How to make a slideshow on Instagram in 2026 (carousel, reel and story steps)

Here is how to make a slideshow on Instagram in two ways. For a slideshow people swipe through, tap Create, tap POST, tap SELECT MULTIPLE, pick up to 20 photos and videos, then tap Share. For a slideshow that plays by itself with music, tap Create, tap REEL, add photos from your camera roll, tap Edit video to set how long each photo stays on screen, add a song and tap Share.

Last checked: 8 October 2026. We checked every step below against Instagram's help center pages for the iPhone app on sharing a post with multiple photos, adding music to a carousel, recording a reel, reel templates, reel size, sharing to your story and photo resolution. Button names move between app versions, so if a label looks different, update the app and look for the same step nearby.

How to make a slideshow on Instagram: the two ways

Instagram has no button called slideshow. It has two formats that do the job, and they suit different posts.

Pick the carousel when each slide carries a point people should read. Pick the reel when the photos are the point and the song sets the mood. Our guide on how to make a carousel on Instagram covers the carousel in more depth, including editing after you post.

How to make a slideshow on Instagram as a carousel

These are Instagram's steps for the iPhone app, read on 8 October 2026.

1. Tap Create at the top, or swipe right anywhere in your Feed.
2. Tap POST, then tap SELECT MULTIPLE.
3. Pick up to 20 photos and videos from your phone's library. Tap each one, then touch the screen to adjust how it sits in the frame. The orientation you choose applies to every slide, and you can't pick a different one for each. Tap Next.
4. Add filters. Tap a filter to apply it to every slide, or tap one photo or video to edit it on its own.
5. Set the order. Tap and hold a slide and drag it to a new spot. To remove one, tap and hold it and drag it to the remove icon. Tap Next.
6. Write the caption. Choose Single caption for one caption on the whole post, or Multiple captions to write one per slide.
7. Add a location or tags. Tap Tag People, then swipe to the photo you want to tag someone in.
8. Tap Share.

People see the first slide in their feed with a row of dots under it, and swipe for the rest. Likes and comments land on the whole post, not on single slides. After you share, you can reorder or remove slides and edit the caption, but Instagram says you can't add new photos or videos.

On a computer the steps are close. Click Create on the left, click Post, then Select from computer, and pick up to 20 photos and videos.

How to make a slideshow reel on Instagram

A reel made from photos is the slideshow that plays itself. Instagram's help center lists these steps for recording a reel, and says you can add photos and clips from your camera roll:

1. Tap Create, then tap REEL at the bottom.
2. Tap your camera roll in the bottom left and pick your photos. Press and hold any item in the gallery to preview it first.
3. Tap Next. Here you can tap Audio to add music, Text to add text, Stickers or Effects.
4. Tap Edit video in the bottom left. You get a timeline of your clips, text, stickers and music. Use the trimmers on each clip to set how long each photo stays on screen. Tap Reorder to drag the photos into a new order, or Add clips for more.
5. Tap Next in the top right. Tap Edit cover to choose the cover, then write a caption and add a location.
6. Tap Share.

Templates are a faster way in. Instagram's steps: tap Create, tap Reel, tap Templates, pick one, tap Add media, tap your photos in the order you want them, then tap Next. Instagram says templates only exist for reels that include music and at least 3 clips, so you need at least 3 photos.

Reels can run up to 20 minutes, but Instagram says reels over 3 minutes won't be recommended to new audiences. A photo reel rarely needs to come close. Sizes are in the table further down. For more on reels in general, read how to make a reel on Instagram.

How to make a slideshow on Instagram with music

Both kinds of slideshow can carry a song, with one catch on carousels.

On a carousel. Instagram's steps for adding music to a post with multiple photos: tap Create, tap POST, tap Select multiple, pick your images and tap Next. Choose your filters and tap Done, then tap Next. Tap Add music and pick a suggested song in For you, find one in Browse or search for it. Choose the part of the song you want, tap Done, then finish the post and tap Share. Instagram's note is plain: music cannot be added to carousels with videos. Keep the slideshow to photos if you want a song on it.

On a reel. Tap Music in the tool menu on the left while you build the reel, or tap Audio after you tap Next. Instagram says you can choose which part of the song plays and, where lyrics are available, show them on screen in a font you pick. To swap the song later, tap the music on the Edit video timeline.

Instagram says the music sticker isn't available to everyone. If you can't find it, update the app first.

How to make a slideshow on Instagram story

Stories work differently. They disappear from your profile, Feed and messages after 24 hours unless you add them to a Highlight. These are Instagram's steps for sharing a photo to your story, read on 8 October 2026:

1. Tap Create at the top, or swipe right anywhere in your Feed.
2. Scroll to Story at the bottom.
3. Swipe up anywhere on the screen to choose a photo or video from your camera roll. Or tap Record to take a photo.
4. Add text, a sticker or a drawing. To add a song, tap Music, then pick or search for one. You can choose which part of the song plays.
5. Tap Your Story in the bottom left to share it.

