Creating a new post

Creating a new post · Help

You have a photo and a caption, and you want them on Instagram at the right hour. The New post screen does that in five steps and shows you live, on the right, how the post will look on a phone. This guide walks the screen from top to bottom, button by button.

⚠️ Note: Preparing a new post needs the editing permission, and publishing or scheduling what you prepared needs the publishing permission on top of that. The New post button never appears for the agent and viewer roles, and the screen does not open even if the address is known.

In this article you will find:

Opening the screen
The layout: phone and desktop
Step 1: Type
Step 2: Media
Step 3: Details
Step 4: Time
Step 5: Summary and publishing
Drafts are saved automatically
Common mistakes and how to fix them

Opening the screen

Open My profile from the left menu.
Tap the Create post link.
Press the New post button at the top right.

The screen is titled New post, with the description "Prepare a post, Reel, story or carousel; publish it now or schedule it for later." The back link at the top returns to the Queue list.

The layout: phone and desktop

The same screen runs in two layouts, and the screen width decides which one you get.

On phones and tablets (under 1024 pixels) the screen moves step by step. A strip of five numbers sits at the top and completed steps turn into check marks. Back and Continue buttons sit at the bottom. The preview appears in small form above the steps — but on the media step only after a file is chosen, because an empty frame was pushing the buttons off screen.
On desktop every section sits on one page, one under another, and the preview stays on the right in a sticky frame that follows the page. There are no Back and Continue buttons; you see the publishing buttons directly.

The content and the rules are identical in both layouts; only the arrangement changes.

Step 1: Type

You see four cards: Post, Reels, Story, Carousel. Under the selected card sits a one-line description of that type, for example for Reels: "A vertical short video (up to 15 minutes). A cover frame and an audio name can be set."

The Post card stands for two types at once: with a photo it stays Post, with a video it becomes Video post, and that switch happens on its own.

Changing the type does not delete the files you have, but it can raise two warnings:

If a selected file does not fit the new type (you switched to Reels and hold a photo), you see "This type only accepts video." The file stays in the list, but you have to change it before publishing.
If you switch from a carousel to a single-file type, the extra files leave the post and the panel says how many. The files remain in the media library.

Changing the type also clears the Reels cover choices; a cover is only used on Reels.

Step 2: Media

This step is where you give the post its files. There are three routes:

The Upload button — picks files from your computer or phone.
Choose from library — lists the files in your media library, so you can reuse an image you uploaded earlier without uploading it again.
Drag and drop — you drop the file onto the screen and a drop area appears.

If you chose a carousel, a counter in the form 3 / 10 items sits next to the buttons.

Under the buttons there are two lines of explanation: one saying files upload in the background, and one saying which formats are accepted. The second line changes with the type — on Reels and video posts it says only MP4 video is accepted.

Uploads continue in the background

Uploading starts as soon as you pick a file, and you can move to the next steps without waiting. A small card at the bottom right shows the progress: "2 of 3 files uploaded", then "Files uploaded." A card that finishes cleanly closes itself; a problem row stays until you close it.

⚠️ Note: If you press Publish now or Schedule before the upload finishes, the request is not sent and you see "Upload is still running; you can share once it finishes." This is a safeguard: sending a half-uploaded file's address to Instagram would make the post fail.

Rejected files

When a file cannot enter the post, the reason is written in a yellow warning right under the buttons. The three most common reasons:

The type accepts video only and you picked a photo.
The type takes a single file and you picked several; the first is taken and the rest are named.
The carousel is full; nothing beyond 10 items is added.

These warnings do not delete the file from your library. The file is uploaded and stays in the library; it just does not join this post.

Selected files and removing them

Selected files are listed as small square covers. The cross at the top right of each square removes that file from the post (it does not delete it from the library). When there is no file you see a dashed frame reading "No file chosen yet."

Which type accepts which size, duration and ratio is in the Post types and file limits reference.

Step 3: Details

This step holds the caption, location, people tags, collaborators and the Reels settings. Every field is covered one by one in Caption, location and tags.

