When you repost on Instagram, you share someone else's public Reel or feed post directly to your own followers on your main feed. This reposted content appears labeled as a repost and gives full credit to the original creator, with their username and a link to the original post intact. Additionally, every reposted item goes into a dedicated "Reposts" tab on your Instagram profile, allowing you and others to track and revisit the shared content easily. Reposting essentially acts like a recommendation or endorsement, helping the original creator's content reach a wider audience organically without paid promotion. Your followers will see the repost on their feeds, and because of the reposts by others, your feed may include content from people you don't follow. You can add an optional short comment or note (up to 60 characters) when reposting to provide context or your take on the content. If you repost something by mistake, you can easily undo it by tapping the repost button again. Only posts from public accounts can be reposted; private account content cannot be shared this way. As a content creator, you can control whether others can repost your content by toggling privacy settings. In summary, reposting on Instagram:
- Shares public posts/Reels to your followers' main feed
- Credits the original creator visibly
- Adds the reposted content to your profile’s "Reposts" tab
- Allows you to add a brief comment or note
- Expands organic reach for creators
- Displays reposted content in followers’ feeds along with regular posts
- Cannot repost from private accounts
- Can be disabled by creators for their content if desired
This new repost feature on Instagram encourages easier sharing and discovery of content while respecting original creators' rights and visibility. It functions similarly to retweeting on Twitter or reposting on TikTok. This explanation is based on the latest information about Instagram's repost feature as of August 2025.