Instagram's help pages describe adding one photo or video at a time this way. They don't describe picking several photos at once for a story, so we won't give steps for that. To build a slideshow from stories, share each photo in the order you want people to see it.

To put several photos on one story screen, Instagram has Layout. Its steps: tap Create, tap Story, tap Layout on the left, tap the grid to change the layout, tap Take a photo to take your photos, tap Approve, then finish the story and share it. Instagram also says a video up to 60 seconds long shows as one story clip, and longer videos are broken into several.

Instagram slideshow sizes and limits

For a carousel at full quality, export every slide at least 1,080 pixels wide and in the same shape before you start.

How many slides to use

Instagram allows 20. That doesn't mean you should use 20. Instagram hides save counts from the public, so we can't measure Instagram carousels directly. The closest data we have is TikTok photo slideshows, the same swipe format.

In Postdom's study of 1,018 TikTok slideshows from 129 accounts (as published on postdom.com, read 8 Oct 2026), posts with 5 to 7 slides drew 1.71 times the views of the same account's other slideshows. Posts with 2 to 4 slides drew 0.40 times. The median best post ran 7 slides. One exception: for local service businesses, 8 or more slides did best, at 2.55 times. If you are teaching steps, don't cut useful slides to hit seven.

That is TikTok data. Treat it as a starting point for Instagram and check your own results. Our guide on how to make a slideshow on TikTok has the full breakdown.

What makes a slideshow worth saving

Saves matter for a slideshow because people keep the ones they plan to use. Again, this is TikTok data from Postdom's studies, as published on our TikTok slideshow and Instagram carousel guides:

• Hold the answer back on slide 1. Slideshows whose first slide opened a question or promise drew 2.84 times the views of the same account's other slideshows. Slideshows that gave the answer on slide 1 drew 0.46 times.
• Make it a list or a set of steps. List and step-by-step slideshows drew 3.29 times the views. Moodboards with no hook drew 0.34 times.
• Build it to be kept. In Postdom's analysis of 656 TikTok videos and 565 TikTok photo carousels with 100+ likes (Sept. to Oct. 2026), the carousels drew a median 51 saves per 100 likes, against 11 for videos. Step-by-step guides drew 68 saves per 100 likes and numbered lists 71. Relatable posts drew 10.
• Ask for the save in the caption. The 53 carousels whose caption asked viewers to save or share drew 79 saves per 100 likes, against 46 with no ask. That is a link rather than proof, since people add "save this" to posts that get saved anyway.
• Leave the sales pitch off the last slide. Slideshows that ended on a hard ask such as "book now" drew 0.52 times the views. Finish on your last point or a short recap, and put the offer in the caption.

Slideshows are quiet, too. They drew 0.65 comments per 100 likes, under a third of the video rate. If you want comments, post a video.

A note on the numbers: they compare posts within the same account, from a sample that included each account's best and worst posts. That inflates the size of each effect, so trust the direction more than the exact multiple.

What to avoid

• Mixing videos into a carousel you want music on. Instagram won't add music to carousels with videos.
• Slides in different shapes. One orientation covers the whole carousel, so Instagram crops anything that doesn't fit.
• Photos under 1,080 pixels wide. Instagram shares photos at up to 1,080 pixels wide, so smaller ones never reach full size, and anything under 320 pixels gets enlarged.
• Fewer than 3 photos in a reel template. Templates need at least 3 clips.

Make Instagram slideshows with Postdom

Making one slideshow is easy. Making a good one every week is the hard part. Postdom's AI slideshow maker reads your website, what you sell, what it costs and where you are, and turns it into slideshows in your brand, with your colours, fonts and logo. Each one has a hook up front and one point per slide, up to 20 slides, in one of 35 styles. The photos are made with AI in one casual look for your brand, so a set reads like one shoot. Postdom doesn't put your website photos or stock photos on the slides.

You approve each slideshow, reject it or ask for changes, and Postdom learns from what you choose. Approved slideshows are published to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn on your schedule. On LinkedIn they go out as a swipeable document post. By default nothing goes out until you approve it, and approved posts go out by default at 9am and 7pm in your time zone. Once 9 of your last 10 slideshows go through without edits, Postdom offers to publish that kind for you.

The Free plan is $0 with 1 post a month on 2 accounts on any platform and no card. Free posts carry a small Postdom watermark, which paid plans can turn off. Starter is $39 a month for 30 posts on 3 accounts.

Postdom makes social slideshows. It is not a tool for presentation decks, and it is not a drag-and-drop design editor.