# What is a carousel post? Canonical: https://postmesh.app/glossary/carousel-post By PostMesh team. Published 2026-10-31; updated 2026-10-31. A carousel post is a single social media post that holds several photos or videos, which people swipe through one at a time. On Instagram, a carousel can include up to 20 photos and videos, with one set of likes and comments for the whole post. ## What a carousel post is A carousel is one post with several slides. In the feed, people see the first photo or video with a row of dots underneath, and swipe sideways to see the rest. On your profile grid, only the first item shows, with a small icon in the corner telling people there's more inside. Instagram's help center uses the word directly: a post with up to 20 photos and videos shared as a single post is "also known as a carousel." Instagram doesn't explain the name, but the idea is easy to picture: a row of slides you move through one at a time. Other networks have their own multi-image formats, and this entry focuses on Instagram's. Because it's one post, everything social about it is shared. Instagram says likes and comments apply to the entire post, not to individual photos or videos inside it. You can't see which slide someone liked. A few things do work per slide: you can mix photos and videos in any order, tag different people on each one, and apply a filter to a single slide instead of the whole set, but the post gets one location. ## When Instagram added carousels Instagram announced multiple photos and videos in one post on February 22, 2017. The launch post said you could combine up to 10 photos and videos, swipe through them, reorder them with a tap and hold, and apply one filter to all of them or edit them one by one. At first these posts had a single caption and were square-only, and Instagram rolled the feature out over the following weeks on iOS and Android. Those limits have loosened. Instagram's current help page says a carousel can hold up to 20 items, lets you choose square, portrait or landscape for the whole set, and offers Multiple captions so each slide can have its own text. - 20: photos and videos per Instagram carousel today - 10: the limit when carousels launched in February 2017 - 1: orientation for every slide in the post *From Instagram's 2017 announcement and its current help page on posts with multiple photos or videos.* ## How to post a carousel on Instagram Instagram's iPhone steps, from its help page on sharing multiple photos or videos: 1. Tap Create at the top, or swipe right in Feed, then tap POST 2. Tap SELECT MULTIPLE and choose up to 20 photos and videos 3. Adjust each crop, pick one orientation for the set, tap Next 4. Add filters to all or one by one, drag to reorder, tap Next 5. Choose Single caption or Multiple captions 6. Add a location and tags, then tap Share *Tag people in each photo by swiping to it on the Tag People screen.* The orientation rule trips people up. Whatever you choose, square, portrait or landscape, applies to every photo and video in the post. You can drag each item to adjust how it sits in the frame, but you can't make slide one portrait and slide two square. Our [Instagram post size guide](/blog/instagram-post-size) has the pixel sizes for each shape. ### Posting a carousel from a computer You can build a carousel on instagram.com too. Click Create on the left, click Post, then Select from computer, and use the multiple-select icon to pick up to 20 photos and videos. Drag each one to adjust its crop, drag items to reorder them, apply filters, and click Next. One difference from the phone app: on a computer, Instagram's help page says you add one caption and one location for the whole post, while tags still go on individual photos. Instagram also warns that carousels with several videos take longer to upload, so use a steady connection. ## What you can change after posting Instagram lets you reorder slides, remove photos or videos, edit the caption or captions, and change the location and tagged accounts after a carousel is live. Tap the three-dot menu, tap Edit, then long-press to reorder, and tap Done to save. What you can't do is add new slides. Instagram's help page is clear that once you've shared a carousel, the only way to include another photo is to delete the post and share it again. Check the set before you tap Share, especially if it's a step-by-step or a story that only makes sense in order. > Videos inside a carousel aren't reels. Instagram says they won't appear in the Reels tab or get reels features. If a video should reach people through Reels, post it as a [reel](/glossary/reel) on its own. ## How people use carousel posts Carousels suit anything with more than one part: a sequence, a set, a before and after, or a list. Instagram's own 2017 launch post suggested a party from setup to surprise, or a step-by-step recipe. A few common kinds: - A [photo dump](/glossary/photo-dump): a loose mix of pictures from a weekend or a month. - A tutorial or recipe, one step per slide. - A product launch with angles, details and a size chart. - Tips or a checklist, one point per slide, with the first slide as the hook. - Before and after, renovation progress, or a fitness journey. - A panorama that