Download Instagram and Create an Account
The first thing you need to do is download the Instagram app for your iOS or Android device. After you download it, create an account. Here’s how it works.
Launch Instagram and tap Create New Account. (On an Android device, tap Sign up With Email or Phone Number. ) If you have a Facebook account, you have the option of selecting Log in With Facebook. Choose to register with a phone number or email address. Tap Phone and then enter your phone number, or tap Email to enter an email address. Tap Next when you’re finished. Instagram sends a confirmation code by email or text. Enter the code and select Next. Add your name and select Next. Create a password and select Next. Add your birthday and select Next. This information isn’t used as part of your profile. Instagram wants to confirm whether you’re over 13, which is the required age. If you’re under 16, Instagram will automatically make your account private for security reasons, but you can make it public later. Now that you created your Instagram account, tap Next to find people to follow. Tap Connect to Facebook to find Facebook friends who are on Instagram, or tap Skip to skip this step. Instagram doesn’t add Facebook friends to your account automatically. You choose which friends to follow on Instagram. Tap Search Your Contacts to find friends on Instagram, or tap Skip to skip this step. Tap Add a Photo to add your profile photo, or tap Skip to skip this step. Instagram suggests accounts you may like to follow. Tap Follow next to anyone you want to follow. Tap Find to find Facebook friends. Tap Next to continue. You can start posting. Instagram keeps suggesting accounts to follow. By default, Instagram photos are set to public so that anyone can view your posts. It’s easy to change it to private.
How to Navigate Your Instagram Feed
After you create your Instagram account, have some followers, and follow other accounts, here are the basics of navigating your Instagram feed.
When you open Instagram, you’re automatically on your Home page, indicated by a house icon on the bottom menu. Your Home page is also called your Instagram feed. It’s where you see and scroll through posts of people and accounts you follow. From the bottom menu, tap Explore to go to the Explore page. Instagram presents you with accounts you may like. From the bottom menu, tap Reels to see short, entertaining, and trending videos. Instagram’s Reels feature is similar to TikTok. Reels can be up to 60 seconds long. From the bottom menu, tap Shop to see curated product collections you may find interesting. From the bottom menu, tap your profile picture or icon to see your previous posts, edit your profile, access the accounts you follow and who follow you, and more. At the top of the screen, tap the plus sign to add a new post. Tap the heart to see follow requests, follow suggestions, comments, and likes on your posts. Tap the direct message icon (looks like the Facebook Messenger icon) to see a history of your direct messaging activity. Tap Compose (looks like a pen and pad) to start a new message, then select a recipient and tap Chat. Tap any of the round thumbnail icons of your friends’ profile pictures at the top of your home feed to see their Instagram Story.
How to Engage With Instagram Posts
Here’s what to do to interact with the Instagram accounts you follow.
To like a post, tap the heart underneath it. To hide like and view counts on all the posts in your feed, go to Settings > Privacy > Posts and tap Hide Like and View Counts. On your own posts, tap More (three dots) > Hide Like Count. To comment, tap the speech bubble below the post, type your comment, and then tap Post. Tap the paper airplane to send the post to someone else. Tap the person you want to share it with, and then tap Send. If the post is from a public account with sharing enabled, you can share the post on your Instagram story.
How to Post a Photo to Instagram
Here’s a look at how to post a photo to Instagram.
From your home feed, tap the plus sign at the top of the screen. At the bottom, tap Post to post a picture or video. Tap Story to create an Instagram Story, tap Reels to create an Instagram Reel or tap Live to broadcast an Instagram Live stream. Under Recents, scroll down to select a photo or video from your Photos app. Tap Next when done. Tap Select Multiple to add more than one photo to your post. Select a filter for the photo, and then tap Next. Write a caption, then tap Tag People to tag people in the photo. Optionally, add a location, and share automatically to Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. When you’re done, tap Share. There’s even more Instagram-Twitter integration for iOS users. If you like a Twitter post and want to share it on your Instagram Story, tap the tweet, then tap the Share icon and select Instagram Stories. The tweet will appear on your Story.
Configure Your Privacy and Security Settings
Like all social networking sites and apps, security on Instagram is essential. Here are a few tips for adding extra protection to your Instagram account:
Make your profile Private instead of Public: By default, all Instagram photos are set to public so that anyone can view your posts. It’s easy to change it to private. Delete a post: To delete one of your photos, tap the three dots next to it, and select Delete. Bulk delete posts: To delete your posts in bulk, go to your profile picture and select Menu (three lines) > Your Activity > Photos and Videos > Posts. Select the posts you want to delete and tap Delete. Delete comments or other activities. To delete comments or likes you’ve made in the past, go to your profile picture and select Menu > Your Activity > Interactions. Choose Comments, Likes, or Story replies. Select the content you want to delete, and tap Delete. Report a photo: If another user’s photo seems inappropriate for Instagram, tap the three dots next to it, and select Report. You can also mute or unfollow the account. Block a user: Block a user to prevent them from following you or seeing your profile. It’s also easy to unblock someone on Instagram. Use Limits and Hidden Words: Both the Limits and Hidden Words features aim to prevent users from leaving abusive or hateful comments or direct messages. Limits blocks interactions from people who don’t follow you or only started recently. Hidden Words lets you filter specific words, phrases, and emojis; any DM request containing a term you flagged will go into a separate folder.
