Schedule a video to publish as an Instagram Reel, or to both your feed and Reels. Available on Starter, Professional and Suite for Instagram Business and Creator accounts.
Schedule a Reel
- Open your calendar and click +Create in the upper-right corner.
- Choose Social, then select Social Message.
- Choose your Instagram account from the drop-down menu.
- Enter your caption.
- Click the image icon (Add media to message) and add one or more videos.
- Choose reels, or feed & reels to also show the Reel in your feed.
- Choose the cover image (see below).
- Select Direct Publish, or select Publish via Mobile Notification to finish the Reel in the Instagram app.
- Select the date and time.
- Click Save.
Choose the cover image
Under Video Thumbnail, pick how the Reel's cover is set:
- Click Select Thumbnail from Video and use the scrollbar to choose a frame. This works for Reels and for Feed & Reels.
- Click Upload Image to use an image from your computer. This works only when you publish to Reels.
Video length
Reels can be from 3 seconds to 15 minutes long.
What direct publishing can't do
Instagram doesn't let any scheduling tool add these to a Reel it publishes directly:
- Music, voiceover or other audio from Instagram
- Trial reels
To add music, publish the Reel with mobile push notifications and finish it in the Instagram app.
You can add Reels to ReQueue, the same as other social messages.