What is Instagram?
How does Instagram work?
How to sign up for Instagram
How to navigate
- Home takes you to the news feed. Search/Discovery is for finding people and discovering trending photos or other accounts you might be interested in. Reels is where you’ll go to find TikTok-like videos from other users on Instagram. Shop is quite literally where you can go to find products to buy directly in Instagram. Profile is where you go to see your profile, edit your profile, and play with settings (found in the upper right-hand corner). Settings has options for following Facebook friends, privatising your account, seeing posts you’ve liked and more.
How to interact with others
How to post and share
How to shop on Instagram
Where can you access Instagram?
Instagram filters explained
- Normal - No filter applied. Clarendon - Makes shadows deeper and highlights brighter. Gingham - Gives images a vintage look, adding a yellowish tone. Moon - Another vintage look adder but in black and white. Lark - Desaturates reds and increases blues and greens. Reyes - Adds a dusty, vintage look. Juno - Tints cool tones green, amps up warm tones, makes whites glow. Slumber - Desaturates the image, adds a haze, emphasis on blacks and blues. Crema - Adds a creamy look that both warms and cools the image. Ludwig - Slight desaturation that also enhances light. Aden - Adds a blue/green natural look. Perpetua - Adds a pastel look. Amaro - Adds light to an image, with the focus on the center. Mayfair - Adds a warm pink tone, subtle vignetting, brightens at the center. Rise - Adds a glow to the image. Hudson - Adds an “icy” illusion, heightened shadows, cool tint, dodged center. Valencia - Fades the image, increases exposure, warms the colors. X-Pro II - Increases colour with a golden tint, high contrast, slight vignette. Sierra - Adds a faded, softer look. Willow - Adds a monochromatic look, subtle purple tones, translucent white border. Lo-Fi - Enriches color, adds strong shadows, warms the temperature. Earlybird - Gives an older look with a sepia tint and warm temperature. Brannan - Increases contrast and exposure and adds a metallic tint. Inkwell - Goes straight to black and white. Hefe - High contrast and saturation, similar to Lo-Fi. Nashville - Warms temp, lowers contrast, increases exposure, adds pink. Sutro - Burns edges, increases highlights/shadows, focus on purple and brown. Toaster - Ages the image by “burning” the center and adds a dramatic vignette. Walden - Increases exposure and adds a yellow tint. 1977 - Increases exposure, adds a red tint and faded look. Kelvin - Increases saturation and temperature to give it a radiant glow. Stinson - Lightens image and washes out colour a little. Vesper - Adds a yellowy tint for a vintage feel, while also smoothing out skin tones. Maven - Adds a yellow tint, darkens the image and deepens shadows. Ginza - Brightens images and adds a warm glow. Skyline - Adds punch to colours and brightens. Dogpatch - Deepens contrast and washes out light colours. Brooklyn - Brightens images and washes out light colours. Helena - Adds an orange and teal tone to images. Ashby - Adds golden glow and subtle vintage look without deepening shadows. Charmes - Adds a red tint to warm up colours while also increasing contrast. Lux - Transforms photos that are underexposed or lack contrast.
Instagram 101: Top tips and tricks
Account switching
Toggle between Favorites and Following
Following: See the latest posts from all the accounts that you follow, in the order they were posted. Favourites: You can star up to 50 accounts, so their posts will show up higher in your main feed. You can also view those posts in a separate “Favorites” feed, which starts with the most recent posts.
Tap on Instagram in the top left corner of your home page. Select Favourites to see posts from accounts you’ve starred Or select Following to see the latest posts from all the accounts you follow.
Edit captions
Save drafts of photos
Reply to comments
Delete your comments
Control comments
- Open the Instagram mobile app. Tap the Hamburger menu (three lines icon) on your profile. Tap Privacy. From there you can limit who can leave comments on your posts. You can also limit unwanted interactions from this screen.
Pinch to zoom
Remove a tagged photo
Manage filters
Adjust cellular data settings
Save originals
Embed your photos on the web
Hide Instagram adverts
Post to your Story
- Tap the Your Story circle at the top left of the Home tab. Or tap the camera/upload button (+ icon) at the top of the Home tab. Then select Story. You can then start recording or uploading media. You will also see options to make a Boomberg or Layout or go Hands-Free.
Send a voice message
Or tap the camera/upload button (+ icon) at the top of the Home tab. Then select Story.
Open a conversation. Tap and hold the mic and begin recording your message. Release your finger when you’re done recording. This will send your recording. To cancel your message, continue holding the mic and move your finger to the trash.
Video chat
- Tap the message Message icon in the top right of Feed or Home tab. Tap a username or group name to open the conversation. You can also start a new conversation by tapping the + icon in the top right and selecting people. Tap the video icon in the top right. The person or group you call will receive a notification.
Archive your old photos
- To archive a post you’ve shared, tap the “…” icon at the top of the post and choose “Archive." Tap the Archive icon in the top right corner of your profile to view all your archived photos.
Use Instagram.com
Make your account private
- Go to your profile. Tap the Hamburger menu (three lines). Go to Settings. Tap Privacy. Tap next to Private Account to make your account private.
