How to start posting Instagram Reels

Age

Instagram's terms say you "must be at least 13 years old or the minimum legal age in your country to use Instagram."

Personal, creator or business

Instagram has personal accounts and two kinds of professional account. Its help centre describes creator accounts as best for "public figures, content producers, artists and influencers", and business accounts as best for "retailers, local businesses, brands, organizations and service providers". The category you pick during setup does not decide which type you get.

A professional account adds a professional dashboard, insights on who follows you and how each post did, ads, a contact button and a sorted inbox. Your posts and Reels may also show up in search engine results. Switching is free and reversible.

The trade-off is privacy:

Professional accounts can't be set to private. Switching makes a private account public and accepts every pending follow request.

For a new creator, the creator account is the natural pick. It is free and you can switch back. It also gives you insights from your first Reel.

How to switch

In the Instagram app:

1. Go to your profile and tap More to open Settings and activity.
2. Under For professionals, tap Account type and tools.
3. Tap Switch to professional account and choose a category.
4. Choose Creator (or Business) and tap Next.

Connecting a Facebook Page is optional.

How long a Reel can be

Instagram says you can record one or several clips "that add up to 20 minutes". The limit that matters is lower:

"Reels over 3 minutes won't be recommended to new audiences."

A Reel meant to find new viewers should stay at 3 minutes or less. Instagram also notes that Reels isn't available to every account yet.

Music in a Reel

When you record a Reel, the tool menu has a Music button that searches Instagram's audio library. You choose which part of the song plays, and you can show its lyrics if they are available. Instagram warns that "the music sticker isn't available to everyone".

You can also use your own original audio, or original audio from another Reels creator. Two rules matter:

• Licensed audio is credited automatically. If Instagram detects library music in audio you recorded or uploaded, it changes the label from Original Audio to the artist and song, and adds your Reel to that song's audio page.
• Your own audio can be reused. On a public account, anyone on Instagram can make a Reel with your original audio, and so can people on Meta's AI apps unless you switch that off under Sharing and reuse.

Why audio gets muted

Instagram says its music comes under agreements with rights holders, and "any changes made to those agreements may result in your audio being muted." A muted Reel can still be viewed.

To fix one, open the Reel, tap Audio unavailable, then Replace audio, and pick another track from the library. You can replace a muted track only once.

Instagram's music guidelines are written for live video, and they match Meta's Music Guidelines for all video. Use shorter clips of music, give the video a visual point, and expect more full-length recorded tracks to mean more chance of a mute or block. See what gets muted on Instagram for the full rules, and how to appeal a music removal if a Reel is blocked.

Making money

Instagram's help pages say a professional account lets you "view your eligibility to use monetization tools" in the professional dashboard. The tools depend on your account type, region and eligibility. Instagram does not give one list for everyone, so check the dashboard after you switch.