Add music to Instagram Stories

Open up the Instagram app and tap the Plus button to create your Story as usual. If you’ve not used the feature before, then take a quick look at our guide on how to use Instagram Stories.

Capture the image you want to use, then tap the Sticker icon at the top of the page. You’ll be presented with various options, but the one you’ll need to select is Music.

This opens up a long list of tracks that you can use with Instagram Stories. Either scroll through them to see what’s on offer or you can use the search field at the top to find a song that matches your image. Alternatively you can tap on Browse if you don’t want to use any of the recommended songs. Tracks can be previewed at any time by tapping the play button to the right of their name.

Once you’ve chosen the track, you’ll see and hear it displayed with your image. At the bottom of the screen is a bar that shows when and where the track starts and stops. You can have a maximum of 15 seconds with Stories, so slide the bar back and forth to position the tune in the place that best suits your image.

Just above the box you’ll see a circle with a number inside (usually 15). This indicates how many seconds will play (essentially how big the box is) and you can change this to make it shorter if you prefer. Tap the circle then use the menu to select how many seconds you want to play. You can still move the box once you’ve done this, and it’s a great way to stop a track suddenly ending in the middle of a note or melody.

When you’re happy with how everything lines up, tap the Next button then hit Share to add it to your Stories.

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Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews for Macworld and its sister site Tech Advisor.