continues from slide to slide as you swipe. A few illustrative captions on carousels: - "Swipe for the full recipe, step 4 is the trick." - "Five things I wish I knew before my first apartment, saving you the trouble." - "Last slide is the real reason we were late." - "New colors just landed, swipe to see all six." ## How to build a carousel people finish Only the first slide shows in the feed and on your grid, so it has one job: make someone want to swipe. Treat it like a cover. Say what's inside, show the best image, or ask the question the rest of the post answers. After that, give each slide one idea. Crowded slides get skimmed, and a carousel is the one format where adding another slide costs nothing. **Before you share a carousel** - [ ] The first slide works on its own as a cover - [ ] Every slide is in the order you want, since you can't add slides later - [ ] One orientation suits every image in the set - [ ] Text on slides is big enough to read on a phone - [ ] The last slide tells people what to do next - [ ] Any video that should be a reel is posted separately Then decide on captions. Single caption is the classic choice: one block of text for the whole post, which is what most people read. Multiple captions gives every photo or video its own line, which suits a product set, a numbered list or a trip where each place needs a name. If you use multiple captions, keep each one short, and still write a clear first line, because it's the one people meet before they swipe. ## How to make a panorama carousel A panorama carousel is one wide image cut into slides that line up perfectly, so swiping feels like panning across a single picture. The trick is cutting the image into equal pieces at the exact width Instagram shows. Our [Instagram carousel splitter](/tools/instagram-carousel-splitter) does that in your browser: it cuts a wide image into 2 to 10 slides, each 1080 pixels wide, in square or portrait, ready to upload in order. Keep important things, like faces or text, away from the cut lines so nothing gets split awkwardly between two slides. Upload the slides in order, and don't apply different filters to each one, or the seams will show. If you want your profile grid itself to form one big picture across several posts, that's a different tool: the [Instagram grid maker](/tools/instagram-grid-maker). ## Carousel vs single post vs reel **Single photo post** - One image, one moment - Fastest to make - Best when one picture says it all **Carousel** - Up to 20 photos and videos - One set of likes and comments - Best for steps, sets and stories in order **Reel** - One video, posted as a reel - Can appear in the Reels tab - Best for motion, sound and trends *Our post vs story vs reel guide covers the full comparison.* Pick a carousel when the content has more than one part and the order matters, or when you'd otherwise post several near-identical photos in a row. Pick a reel when movement and sound carry it. Our [post vs story vs reel guide](/blog/instagram-post-vs-story-vs-reel) goes deeper. Carousels work as [collab posts](/glossary/collab-post) too, and each slide can have its own text if you choose Multiple captions, though the main [caption](/glossary/caption) is what most people read first. One practical note if you schedule posts: PostMesh sends one photo or video per Instagram post, so carousels are still built in the Instagram app, as its [Instagram page](/platform/instagram) notes. Photo sets do go to TikTok, where a PostMesh photo post can hold up to 35 images. ## Questions ### How many pictures can you put in an Instagram carousel? Up to 20 photos and videos in one post, according to Instagram's help center. The limit was 10 when carousels launched in 2017. ### Can you add photos to a carousel after posting? No. Instagram lets you reorder, remove and recaption slides after posting, but not add new ones. You'd need to delete the post and share it again. ### Can each slide in a carousel be a different size? No. The orientation you choose, square, portrait or landscape, applies to every photo and video in the post. ### Do videos in a carousel count as reels? No. Instagram says videos in carousels aren't reels, won't show in the Reels tab and don't get reels features. ### Can I see which slide of my carousel got the most likes? No. Likes and comments apply to the whole post, not to individual slides. ### Why is it called a carousel? Instagram's help page uses carousel as another name for a post with multiple photos or videos, without explaining the name. The format is a row of slides you swipe through one by one. ## Related terms - [Reel](https://postmesh.app/glossary/reel) - [Photo dump](https://postmesh.app/glossary/photo-dump) - [Collab post](https://postmesh.app/glossary/collab-post) - [Caption](https://postmesh.app/glossary/caption) - [Instagram Highlights](https://postmesh.app/glossary/instagram-highlights) ## Sources - [Instagram Help Center: Share a post with multiple photos or videos on Instagram](https://help.instagram.com/269314186824048) - [Instagram Blog: New: Share Up to 10 Photos and Videos in One Post (February 22, 2017)](https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/new-share-up-to-10-photos-and-videos-in-one-post)