To add music to an Instagram post, pick your photo or video, tap Next until you reach the final editing screen, then tap Add music and choose a track. For a Story, tap the music sticker or the music icon at the top of the Story editor. For a Reel, tap the audio icon in the Reels editor. Since July 2026 you can also change the song on a feed post or carousel you already published without deleting it: open the post, tap Edit, then Replace Audio.
Instagram puts the music control in a different place for every format, and the help center covers each one on a separate page. If you've landed here, one of four things probably happened: you can't find the button for the format you're using, you want to change a track on something already live, the music option is missing or the library looks thin, or you want to use a song Instagram doesn't have.
This guide covers how to add music to a feed post, a Story, and a Reel step by step, what carousels can and can't do, how to change the music on a post you already published, why the music option goes missing, how to use your own music, and how sharing a song from Spotify or Apple Music actually works.
Music that works on every account type.
Cleared tracks that show up on a Business account and travel with the clip to TikTok and YouTube.
Where the music control is for each format
| Format | Where the music control is | Change the music after publishing | What a Business account sees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed post (single photo or video) | Add music on the final editing screen, also reachable from the details screen before you share | Yes. Open the post, tap the menu in the top-right corner, then Edit, then Replace Audio. In-app library audio only. | Meta's Sound Collection in place of the full library |
| Carousel (photos only) | Add music before sharing. One track plays across the slides. | Yes. Same path as a single post. | Meta's Sound Collection in place of the full library |
| Carousel with a video clip | Not available. The video's own audio plays. | No music to change | Same |
| Story | Music sticker in the sticker tray, or the music icon at the top of the Story editor | No. Delete and repost the Story. | Meta's Sound Collection in place of the full library |
| Reel | Audio icon in the Reels editor | Only when the original track has become unavailable. Edit, then Replace Audio, historically once per Reel. | Meta's Sound Collection in place of the full library |
How to add music to an Instagram post
The button sits at the end of the post flow rather than the start, which is why people miss it. These steps cover a single photo or a single video. Carousels have their own section further down.
How to add music to an Instagram feed post
- Open the post editor and pick your photo or video
Tap the plus icon, choose Post, and select the photo or video from your library or take a new one. Tap Next.
- Advance past the filter screen
Apply a filter or adjust the image if you want to, then tap Next again. The music control does not appear until this second screen.
- Tap Add music
Look for Add music on the final editing screen. Search for a track by name or artist, or pick from the suggested and trending lists. Tap a track to preview it.
- Choose the clip and set the duration
Drag the slider to the part of the song you want. Use the duration control to set how long the clip runs, then tap Done.
- Add your caption and share
Write your caption, tag people, add a location if you want one, and tap Share. If you skipped the music on the way through, the details screen also has an add or edit music option.
The track you pick from this menu is licensed for use inside Instagram. What that licence does and doesn't cover once the post is live, and what happens when Instagram detects a track it doesn't recognise as cleared, is covered in our guide to how to use copyrighted music on Instagram.
How to add music to an Instagram Story
Stories were the first Instagram format to get music and still have the most ways to do it.
- Open the Story editor by tapping the plus icon and choosing Story, or by swiping right from your feed.
- Take a photo or video, or pick one from your camera roll.
- Tap the music icon at the top of the screen, or tap the sticker icon and choose Music. Both open the same library.
- Search for a song or browse the suggested tracks. Tap a track to preview it.
- Drag the slider to choose the section of the song you want.
- Pick how the track is displayed on screen, then tap Done.
- Place the sticker where you want it, finish editing, and tap Your story.
The library you see depends on your account type. If it looks a lot smaller than a friend's, the account-type paragraph further down explains why, and the tracks in our roundup of the best royalty-free music for Instagram are cleared for every account type.
Music sticker vs the music icon
The music icon at the top of the editor and the Music sticker in the sticker tray open the same search. The only difference is what you end up with on screen. Either way you get a sticker you can resize and move, with three display styles: scrolling lyrics (where Instagram has them for that track), the album art with the track name, or a plain label.
