How to Make a Carousel on Instagram, Step by Step

An Instagram carousel is one post that holds up to 20 photos and videos, which people swipe through. You make it from the same Create button as any post, then choose several items instead of one. Below are the steps for the app and for a computer, then the rules that decide how the slides look.

Key Takeaways

• A carousel holds up to 20 photos and videos in one feed post.
• One crop shape, square, portrait or landscape, applies to every slide.
• In the app you can choose one caption for the post or a caption for each slide.
• Music can go on a carousel of photos, but not on one that holds a video.
• After posting you can reorder, remove and edit captions, but you cannot add slides.

How to Make a Carousel in the Instagram App

These are the iPhone and Android steps from Instagram's help page on sharing a post with multiple photos or videos, read on 2026-11-12.

1. Tap Create at the top, or swipe right anywhere in Feed.
2. Tap POST, then tap SELECT MULTIPLE.
3. Select up to 20 photos and videos from your phone's library. Tap one, then touch the screen to adjust how it fits in the frame. Tap Next.
4. Tap a filter to apply it to every slide, or tap one slide to edit it on its own.
5. Tap and hold a slide, then drag it to change the order. Drag a slide to the bin to remove it. Tap Next.
6. Choose Single caption for one caption on the post, or Multiple captions for a caption on each slide.
7. Add one location, and use Tag People to tag someone on each slide.
8. Tap Share.

In your feed the post shows the first slide with a row of dots below it. Likes and comments belong to the whole post, not to one slide.

How to Make a Carousel on a Computer

On instagram.com, click Create on the left, then Post, then Select from computer. Click the multiple-photos icon, then the plus icon, and pick up to 20 photos and videos. Drag each one to adjust its crop, and click Next. Click and hold a slide to move it, add filters to all slides or to one, then write the caption and click Share.

The computer steps in the help center give one location and one caption for the entire post. If you want a different caption on each slide, make the post in the app.

Pick One Shape for Every Slide

The orientation you choose, square, portrait or landscape, affects every photo and video in the post. You cannot give one slide a different shape, so design every slide at the same size from the start.

Instagram's page on image resolution says it keeps a photo at its original resolution when it is between 320 and 1080 pixels wide and its aspect ratio sits between 1.91:1 and 3:4. That means a height between 566 and 1440 pixels at 1080 wide. A photo outside that range is cropped to fit.

For portrait slides, 1080x1350 (4:5) sits inside that range, and 1080x1440 (3:4) is the tallest Instagram keeps. The Instagram carousel size guide explains how the profile grid crops each one and where to keep text.

One Caption or a Caption per Slide

The app asks you to choose between Single caption and Multiple captions before you share. One caption suits a single idea told across the slides. A caption per slide suits steps or a product breakdown, where each slide needs its own words. The carousel captions guide covers when to use each and what a scheduling tool keeps.

Add Music to a Photo Carousel

Instagram's help page on adding music to a post with multiple photos gives the steps: select your images, tap Next, pick filters, then tap Add music and choose or search for a song. You can then pick the part of the song that plays. The same page notes that music cannot be added to carousels with videos.

Write Alt Text

Instagram writes automatic alt text for screen readers, and you can replace it. The help page on alt text gives the step after the filter screen. In the app, tap More options, then Write alt text. On a computer, click Accessibility and write the description in the box. Describe what the slide shows, including any text on it, because the alt text is the description people with visual impairments rely on.

What You Can Change After Posting

Open the three-dot menu on the post and choose Edit. You can reorder the slides, remove some, edit the caption or captions, the location and the tagged accounts. You cannot add a new photo or video to a published carousel; to add one, delete the post and share it again.

Videos inside a carousel are not reels, so they do not appear in the Reels tab. If you want the same slides as a reel too, the guide on turning a carousel into a reel shows how.

Making the Slides Before You Post

The steps above assume the slides already exist. Most of the work is the slides themselves: a first slide that earns the swipe, one point per slide, and text that stays clear of the edges. The carousel hooks guide covers the first slide.

To make simple slides without an account, the free carousel maker turns your photos and one line of text per slide into 1080x1350 JPEG files in your browser. Wavegrain writes and lays out the whole set from one topic, at 1080x1350, 1080x1440 or 1080x1080, and exports every slide at the same size.