How to Repost a Story on Instagram: The Ultimate Guide

Ever stumbled upon a hilarious meme, a heartwarming announcement, or an important piece of news shared on an Instagram story that you just *had* to share with your own followers? Instagram stories have become a vital way for users to connect, share, and discover content, but figuring out how to pass along those gems isn’t always immediately obvious.

Knowing how to repost a story allows you to amplify voices, support friends and businesses, and curate your own feed with content you genuinely connect with. Whether it’s showcasing a customer’s positive review, sharing an event you’re excited about, or simply spreading a little joy, mastering the art of the Instagram story repost can significantly enhance your online presence and engagement.

What’s the Catch With Reposting?

How do I repost someone’s Instagram story if I’m not tagged in it?

Unfortunately, Instagram’s native functionality doesn’t allow you to directly repost someone’s story if you’re not tagged in it. The platform prioritizes privacy and only allows direct sharing when the original poster explicitly includes you in their content by tagging you.

However, there are a couple of workarounds, although they require you to respect the original poster’s intent and potentially seek their permission. The most common method is to take a screenshot or screen recording of the story. Before doing so, consider whether the content is meant to be private or public. If it seems personal or private, it’s always best to ask the original poster for their permission before sharing it on your own story. If the content is already public-facing (e.g., promoting a business or event), then a simple screenshot or screen recording might be appropriate, but giving them credit is crucial.

Once you have the screenshot or screen recording, you can upload it to your own Instagram story like any other image or video. Be sure to give credit to the original poster by tagging their username in your story with the “@” symbol. This is not only good etiquette but also directs your followers to their account. If you cannot tag them directly because their account is private or you cannot find it, be sure to clearly indicate who the original source is in the story text. It is also worth noting that some third-party apps claim to offer story reposting features even without being tagged; however, using such apps might violate Instagram’s terms of service and compromise your account security, so exercise extreme caution and research any app thoroughly before using it.

Why can’t I see the option to repost a story sometimes?

The primary reason you can’t see the repost button (or “Add to Story” option) on an Instagram story is because the account that originally posted the story hasn’t allowed story reposts. This is a privacy setting controlled by the account owner. Other reasons can include being blocked by the account or the story being older than 24 hours.

Instagram gives users control over whether their stories can be reshared by others. If an account has disabled story sharing, you simply won’t see the option to repost it. There’s nothing you can do on your end to override this setting. It’s designed to respect the content creator’s preference for how their content is distributed. Check if the account is public. If the account is private and you are not following them, you will not be able to reshare their stories even if they have the story reshare enabled. Furthermore, Instagram stories are only active for 24 hours. After this time, they disappear, and the ability to repost them vanishes as well. So, if you are trying to share a story you saw earlier, it might simply be past its expiration date. Lastly, if the user blocked you, you won’t be able to view or reshare any of their content, including stories. While less common, it is important to consider.

Can I repost an Instagram story to my feed instead?

Yes, you can repost your own Instagram story to your feed, effectively turning it into a permanent post. However, you cannot directly repost someone else’s story to your feed unless they have specifically tagged you in it and allowed you to share it.

When you share your own story to your feed, it will appear as a regular post with the story content. This is a great way to give your story content more visibility, archive something you want to keep around longer than 24 hours, or highlight a specific moment from your story. Simply go to your archive (if you have it set to save stories), select the story, and choose “Share as Post” to transition it to your feed. Keep in mind that the dimensions of a story (9:16 aspect ratio) are different from the ideal aspect ratio for feed posts (1:1 or 4:5). Instagram will automatically adjust the story to fit the feed, often by adding a colored background or cropping the image. You can adjust the positioning of the story content within the post frame before you publish it. Also, consider that features that work well in stories (like polls and countdowns) might not translate effectively to the feed format. When reposting someone else’s story where you’re tagged, the process is similar to sharing it to your own story. Once they tag you and enable story sharing, you’ll receive a direct message with the option to “Add to Your Story.” From there, you can resize, reposition, and add stickers or text before sharing it. There is no option to repost this to your feed directly; you’ll need to take a screenshot or screen recording and then post *that* to your feed, but be mindful of permission and context when sharing other people’s content in this way.