Adding music to a Story without showing the sticker
You can't turn the sticker off, but you can hide it. Pinch the sticker down to its smallest size and drag it off the edge of the frame, or choose the plain label style and tuck it into a corner. The audio still plays for the full clip. Viewers hear the song and never see the box.
How to add music to an Instagram Reel
Reels are the format Instagram built around music, so the control is right where you'd expect it.
- Tap the plus icon and choose Reel.
- Record a clip or upload one from your camera roll.
- Tap the audio icon in the editor. Search for a song or browse the recommended list.
- Tap a track to preview it, then drag the timeline to the section you want.
- Set the volume mix between the track and your original audio. If you're talking in the clip, pull the music down.
- Tap Done, finish editing, then tap Next to add a caption and cover.
- Tap Share.
One thing to know before you post: the audio on a public Reel becomes reusable. Anyone can tap it and use the same sound in their own Reel. That's fine for a licensed library track and worth a second thought for anything original. The rules on what you can use in Reels and what gets muted are in our post on using copyrighted music on Instagram Reels.
If you want tracks that are cleared for Reels and for every other platform you repost the same clip to, start with our picks for royalty-free music for Instagram Reels.
Carousels: photos take music, photos plus video do not
A carousel made only of photos takes a single track that plays across the slides. Add it the same way you add music to a single post: tap Add music before you share, choose the clip, and the song carries through as viewers swipe. A carousel that includes a video clip cannot have music added. The video's own audio plays instead. That's a hard rule, not a bug, and Instagram states it in Instagram's rule for carousels with music. If you need a song over a mixed carousel, add it to the video clip in an editor before you upload.
How to change the music on a post you already published
You can change the song on a published feed post or carousel without deleting it. Open the post, tap the menu in the top-right corner (two lines or three dots, depending on your app version), tap Edit, then tap Replace Audio and pick a new track from the library. The post keeps its likes, comments, shares and reach.
This is new. Instagram launched the tool, called Replace Audio, on July 21, 2026. Before that, the only way to change a track was to delete the post and upload it again, which reset everything the post had earned. Instagram's Replace Audio tool removed that trade-off. The platform's head Adam Mosseri introduced it in Adam Mosseri's announcement post. The rollout is phased, so if Replace Audio isn't in your Edit menu yet, update the app and check again in a few days.
Two limits. It works with audio from Instagram's in-app library only, so if the original post used sound you uploaded yourself, you're back to the delete-and-repost route. And the full tool covers feed posts and carousels. Reels have a narrower version: when a Reel's original track becomes unavailable and the audio is muted, Edit, then Replace Audio lets you swap in a library track, and that fix has historically worked once per Reel. MeetEdgar walks through both flows in its guide to how to change the audio on an Instagram post, carousel, or Reel. A Story with the wrong track gets deleted and reposted; there's no edit for that one.
Why the music option is missing or the library looks thin
Four causes cover almost every case, and account type is the first one to check.
Your account is set to Business. Instagram's licensed music library is intended for personal, non-commercial use, and certain business accounts don't get access to it. What those accounts get instead is Meta's Sound Collection, which Instagram's help center describes as more than 14,000 royalty-free songs and sounds cleared for Reels, Stories and commercial use. It's a real library, but it's not the one with the songs you hear everywhere, which is why the search feels empty. Instagram lays out the rule in Instagram's access rules for the licensed music library. Whether a Business account is the right setting for you in the first place is its own decision, and we've written about using your personal Instagram for business if you're weighing it.
Your region isn't covered. Instagram's music licensing is not available in every country. If the sticker is missing entirely and your account type is Personal or Creator, this is the usual reason.
Your app is out of date. Music features roll out by app version. Update Instagram, then close and reopen it.
You're posting a carousel with a video in it. Music isn't offered on mixed carousels, so the option won't appear no matter what your account type is. See the carousel section above.
How to use your own music on Instagram
Instagram has no upload-an-audio-file option. There's no button anywhere in the app that takes an MP3. If the track you want isn't in the library, you have three routes, listed here from most effort to least.
