Publish to Instagram
To publish to Instagram from Selects, you connect your Instagram account once, choose what to post, fill in the post settings, and click [Share]. Selects uploads the video for you and Instagram publishes it as a Reel, so you do not need to export a file first. You need an Instagram business or creator account (a professional account). A personal account cannot publish through Selects.
Open the project with the timeline or video you want to post.
Click [Export] in the top right, then choose [Instagram] under [Socials].
Choose what to post with the tabs on the left: [Timeline] or [Video]. Click the timeline or video you want.
If you picked a timeline, [Render settings] opens. Choose a [Resolution] and a [Frame rate], then click [Render]. The resolution is FHD (1080p) or HD (720p), and Selects starts with FHD and the frame rate of your timeline. You can also pick 24, 25, 30, 50, or 60 frames per second (fps). A video you already have skips this step.
The first time, click [Connect to Instagram]. Your browser opens: log in to Instagram and allow Selects to publish content, then return to Selects. When it is done, the window shows Connected as and your Instagram username.
Fill in the post settings on the right. See Post settings below.
Wait until the preview finishes loading, then click [Share].
Keep Selects open while the video uploads. The status moves from Uploading to Instagram to Instagram is processing your Reel to Shared to Instagram. Click [View on Instagram] to open the Reel.
Note: After the upload, Instagram processes your Reel and publishes it shortly after. [View on Instagram] appears once the Reel is live on your profile.
Post settings
The post settings for your Instagram Reel sit on the right side of the window.
Caption: optional, up to 2,200 characters, with up to 30 hashtags and 20 @mentions. A counter shows how many characters you have used.
Cover: Instagram uses the first frame of the video as the cover, and the field shows First frame. To pick another frame, wait for the preview to load, move it to the frame you want, and click [Use current frame].
Collaborators: optional. Enter up to 3 Instagram usernames, separated by commas or spaces. The @ is optional. A username can use only letters, numbers, periods, and underscores, and each collaborator can be added once. If Instagram cannot find a collaborator, Selects shows “Instagram couldn’t find one of the collaborators, or their profile is private. Check the usernames and try again.”
[Also share to feed]: on by default. Your Reel shows on your profile grid and in your followers’ feeds, not only in the Reels tab. Turn it off to show the Reel only in the Reels tab.
[AI-generated content]: turn this on to add Instagram’s AI info label to the Reel. It is off by default.
Under the settings, Selects shows the terms you agree to by sharing: Instagram’s Terms of Use and the Meta Privacy Policy.
Instagram allows each account up to 100 posts in 24 hours through its application programming interface (API), which Selects uses to publish. When 10 or fewer are left, Selects shows how many you have used, for example 92 of 100 posts allowed by Instagram in the last 24 hours have been used. When all of them are used, wait and try again later.
Note: Selects does not add music or a location to your Reel, and the cover is always a frame from the video.
Which videos you can post to Instagram
A video you already have in your project must meet these requirements before you can post it to Instagram:
Format: MP4 or MOV
Video codec: H.264 or H.265
Frame rate: 23 to 60 fps
Size: width between 360 and 1920 pixels, height between 360 and 4096 pixels
File size: up to 300 MB
Length: 3 seconds to 15 minutes
A rendered timeline must also be 3 seconds to 15 minutes long and up to 300 MB. If your video is longer than 15 minutes, Selects asks you to trim it.
Publish several videos to Instagram at once
To publish several videos to Instagram at once, select up to 10 timelines or videos in one go. Selects uploads them one at a time, all to the same account, and each one becomes its own Reel.
In the Instagram window, tick the checkbox next to each timeline or video. A counter shows how many you picked, for example 3 of 10 selected.
Click [Next (N)]. With more than one item picked, the batch window opens. With one item picked, the usual single-post window opens. Timelines in a batch render at the default settings, so there is no render settings step.
Click each post in the list and fill in its settings. [Copy settings to all] copies the collaborators and the [Also share to feed] and [AI-generated content] choices from the post you are on to every post in the batch. Each post keeps its own caption and cover.
When every post shows [Ready], for example 3 of 3 ready, click [Publish N] and confirm.
Keep Selects open until every post shows Published. The progress reads, for example, 2 of 3 uploaded.
Instagram publishes each Reel only while the batch window keeps checking its status. If you close the window while posts are still processing, Selects warns you that they may not be published. Click [Close anyway] only if you are fine with that.
If your account has fewer posts left today than the batch has, Selects tells you, for example This account has 2 posts left today; this batch has 3. Remove posts from the batch, or try again later.
To drop a post, click [Remove from the batch]. To pick different videos, click [Change selection]. To stop, click [Cancel and close]: the upload in progress stops and posts still waiting are not sent.
Manage your Instagram account
To manage your Instagram account in Selects, open [Manage account] next to your username in the Instagram window.
[Switch account]: log in again with a different Instagram account
[Disconnect]: remove the connection from Selects
If you connected more than one account, pick the one to post from in the list.
If Selects cannot load your account details, it shows Could not load your Instagram account. Try again later. Click [Check account again] to retry.
Learn more about the Export menu in Export your edit to editing software, or as a transcript or video.
FAQs
Can I publish a video to Instagram from Selects?
Yes. You can publish a timeline or a video to Instagram from Selects, and it goes up as a Reel on your profile. Images and carousels cannot be posted to Instagram from Selects. Click [Export], then choose [Instagram] under [Socials]. Selects renders timelines for you, so you do not export a file first.
What kind of Instagram account do I need to publish from Selects?
To publish to Instagram from Selects, you need a business or creator account. If you see “Only Instagram business and creator accounts can publish through Selects”, switch the account to a professional account in Instagram’s settings, then click [Connect to Instagram] again.
Why can I not click Share for my Instagram post?
The [Share] button stays off until the post is complete, and Selects shows the reason above it. The usual reasons are: no Instagram account connected, the account details are still loading or could not load, the account has used all its posts for the last 24 hours, the video is shorter than 3 seconds or longer than 15 minutes, the caption has more than 2,200 characters, 30 hashtags, or 20 @mentions, there are more than 3 collaborators or a username is not valid, or the preview is still loading.
Do I need to keep Selects open while a video uploads to Instagram?
Yes. Keep Selects open until the upload finishes. To stop, click [Stop upload]. If the upload pauses, click [Resume upload] to continue the same attempt. Check your Instagram profile before you start another upload.
When does my Reel appear on Instagram?
Your Reel appears on Instagram shortly after the upload, once Instagram finishes processing it. When it is live, Selects shows Shared to Instagram and [View on Instagram].
What does “Sharing stopped: confirmation needed” mean for Instagram?
It means Selects could not confirm Instagram’s reply. Open your Instagram profile and check whether the Reel is there. If it is not, turn on I checked my Instagram profile and confirmed this Reel was not posted., then click [Review a new attempt]. If the Reel is there, do not post it again.
What if Instagram says I have used all my posts for the last 24 hours?
Instagram limits how many posts an account can publish through its API in 24 hours. When you see “This account has used all API posts allowed in 24 hours”, wait and try again later. If you see “Instagram’s request limit was reached”, wait a little before you try again.
What if my Instagram connection has expired?
If you see “Your Instagram connection has expired”, open [Manage account], click [Disconnect], then click [Connect to Instagram] and log in again.
What if Instagram cannot process my video?
If you see “Instagram could not process this video”, use an H.264 MP4 video that is 1080 pixels wide or less, then try again.
Can I publish to TikTok and YouTube too?
Yes. TikTok and YouTube sit next to Instagram under [Socials]. See Publish your video to TikTok from Selects and Publish your video to YouTube from Selects.