Instagram Hacks: 20 Tips & Tricks You Should Try in 2024

Knowing the ins and outs of a popular platform like Instagram can grow your engagement and reach as a social media creator. 

From posting strategies to interacting more efficiently with your community after posting, these 20 Instagram hacks will take your content creation (and Instagram use) to the next level.

20 Instagram Hacks To Try Today

Whether you’re growing your audience or simply trying to enjoy Instagram even more, here are our top 20 hacks in 2024, by category.

General Instagram Hacks

1. Get post notifications from your favorite accounts

Turn on post notifications for Instagram accounts you want to stay up to date with. That way, you can spend less time scrolling and searching for your favorite content — you’ll know when it’s up. As a content creator, you might set this up for competitors so you can track topics they’re covering and when they post.

To do this, go to the profile you want to get notifications for. You should see a bell icon in the top-right corner. When you tap it, the platform will prompt you to choose whether to receive notifications for new posts, Stories, Reels, or live videos.

2. Mute accounts

De-clutter your feed by muting accounts you don’t want to see. You might not want to unfollow someone or to see specific content types from them — this is a great way to customize your feed and avoid that content.

3. Limit your scrolling time

For most mobile devices, you can see how long you’ve been on an app via “Screen Time” in the settings. There, you can set daily limits to reduce usage. You can also set browser limits, typically via add-on extensions like Limits for Firefox.

4. Manage multiple accounts from one device

Instagram allows you to log in and manage up to five accounts from a single device, which is incredibly helpful for social media managers.

Simply go to your profile menu and click “Add an account.” This takes you to the login page, where you can add another account to your device.

Then, you can navigate between various profiles in one of two ways. First, go to your profile and tap the dropdown menu beside your username. Second, switch to another profile by holding down on the profile tab in the bottom-right corner until each account option appears.

Instagram Bio and Profile Hacks

5. Include profile tags, hashtags, and keywords in your bio

Strategically choosing what’s in your bio influences profile engagement. Draw attention to other accounts you run by tagging them here, and add hashtags and keywords that help people find you. These hashtags also provide additional context about your brand and content. 

One of the biggest trends among creators is listing adjectives that describe themselves in their bios, such as “influencer” and “artist.” These tags help viewers better understand what your account offers and Instagram choose who to show your content to.

6. Hide tagged photos

When someone tags you in a photo or video on Instagram, it's automatically added to your profile under "Photos of You" (you can also manually add tagged photos).

To hide the posts you've been tagged in, go to your profile and click the person icon below your bio. Tap the three dots in the top right of the chosen post. Click “Post options,” then “Remove me from post” or “Hide from my profile.”

7. Add line breaks to your bio

Separate lines in your bio clearly outline what your brand does for your followers. Tap the “123” button at the bottom of the keyboard to view the numbers and special characters on the page. Here, you can access the Return button to add line breaks to make your bio more legible.

Instagram Post Hacks 

8. Hide comments from your posts

You can filter or block comments based on keywords to remove controversial or inappropriate ones. Here’s how to hide comments on Instagram:

• Go to your profile’s menu.
• Select “Settings and activity.”
• Scroll down to “Hidden Words.”
• Choose to hide comments and message requests.
• Create and manage custom words, phrases, and even emojis you want to be filtered out.

9. Schedule your posts

Planning out and scheduling content ensures you meet a certain posting cadence, plus you can be more strategic about when your content goes live. Say you film a video while wearing a green dress in a grassy field. You could post it immediately — but if St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, you could schedule the post for that day and use trending hashtags like #StPattys to gain increased engagement. 

You can schedule content via the “Schedule this post” option in Instagram's Advanced Settings.

10. Get creative with your profile grid

Thoughtfully selecting grid posts and video cover photos allows you to color code, create patterns like a puzzle grid, and make a more cohesive grid.

Instagram Story Hacks

11. Use content from your camera roll

You don’t need to craft new content every time you post — especially if you want to schedule content. Leverage already-existing photos and videos, using Instagram features or a content editing app like Captions to spruce them up before publishing. 

12. Change the background color of a Story

Create dynamic Stories that match your brand by changing the background color on an Instagram Story:

• Take or upload a photo for your Story.
• Open the Draw menu (the marker icon) on the right side of the page.
• Tap the color on the slider that you want for your background and hold onto your screen — the background will change to that color.

13. Change the cover of your Story highlights

Adjust your highlight cover straight from your camera roll by tapping and holding the highlight you want to update, then tapping “Edit highlight” on the popup that appears. Click “Edit cover,” then select the photo you want from your camera roll.

Instagram Hacks for Your Business

14. Market and monetize your profile

Share your Instagram profile across platforms to increase your reach, like adding a link to it in your TikTok and YouTube bios. You can also monetize your Instagram by:

• Using built-in features like Badges, Gifts, and Subscriptions
• Partnering with brands to boost your reach by sharing their audience
• Trying affiliate marketing, where you create personalized links to products and when people click and purchase, you earn

15. Switch to a Business profile

You must have a Business profile to publish shoppable posts and market them on your Instagram. Get one by selecting “Edit Profile” on your Instagram profile and tapping "Try Instagram Business Tools,” where you can explore all the options for a Business profile. 

If these options don’t match your brand, you can switch back to a Personal account. To do this, return to “Edit Profile” and select “Personal Account Tools.”

16. Send automated welcome messages to new followers

Instagram has a built-in feature that allows you to automatically send welcome messages to new followers, which is an excellent tactic for building community and keeping newcomers interested.

Here's how to set it up for a Business profile:

• Go to “Settings.”
• Tap “Business Settings.”
• Select “Messages.”
• Swipe the switch next to “Send an automatic welcome message when someone sends a message request.”
• Create a custom message.
• Tap “Save Changes.”

Instagram Reel Hacks

17. See your liked Reels and posts

If you’re creating a posting schedule and need to review which posts and Reels did the best, you can easily see your liked Reels and posts on Instagram. Head to your profile and tap the menu. Then, click “Your activity.” From there, you can view all interactions on the app — your likes, comments, tags, and more. Use this information to decide how to optimize future content for increased engagement.

18. Make Reels out of Story highlights

Instagram often prompts users to make Story highlights into Reels — use this tool to quickly share already crafted content in a different form to increase your reach. If Instagram doesn’t offer enough features for optimizing Stories for Reels, try Captions’ AI-powered trimmer to craft something that’s perfect for Reel viewers.

Instagram Direct Message Hacks

19. Create chat groups or private channels

Offer exclusive content that makes your viewers feel special by creating private Stories or group chats with smaller audience segments. Simply select “Private” when posting and choose who you’d like to share content with, or start a group chat with a set of engaged followers.

20. Hide your activity status

As engaged as you want to be with your followers, sometimes it’s best not to share that you’re active. In “Settings and activity,” you can turn off your activity status. 

Another relevant strategy is hiding messages on Instagram so you don’t feel compelled to open messages you don’t want to or aren’t ready to answer. Simply swipe right on the message and press “Hide” to move it to the hidden portion of your DMs. This act won’t notify that profile in any way. 

Discover the Power of Video With Captions

Using Instagram features to your advantage lets you get the most out of the platform. For content creators, it might even boost your audience reach and give you an advantage against competitors. 

Pair your Instagram content creation strategy with Captions, an AI-powered content editing platform that streamlines production and publishing processes. Turn video footage into studio-grade Instagram Stories and Reels in a couple clicks, adding subtitles, removing background noise, and improving audio quality all in one platform. Try it today.