Get the track into Instagram's library through a distributor
If you're an artist and you own the recording, this is the route that makes the song searchable for everyone. When you upload a release through a digital distributor, select Facebook and Instagram as a destination. Once the track has been delivered to Meta, it shows up in the in-app music search like any other song, as Cyber PR Music explains in its guide to getting your own music into Instagram's library. Delivery takes time, the distributor charges its normal fee, and the song has to be yours to distribute. The same mechanism works on other platforms; our post on how to add your own music to TikTok walks through the equivalent path there.
Edit the music into the video before you upload
For anyone who has a track and the right to use it, this is the practical route. Drop the video into an editor on your phone or computer, add the music, balance the levels, export, and upload the finished file. Instagram treats the result as original audio. The limitation sits right next to the benefit: original audio does not get you past copyright detection. If the track is a commercial song you don't hold rights to, Instagram can still mute it, and on a Business account it usually will. This route is for music you're cleared to use, not a way around the library.
Use a track you hold commercial rights to
Three places to get one. Meta's Sound Collection is free and built for Facebook and Instagram, and it's what Business accounts already see in the sticker. A direct license from the rights holder covers exactly one song for exactly the uses you negotiate, which is the right answer for a campaign built around a specific record and overkill for a Tuesday Story.
A pre-cleared library like Soundstripe costs a subscription, and in exchange one licence covers the same clip on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and wherever else you repost it, from a catalog of 116,000 tracks. If you only ever post to Instagram, the Sound Collection may be enough. If the same video goes to three platforms, the subscription is the cheaper option. What a license needs to cover once a post is boosted or sponsored is a separate question, and it's answered in our guide to music licensing for social media and ads.
Sharing a song from Spotify or Apple Music to a Story
Since mid-2025, a Spotify track shared to an Instagram Story carries a short audio preview. Before that, the share produced a silent card with a link. Spotify covered the rollout in its post on Spotify's audio previews in Instagram Stories.
To do it: open the track in Spotify, tap Share, choose Instagram Stories, and Instagram opens with the song card laid over your Story camera. Move or resize the card, add whatever else you want, and post. Apple Music works the same way from its share menu.
What you get is a share card, not a soundtrack. It shows the song, plays a preview, and links viewers out to the streaming app. It does not replace the music sticker, and you can't pick which section of the song plays. If you want a specific part of a track under your own video, use the music sticker or edit the audio in before you upload.
Edit it in before you upload. Post it anywhere after.
116,000 tracks you can edit in before upload, licensed for Instagram and every platform the video goes to next.
Frequently asked questions
Open the post, tap the menu in the top-right corner, tap Edit, then tap Replace Audio and pick a track from Instagram's library. Instagram added this in July 2026 for published feed posts and carousels, and the post keeps its likes, comments, shares and reach. It only works with in-app library audio, not sound you uploaded yourself. Stories can't be edited this way, and Reels only get the option when the original track has become unavailable.
Four causes cover most cases. Your account is set to Business, which shows Meta's Sound Collection instead of the full licensed library. Your region doesn't have music licensing. Your app is out of date. Or the post is a carousel that contains a video, which Instagram doesn't allow music on. Check account type first, because it's the most common cause and the least obvious one.
Not as a direct audio upload. Instagram has no upload-a-file option for music. You have three routes: distribute the track through a music distributor so it appears in Instagram's library, edit the music into your video before uploading so Instagram treats it as original audio, or use a track you hold commercial rights to through that same original-audio route. Original audio doesn't bypass copyright detection, so unlicensed music can still be muted.
Photo-only carousels take music the same way a single photo does: tap Add music before sharing, pick the clip, and the track plays across the slides. Carousels that include a video clip cannot have music added; the video's own audio plays instead. Since July 2026 you can also change the track on a published photo carousel without deleting it: open the post, tap the menu in the top-right corner, then Edit, then Replace Audio.
Not through Instagram's web uploader, which has no music option for feed posts. Two routes work from a computer. Add the track in a video editor first and upload the finished file as a video or Reel. Or upload the photo from your desktop, then open the published post in the app and use Edit, then Replace Audio, to add a track from Instagram's library.