If you chose a story, no field appears on this step; instead you read "Stories have no caption, location, people tags or collaborators." If you wrote a caption earlier under another type, a warning appears and the Clear caption and collaborators button empties it in one tap.

Step 4: Time

There are two cards and one of them must be selected.

Publish now — The post goes to Instagram the moment you save. The time field is hidden.
Schedule — The Publish time field opens and you pick a date and an hour. Under the field it reads "The time is read in the account's time zone."

Scheduling has two limits:

At least 5 minutes ahead. A closer moment produces "A post can be scheduled at least 5 minutes ahead."; publishing jobs run in per-minute rounds, so that margin is needed.
At most 365 days ahead. Further out produces "A post can be scheduled at most 365 days ahead."

Choosing a past hour is also refused; you cannot schedule into the past.

If your account has collected enough metrics, a Good hours based on history heading with a few hour buttons appears under the time field. Tapping an hour switches the choice to Schedule and writes the nearest future occurrence of that hour into the field (tomorrow if today's has passed). How the suggestion is calculated is covered in The good-hours suggestion.

Step 5: Summary and publishing

The last step carries a four-line summary: Type, Files, Time and Daily allowance. Reading those four lines before publishing prevents most posts that go out with the wrong type or a missing file.

Three buttons sit at the bottom:

Publish now — Appears if you chose "Publish now" on the time step. It sends the post to Instagram immediately. The panel waits a little so you can see the result; if Instagram is still preparing a video, the item stays in the queue as Uploading and continues on its own.
Schedule — Appears if you chose "Schedule" on the time step. It queues the item and the status becomes Scheduled.
Save as draft — Saves the item without publishing or scheduling it. The status becomes Draft. No validation runs, so you can leave an incomplete item as a draft.

The remaining-allowance counter sits to the right of the buttons, so you can see you have allowance before pressing. While sending, the button reads "Sending…".

If something is wrong, the request is not sent and all the problems are listed at once: "Choose at least two items for a carousel.", "The caption can be at most 2,200 characters.", and so on. This is deliberate, so you are not sent back one step at a time. Fix the items and press again.

On success the screen returns to the Queue list and you see your item there.

Drafts are saved automatically

On a phone, the panel quietly saves your work as a draft at every step change. So if you leave the page, your phone locks or the browser closes, your progress is not lost: find the record under Posts → Drafts and continue where you left off with Edit.

A draft save does not run validation. All of Meta's limits are checked only on a Schedule or Publish now request. It is therefore normal to see no warnings on a half-finished draft.

💡 Drafts pile up. Opening the Drafts tab once a month and deleting the useless ones in selection mode keeps the list tidy.

A concrete example

A hair salon wants to announce a new care product:

It opens New post and picks Carousel.
It drags and drops three photos; the counter shows 3 / 10 items. While the upload continues in the background, it moves to the next step.
In the caption it writes the product name, the price and four hashtags. The counter reads "2,050 characters left · 4 / 30 hashtags".
In the location section it enters the salon's Facebook Page ID and name.
On the time step it picks Schedule and taps 19:00 among the suggested hours; the field becomes tomorrow at 19:00.
The summary shows Carousel, 3, tomorrow 19:00 and Remaining: 100 / 100.
It presses Schedule. The list opens and the card appears with the Scheduled badge.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

I press the publish button and nothing happens. An upload is still running. Check the "Upload is still running" line next to the button and the upload card at the bottom right.
I chose Reels and it will not take my photo. Reels and video posts accept MP4 video only. To publish a photo, pick Post or Carousel.
I cannot find the caption field on a story. Stories have no caption; that is Instagram's rule. If you want text to show, add it onto the image while designing it.
The time looks wrong. Every time is in the account's time zone, not your browser's. Check the zone in the account settings.
It says "A post can be scheduled at least 5 minutes ahead." The moment you picked is too close. Give an hour more than five minutes out, or use Publish now.
A single photo is left in my carousel and I cannot publish. A carousel needs at least two items. Add a second file or switch the type to Post.

If you hit trouble while preparing or publishing, see My post is stuck in the queue or contact our Support team.