While most Instagram users tend to post original content, there are plenty of accounts featuring other people's work. There are multiple ways to repost photos or videos to your Instagram feed or Instagram Stories. A third-party app can also make quick work of reposting images straight into your feed.

Repost to Your Feed With an App

There are plenty of iOS and Android apps for reposting photos and videos to Instagram, and for the most part, they offer a similar experience.

Most of the available apps are free, but will often have additional features limited to paid upgrades. (iOS app Regrammer [No Longer Available] is one of the few options available that is completely free, with no strings attached.)

Repost for Instagram

Repost for Instagram is a popular option available for both Android and iOS users, and all the key features in the app are available for free.

Here's how it works:

  1. Use the Instagram app to find the picture or video you want to repost. Tap the three grey dots at the top right corner of the post and tap Copy Link
  2. You should receive a phone notification. Tap the notification Get Copied Link to open up the image in the Repost for Instagram app.
  3.  You can choose where a subtle watermark with the Instagram user's name will appear and choose between a light or dark theme. (To remove the watermark completely, you'll have to pay for a $4.99 upgrade).
  4. Tap Repost</strong >and the caption will automatically be copied to your clipboard. (If you're reposting a video, you may have to wait a minute or two for this step to complete.)
  5. In the popup window that opens up, tap Open in Instagram.
  6. Go through the usual steps of posting the image: crop, add filter, tap and hold to paste the caption, and tap Share.

The beginning of the caption will include: #Repost @username (@get_repost) but you can remove this before posting if you'd like to.

If you have multiple Instagram accounts, make sure that you search for and select the image using the Instagram account you want to post from. This way when Instagram reopens, you'll be logged in to the correct account.

Download: Repost for Instagram for iOS [No Longer Available] | Android (Free)

Repost Photos Using Screenshots

instagram post

If you'd rather not use a third-party app, a simple way to share a photo to Instagram is to take a screenshot on your phone and upload it to Instagram. That said, be sure to add the original Instagram user's name to your caption so that you can properly credit them.

Take the Screenshot

How you take a screenshot will depend on what kind of phone you have.  Taking screenshots on Android differs by manufacturer, but the most common method is to hold down the Side and Volume Down buttons. Samsung users can take a screenshot by holding down the Power and Home buttons.

If your iPhone has a physical Home button, you can take a screenshot by pressing the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons together. To take a screenshot on an iPhone X, you'll want to press the Side and Volume Up buttons.

Get Your Screenshot and Caption Ready

You don't need to crop your screenshot before posting it as you can just pan and zoom to show only the part of the screenshotted image you're reposting.

In the caption, be sure to add the original photographer's username so you can let them know you're sharing their work. You can tag the user by tapping Tag People when adding a caption.

If you want to copy their original caption, it will probably be easiest to do it using the Instagram web interface.

You can also use a handy little trick to post images to Instagram using Chrome if you're saving the Instagram images or screenshots to your computer instead of your phone.

Repost Downloaded Videos

If you'd like to repost a video, you can also download it from Instagram first. There are a few ways you can download an Instagram video to your phone or computer:

  • You can create a rule using IFTTT and automatically download any Instagram videos you've liked.
  • Download the video to your phone using Android app QuickSave for Instagram or iOS app Repost for Instagram Photo Video (which both also have repost features built-in.)
  • Or download the video using a website like Dredown. This site works across desktop and mobile browsers. If you download it on your desktop, you'll have to transfer the video file to your phone.

Once you've got the video on your phone, you can post it to Instagram as you would any other video, using the same guidelines above for captioning and tagging.

Repost to Your Stories

If you want to repost an image or video to your Instagram Stories, Instagram has incorporated this feature into the app. Once you find the post you want to add to your Stories, do the following:

  1. Tap the Send button directly beneath the image.
  2. At the top of the list, tap Add Post to Your Story.
  3. The image will open up in the Instagram Stories interface with the Instagram user's handle included beneath the photo. You can add stickers, text, and more. You could, for example, use the text feature to tag the Instagram user so that they are notified that you added their image to your stories.
  4. Tap the + button to publish your Story.

Videos reposted to your Stories won't play until your followers tap and open the original post.

It's also worth noting that while this feature may be available to all, if an Instagram user has the option disabled, you won't be able to share their images to your Stories.

To check if you have the feature enabled go to Settings > Resharing to Stories > Allow Feed Resharing, and make sure the feature is toggled On.

There are a few things to keep in mind when reposting other people's content. Not everyone likes to have their content reposted on Instagram, so be prepared that someone may reach out to you and ask you to take down their image.

And when you do repost someone else's content, be sure to always give credit where credit is due by including their username in the caption. This way, your followers can go to their feed and see more of their work, and they'll also be notified that you posted their photo or video.

If you're looking for more ways to liven up your Instagram feed, learn how to make your Instagram Stories more engaging and try a few Instagram apps everyone should be using.