Schedule Instagram posts, Reels, and Stories

Use the ContentMate planner to prepare Instagram content, review its preview and publish immediately or at a chosen time. This guide explains the available fields, media requirements and the difference between uploading, preparing and publishing.

Before you create a post

Select the correct workspace and connect your professional Instagram account. You need publishing permission for that account and a suitable workspace role. Publishing Stories through Instagram's interface requires a Business account; a Creator account is not automatically sufficient.

Also check the workspace's approval process. If approval is required, saving a post alone does not authorize publication. Allow enough time for your team to review it.

Choose a post type and media

Selection	What you prepare	Important distinction
Feed with one image	One image with an optional caption	Instagram does not support a text-only post without media here
Feed with several media items	A carousel with one shared caption	Check every item and the displayed order
Reel	A video with an optional caption	Use a single video file for one individual Reel
Story	An image or video; multiple items are prepared as separate Story segments	A caption is not published as visible text on the Story

Instagram receives a single video through its Reel publishing path even if you initially selected Feed. Select Reel when preparing a single video to obtain the appropriate preview. Selecting multiple videos is not a request to create multiple independent Reels; create a separate post for each one.

Step 1: Select the account and media

Create a new post in the planner.
Select the correct Instagram account at the top. Each selected account receives its own publishing request.
Choose Feed, Reel or Story.
Upload files from your device or select existing files from the Media library.
Read the Instagram validation messages for every file. A green Facebook result does not automatically confirm Instagram compatibility.
If necessary, open the media editor from the preview and apply the edited result.
Remove unintended files before continuing.

Selecting a local file initially creates a preview. When you finish saving the post, wait for the transfer and confirmation to complete. Do not close the page during that process.

Practical media requirements

Property	Requirement or suitable starting point
Feed images	JPEG; maximum 8 MB; aspect ratio between 4:5 and 1.91:1
Image width	Instagram may scale widths outside 320–1,440 pixels; a scaling warning is different from an invalid aspect ratio
Videos in ContentMate	MP4 or MOV; maximum 100 MiB, equivalent to 104,857,600 bytes
Duration in the general Instagram file check	3–900 seconds; this does not mean every post type accepts a 15-minute video
Portrait Reels	For example, 1,080 × 1,920 pixels, giving a 9:16 ratio
Audio and frame rate	A conventional H.264/AAC export at 30 frames per second avoids many compatibility issues

ContentMate's upload limit may be lower than the maximum accepted by an Instagram interface. Both ContentMate's checks and the rules for the selected post type apply. A green file indicator does not guarantee successful publication. Stories in particular have their own requirements; do not assume that a long Reel file is suitable as an unchanged Story.

Aspect ratio example: 1,080 ÷ 1,350 = 0.8. That is 4:5 and suits a portrait feed image. 1,080 ÷ 1,920 = 0.5625 gives 9:16 and falls outside the allowed feed image range. Crop that image appropriately for a feed post. Seeing a cropped preview is not a substitute for editing the actual file.

Step 2: Add a caption

Feed posts and Reels can include an optional caption with emojis and hashtags. ContentMate limits Instagram captions to 2,200 characters. Spaces and line breaks also use this allowance. Some emojis take more than one counting unit, so use the text validation rather than counting visible symbols yourself.

Field or control	What it does
Shared caption	Applies to selected platforms that do not have a separate caption
Instagram platform caption	Overrides the shared text for Instagram only
Emoji picker	Inserts an emoji into the text; it does not grant rights to other media
Hashtag indicator	Helps you review the text; it does not guarantee reach or acceptance of every hashtag

When an Instagram-specific caption is enabled, that version is used. Editing the shared caption later does not automatically update the separate version. Review Instagram's text in the final summary, especially if Facebook is also selected.

The normal caption field is disabled for Stories. To display text on a Story image, incorporate it into the image itself, for example with the media editor. This does not create an interactive Instagram sticker. Music from Instagram's library, polls, product tags and collaboration invitations are not automatic parts of a ContentMate upload.

Step 3: Choose when to publish

Enable scheduling and select the date and time. Check the local time shown in the planner, especially when travelling or using a computer in another time zone. Choose a future time. Disabling scheduling prepares an immediate publication instead.

When are the media uploaded?

ContentMate normally prepares scheduled Instagram media at Instagram about two hours before the publication time. If the scheduled time is closer, preparation starts after the request is processed. A separate step makes the content public around the selected time.

Example: An already approved post scheduled for 18:00 can begin transferring around 16:00. This gives Instagram time to process the image or video before publication. A large video newly scheduled at 17:59 does not have that preparation time.

A video saved in the media library is not an Instagram post. Likewise, prepared does not mean publicly visible. Preparation reduces delays but does not guarantee publication to the second: Instagram processing, load or a retry can delay completion.

Step 4: Review and submit

Check the summary:

Is the Instagram username correct?
Is the correct post type selected?
Are all intended media present and in the right order?
Is the Instagram caption correct, including any platform-specific version?
Are the date and time correct?
Does the post still require approval?

Confirm the intended action and wait for the result. Then check the post in the calendar or queue. When publishing to several platforms, one destination may succeed while another fails; review the status for each account.

Understand statuses and changes

Scheduled: The request is saved and waiting to run. Awaiting approval: An authorized member still needs to approve it. Preparing/uploading: Media are being transferred or processed. Published: The publishing request completed successfully. Failed: Read the specific error before trying again.

Change a scheduled post using its edit function and save the changes. An unsaved preview does not replace an existing request. After a last-minute change, check the publication time, approval and status again.

Common problems

Problem	What you can do
Instagram cannot be selected without media	Add at least one suitable image or video
PNG or another image format is rejected	Export the feed image as JPEG and check its size and aspect ratio
The video is too large	Export a smaller file; renaming it does not change its format or size
Story text is missing	Incorporate visible text into the media; the ordinary caption is unavailable for Stories
The account is connected but publishing is refused	Check publishing permission and workspace rights; reconnect the same account if necessary
The scheduled time has passed but the post is not visible	Check approval, preparation and error status before creating a duplicate request
Instagram reports a publishing limit	Include posts from other connected tools when considering usage; Meta uses a rolling time window
The preview differs from Instagram	Instagram may crop, scale or arrange media differently; check the original file and published post

Checked against the product and official Meta documentation on 11 October 2026. ContentMate limits describe the current planner and may differ from options in the Instagram app.