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4. Instagram reposts: how the repost button works and who sees it

> How Instagram's repost button works since August 2025: where reposts appear, who sees them, how creators get credit, and how to turn reposting off.

Page: https://socipro.com/blog/instagram-reposts-explained  
Updated: 2026-10-09  

# Instagram reposts: how the repost button works and who sees it

How Instagram's repost button works since August 2025: where reposts appear, who sees them, how creators get credit, and how to turn reposting off.

[**Eleanor Whitmore** 
Content Lead, Instagram and TikTok](https://socipro.com/authors/eleanor-whitmore)Published October 9, 2026 · 7 min read

The short answer

Instagram's repost button lets you reshare public reels and feed posts. A repost is credited to the original creator, may be recommended to your followers in their feeds, and sits in a separate reposts tab on your profile. You can't repost a repost, and creators can choose whether others may repost their content.

Key facts

- Instagram launched reposts for public reels and feed posts on August 6, 2025, alongside the map and the Friends tab.
- Reposts are credited to the original poster and may be recommended to the reposter's followers, even if they don't follow the creator.
- Reposts appear in a dedicated tab on the reposter's profile and can be deleted one by one or in bulk.
- Only content posted by the original creator can be reposted; a repost can't be reposted again.
- Instagram's insights API reports reposts per post, minus reposts that were later deleted.

For most of Instagram’s history there was no repost button. People screenshotted posts into stories, used third-party apps, or downloaded and re-uploaded clips with a credit in the caption. On August 6, 2025, Instagram added a native repost feature alongside the Instagram map and the Friends tab in Reels.

Reposts work differently from sharing to your story and from sending in a DM. This guide explains what happens when someone taps the button, who sees the result, and what it means if you are the creator being reposted.

## What does the repost button do?

According to Meta’s announcement and Instagram’s help center:

- You can repost **public reels and feed posts**.
- Your repost is **credited to the original poster**.
- Reposts **may be recommended in your friends’ and followers’ feeds**.
- They live in a **dedicated reposts tab on your profile**, so you can find them later.
- You can **add a short note** to a repost.
- You **can’t repost a repost**. Only content posted by the original creator can be reposted.
- You can **manage or bulk delete** your reposts from the reposts tab.

Instagram’s help page also notes that the feature “may not be available to everyone,” and it isn’t available on computers.

Reposts are also a number you can buy. If you [buy Instagram reposts](https://socipro.com/buy-instagram-reposts) on Socipro, the order adds reposts to a post you link and the count shows in your insights. Premium includes a refill window if delivered reposts later drop. What a bought repost can’t do is put your post in front of a real person’s followers the way a genuine repost does, because the reposting accounts don’t have an audience that knows them.

## Who sees a repost?

| Who | Do they see it? | Where |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The reposter’s followers | Possibly | Recommended in their feed |
| The reposter’s friends | Possibly | Feed, and the Friends tab in Reels |
| Anyone visiting the reposter’s profile | Yes | Reposts tab |
| People who don’t follow the original creator | