Best Instagram Hacks And Tricks and Features You Should Know In 2022

Top Instagram Story hacks for 2021

500 million people use Instagram Stories every day. And in 2021 there are more features for businesses to take advantage of than ever before.

Some might say there are almost too many features.

Which is why we’ve narrowed down our favorite hacks and little-known features to 31. These are the most time-saving tricks that will make you look like a pro on Stories and ensure you use the platform to its full advantage.

General Instagram Story hacks

1. Create a patterned backdrop for sharing a feed post

Is adding a custom backdrop necessary when you share a feed post on your Story? Goodness, no. But like wearing lipstick to a Zoom meeting, sometimes it’s just nice to add some pizazz to something routine.

How to do it:

1. Find the feed post that you’d like to share and screenshot it, cropping so it’s just the post.
2. Next, click the paper airplane icon on that original feed post and select “Add post to your Story.”
3. Stretch the feed post to fill the whole screen—this seems wild, I know, but this will make the final post into a tappable link to the original post.
4. Next, open your camera roll and add in the background pattern of your choice.
5. Then, paste in the cropped screenshot of your post on top and arrange or resize as you’d like.
6. Upload the whole thing.

2. Add a link to a Story

Unfortunately, links are only available to users with over 10,000 followers. (A shame for those of us with a more, ahem, exclusive follower list.)

But once you’ve hit that sweet spot, you can include one link in each Story and your lucky, plentiful followers will be able to swipe up to visit that URL.

How to do it:

1. Make sure you have 10,000 or more followers to access this feature.
2. Create a new Story post.
3. Click the “link” icon at the top of the page.
4. You can add an IGTV video link or a web link URL.
5. Click Done, and a “Call to Action Added” message will appear to confirm.
6. If you need to edit or delete the link, just click the link icon again.
7. Finish editing or creating your Story and upload.

3. Add a link to a Story WITHOUT 10,000 followers using IGTV

If you’re not verified or don’t have 10,000 followers, don’t fret. You can still add a link to your Story with this workaround:

How to add a link to your Story if you DON’T have 10,000 followers:

• Create a quick IGTV video that draws people’s attention to the title of your video, i.e., tell people to tap on the title of the video to get the link.
• In your IGTV caption, add the link.
• Post the video on your IGTV channel.
• Now, open Instagram Stories.
• Click on the link icon on top of your screen.
• Select + IGTV Video
• Select the IGTV video with the link that you just created.

And that’s it!

People will be able to swipe up, see your video, and click on your link in your IGTV caption.

4. Fill the background with a solid color

The default gradient backgrounds are nice and all, but sometimes, you’ve got something to say that can only be framed by a wall of blinding chartreuse.

How to do it:

1. Tap the draw icon.
2. Select a color from the palette (tip: swipe right to see additional color options, or press and hold down on any particular color to open up a rainbow gradient of choices).
3. Once you’ve chosen a color, press anywhere on the image or text part of the screen and hold two or three seconds to fill

5. Uncover even more colors! More!

You’re greedy, but we’re not judging. You actually have access to every color of the rainbow and then some with Instagram Stories. Find your specific brand hues, or get funky with a questionable shade of puce.

How to do it:

1. Open Instagram Stories and select the brush tool.
2. Tap and hold any of the default color circles. This will open a color slider.
3. Explore the slider to find the custom color of your dreams!

Alternatively, drop an image into your Story and use the eyedropper tool to grab the exact matching shade.

6. Use a green screen in your Instagram Story

Green screen technology has been a gamechanger for social media. You can be anywhere and everywhere. Including the moon. Especially the moon.

How to do it:

1. Scroll right through the filters at the bottom of the screen to get to the magnifying glass; tap to search.
2. Search “green screen” and select Instagram’s green screen filter.
3. Tap Add media to choose your background video or photo from your phone’s image gallery.
4. Take a picture or make a video in front of this fake backdrop.

Instagram’s teleport feature is also fun — it uses the greenscreen backdrop, but the backdrop only appears when you move your device so you can create a fun reveal effect. (You’re in your bedroom… and then you’re on tour with Destiny’s Child! Yowza!)

7. Share with a select group of VIPs

Now that your boss and your Uncle Steve and your strata council president are all following you on Insta, the pressure to be a professional employee/niece/neighbor can really put a damper on your best, stupidest Instagram thoughts.

Instagram’s Close Friends feature is a chance to share more intimate, exclusive content to a select group (sorry, Uncle Steve!). For businesses, maybe it’s a way to offer some special treatment to members or VIPs (which, again, probably does not include Uncle Steve).

How to do it:

1. Go to your Instagram profile, click the three lines in the top corner.
2. Select Close Friends.
3. Search for your BFFs and click Add (there’s no limit right now on how many people this can include).
4. To remove people, click on Your List and hit the remove button (don’t worry, they won’t be notified if they’re cut).
5. Now, when you go to post a Story, the option to share to Close Friends will be at the bottom of the screen next to Your Story.

8. Schedule your Instagram Stories in advance

We know Stories are supposed to be a spontaneous medium. But are you really at your desk or on your phone all day? No! You’re living life so that you have something to make Instagram Stories about.

You actually can’t schedule Stories directly in Instagram… but as of May 2021, it’s possible to schedule Instagram Stories via Facebook Business Suite! (You’re welcome!)

9. Add a layer of translucent color to a video or photo

Maybe you see life through rose-colored glasses, and want other people to, too. No sweat: just use this quick trick for colorizing your images or videos.

How to do it:

1. Upload or shoot your video or photo.
2. Tap the marker icon on the top of the screen.
3. Select the highlighter icon at the top of the screen.
4. Choose your preferred color from the bottom of the screen.
5. Tap and hold the photo until a layer of translucent color appears over top.

10. Post multiple Stories at once

It can take some time to properly prepare, edit or curate a multi-part Story, as any social media savant knows. But maybe you don’t want to leave your followers hanging as you search out the perfect background color or combination of stickers for Part 2 of your series on your local boat show. The solution is to prep multiple Story posts to all post at once (in the order you choose, of course) using Instagram’s Multi-capture tool.

How to do it:

1. Open Instagram Stories and scroll down to find the Multi-capture tool (a circle surrounded by another circle made of dashes).
2. Take a photo (note: you can’t upload pics or create video in this mode). You’ll see your snap added to a little circle in the bottom left-hand corner or the bottom of the screen.
3. Take up to 9 additional photos, for a total of 10. Each will be the foundation of a separate Story post.
4. When you’re done, tap on the little circle icon (in the left-hand corner, if you’re using a filter, or at the bottom of the screen if not) to move to the editing screen.
5. Here, you can take your sweet time adding text, stickers, music, or effects to each photo.
6. Ready to post? Tap Next.