Will the person who posted the original story know I reposted it?

Whether or not the person who posted the original story knows you reposted it depends entirely on *how* you reposted it. If you used the official Instagram “Add to Story” function (when available), they will receive a notification. If you took a screenshot and reposted, or used a third-party app without using the “Add to Story” feature, they will not be directly notified.

The crucial factor is whether you use Instagram’s built-in reposting feature. When someone tags you in their story, you often get a direct message with the option to “Add to Story.” Using this button directly reposts their story to your own, and Instagram automatically notifies the original poster that you’ve shared their content. This is because Instagram treats it as a direct interaction and a form of acknowledgment. However, if you simply take a screenshot or screen recording of the story and then upload that to your own story, Instagram has no way of knowing you’re reposting someone else’s content. The platform doesn’t have a built-in reverse image search or similar feature to detect reposts in this manner. Therefore, the original poster won’t receive any notification. Also, many third-party reposting apps that don’t use the official Instagram API to share the story, will not result in a notification for the original poster. If you want them to know you shared it, it’s always a good idea to manually tag them in your repost!

Is there a way to repost a story to a close friends list?

No, there is no direct built-in feature on Instagram to repost another user’s story exclusively to your close friends list. When you repost a story, it becomes a new story that is visible to all of your followers, not just the selected individuals on your “close friends” list.

However, there are a few workarounds you can use to share a story with a smaller group of people that more closely approximates sending it to your close friends. One option is to directly message the story to specific people on your close friends list. This ensures only they can see it. Simply find the story you want to share, tap the direct message icon (paper airplane), and select the individuals from your close friends list you want to send it to. Another less straightforward approach would be to screenshot or screen record the story, then upload it as your own story and limit its visibility to only your close friends. To do this, first save the story content, then create a new story, adding the saved content. Before posting, choose the “Close Friends” option to make it visible only to those on that particular list. Keep in mind that reposting or sharing content that isn’t yours without the original creator’s permission can be a breach of copyright or simply impolite, so always seek their approval first.

How do I add text or stickers when reposting a story?

When you repost a story on Instagram, you can add text and stickers to personalize it. After tapping the share icon on the original story and selecting “Add to your story,” the reposted story will open in the Instagram Stories editor where you can use the text tool and sticker options to add your own creative elements.

Once the reposted story is in the editor, you’ll find the text tool at the top right, usually represented by an “Aa” icon. Tap it to start typing your message. You can choose different fonts, colors, sizes, and alignments to customize your text. Similarly, the sticker icon (usually a square smiley face) provides access to a wide range of stickers, GIFs, polls, question boxes, and more. Browse or search for the perfect sticker to complement the reposted content.

Remember that you can resize, rotate, and reposition both text and stickers by pinching and dragging them on the screen. This allows you to perfectly integrate your additions with the original story’s visuals. Don’t forget to tag the original poster in your story to give them credit and potentially increase engagement.

Does reposting affect the quality of the story?

Yes, reposting a story on Instagram can sometimes affect the quality, often resulting in a slight degradation of the image or video resolution. This is due to Instagram’s compression algorithms that are applied each time content is uploaded and processed on the platform.

Instagram automatically compresses images and videos to optimize storage and bandwidth usage. When you repost a story, the platform effectively re-processes the original media, applying compression again. This re-compression can lead to a subtle loss of detail, sharpness, and color accuracy compared to the original post. The extent of the quality loss varies depending on factors such as the original resolution, the compression settings used, and the number of times the content has been reposted.

While the quality reduction may not always be immediately noticeable, especially on smaller screens like mobile phones, it can become more apparent on larger displays or after multiple reposts. To mitigate this, starting with high-quality source material is crucial. Users who share their content directly through Instagram’s native features, rather than downloading and re-uploading, generally experience less quality loss. Also consider this when choosing to repost content: is the visual quality of the original high, or can I live with lower resolution if the story’s message is important?

And that’s all there is to it! Hopefully, you’re now a story-reposting master. Thanks for checking out this guide, and be sure to come back for more Instagram tips and tricks. Happy posting!