How to schedule Instagram posts for your venue

What you need before you schedule

• A public account. Instagram's help centre says you must have a public account to schedule from the app.
• A business or creator account, if you want to use Meta Business Suite. More on choosing between them below.
• The post, ready to go. Your photo, carousel or video, and the caption.

Two limits are worth knowing. You can schedule up to 25 posts a day, and up to 30 days in advance. Scheduled posts keep the privacy and audience settings you had at the moment you scheduled them.

Some features do not work with scheduling at the moment: product tagging, collaborative posts, sponsored posts and fundraisers. If you are planning a collaborative post with a supplier, a brewery or the band playing on Saturday, publish that one live.

How to schedule a post in the Instagram app

This is the quickest way to schedule IG posts, and it works for single photos, carousels and reels.

1. Tap Create in the top left, or swipe right anywhere in your Feed. Then tap Post or Reel.
2. Choose your photo or video (or several, for a carousel), then tap Next.
3. Add your caption, plus any effects or filters.
4. Tap More options.
5. Turn on Schedule this post (or Schedule this reel) and choose the date and time.
6. Tap Done, then tap Back.
7. Tap Schedule.

Instagram then publishes the post at the time you chose.

Find, change or post early

To see what you have booked in, go to your profile, tap Menu in the top right and, under Your insights and tools, tap Scheduled content. Tap Options next to a post, then choose Delete, Edit post, Reschedule or Share now.

You can reach the same list another way: tap Create, choose Post or Reel, then tap Scheduled.

How to schedule Instagram posts from a computer

Instagram's help centre describes scheduling in the app. On a computer, the route Meta documents is Meta Business Suite, which is free. You need a business or creator account for it. You can connect that account to your Facebook Page, or sign in to Business Suite with your Instagram account on its own.

1. Go to business.facebook.com and click Create post, from the home page or the Content tab.
2. Under Post to, choose your Instagram account. Add your Facebook Page as well if you want the post on both.
3. Under Media, add your photos. Business Suite allows up to ten photos in an Instagram post.
4. Under Post details, write your caption. You can customise the text separately for Instagram and Facebook.
5. Under Scheduling options, choose the date and time. Active times suggests times based on when your followers were most active over the past seven days.
6. Click Schedule.

For a reel, click Create reel instead. When you post to Instagram, Business Suite needs a video: it cannot make an Instagram reel from photos, or edit a reel made from a video. Choose to schedule it, set the time and click Schedule.

Everything you book in shows in Planner, in a week or month view. To reschedule or edit, go to Content, open the Posts and reels tab, then Scheduled, select the post, click the three-dot icon and choose Manage post.

There is a phone version too. In the Meta Business Suite app, tap Content, choose Posts, Reels or Stories, tap Create, add your media, tap Next, then tap Schedule for later, pick the date and time and tap Schedule.

Reels, carousels and stories: what can you schedule?

A few details behind that table:

• Carousels. Instagram allows up to 20 photos and videos in a carousel, but Business Suite's help page gives a limit of ten photos for Instagram posts made there. For a long menu carousel, schedule it in the app.
• Reels. Both routes can schedule reels. If you need ideas worth scheduling, see our reels ideas for restaurants and pubs.
• Stories. Business Suite schedules stories on a computer (click Create story, add up to ten photos or videos, then choose Schedule) and in its phone app. Instagram's own 2026 guide to using stories says eligible accounts can also schedule a story in the Instagram app: create it in the Stories camera as usual, tap the three dots before sharing, tap Schedule and pick a date and time. Instagram adds that the path may shift as the app updates. Its help centre's scheduling page covers only posts and reels, so if you cannot see the option, use Business Suite.

If the schedule option is missing

Work through these in order:

• Is the account public? Scheduling in the app needs a public account.
• Does the post use a feature that cannot be scheduled? Instagram says product tagging, collaborative posts, sponsored posts and fundraisers are not compatible with scheduling. Take them off, or post that one live.
• Is the date too far ahead? The app schedules up to 30 days in advance, and up to 25 posts a day.
• Is it a story? The help centre's scheduling page covers posts and reels. If the app does not offer the option for a story, use Business Suite.
• Still stuck? Try Business Suite on a computer, which needs a business or creator account.

Business or creator account: which does your venue need?

For scheduling in the app, Instagram only asks for a public account. For Business Suite, you need a professional account, which Instagram sets up as either business or creator. Instagram says business accounts are best for retailers, local businesses, brands, organisations and service providers, and creator accounts suit public figures, content producers, artists and influencers. For a pub, restaurant, cafe or hotel, business is the natural fit.

Both types include insights into who your followers are and when they are online. Our guide to the best time to post on Instagram in the UK shows how to use them.

Two things to know before you switch:

• Professional accounts cannot be private. If your account is private now, switching makes it public.
• Connecting a Facebook Page is optional. It lets Business Suite show your Page and Instagram as one profile, and Meta needs the two connected before you can cross-post between them in Business Suite.

To switch in the app, go to your profile and tap More to open Settings and activity. Under For professionals, tap Account type and tools, then Switch to professional account. Pick the category that best describes you, tap Switch to professional account, choose Business and tap Next. You can change the account type again at any time.

Plan a month at once

The 30-day window is long enough to plan a whole month in one sitting, which is far easier than posting on the fly during a busy service.

1. Pick a quiet hour at the start of each month.
2. Mark the fixed points: events, menu changes, weekly regulars, bank holidays.
3. Choose a format for each: carousels for menus and new dishes, reels for behind the scenes, stories for on-the-day reminders.
4. Schedule them, then leave room for live posts when something happens worth sharing.
5. Give people somewhere to go. A link in bio page gives followers one place to book, see menus and find events.