
Mentions sticker to tag friends after posting
The Mentions sticker lets you tag someone mid-edit. They get a notification and can re-share your Story to their own.
Reveal sticker for DM-gated hidden content
Reveal blurs your image or video. Viewers send you a DM to unlock it. No manual approval required on your end.
Poll, question, and countdown stickers for engagement
Polls get fast votes. Question stickers invite open replies. Countdown stickers build anticipation before a launch or announcement.
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Step 5: Choose Your Audience and Publish
Tap the arrow button at the bottom-right to select where your Story goes.
Share with all followers (default)
Tap "Your Story" to publish to everyone who follows you.
Restrict to Close Friends list
Tap "Close Friends" to share with a curated private group only.
Send to specific people
Tap "Send to" and search for individual accounts to share directly.
Publish and watch it live for 24 hours
Your Story goes live immediately. It appears at the top of your followers' feeds and disappears automatically after 24 hours.
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Best Practices for Story Creation
Small habits here compound fast into stronger reach and more replies.
Use optimal dimensions (1080 x 1920 pixels) for full-screen fit
The correct Story size is 1080 x 1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio. Content shot at other sizes gets letterboxed with colored bars.
Keep text legible with contrasting colors and fonts
White or bold text over a dark background reads clearly. Avoid small text near the very edges of the screen.
Post regularly (daily or several times per week)
Frequency keeps your bubble near the front of your followers' Story queues. Daily posting works well for active creators and brands.
Test different story formats and sticker types
Mix photos, Boomerangs, video clips, and collages. Try different sticker types each week to learn what your audience actually responds to.
Save standout Stories to Story Highlights for lasting visibility
Highlights live on your profile permanently. They are the best way to make sure new visitors understand what you are about.
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How Coinis Powers Better Stories, Faster
Regular Story posting takes time. Coinis reduces that time for creators and brands who publish consistently.
Use Creative Library to organize and reuse Story templates
Creative Library stores all your AI-generated visuals in one place. Find, remix, and repost your best Story assets without digging through your camera roll.
Generate Story-ready visuals with Image Ads and resize with Smart Resize
Start with a product URL. Image Ads generates branded visuals in seconds. Then use Smart Resize in Coinis Revise to convert any creative to 1080 x 1920 pixels in one click.
Publish directly to Instagram Stories from Coinis (organic publishing)
Coinis publishes directly to Instagram, including Stories. Build your creative, write your caption with AI Copywriting, and post without leaving the platform.
Design consistent brand visuals and apply them across Stories
Brand Profile learns your brand colors, fonts, and tone. Every Story you generate stays on-brand automatically, across every post.
Save time with AI-generated text and copy for captions
AI Copywriting writes Story captions that match your brand voice. No blank-screen problem.
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Or post it for free.
Coinis publishes to Instagram and Facebook in one click. Posts. Stories. Reels. Scheduled or live. Same AI creatives. Same Brand Profile. No ad spend required.
Free on every plan. No credit card to start.
15 AI tokens a month. Organic publishing free forever.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do Instagram Stories last?
Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours. You can save them to Story Highlights on your profile to keep them visible permanently.
What size should my Instagram Story be?
The recommended Instagram Story size is 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 9:16 aspect ratio. This fills the full screen on mobile without letterboxing.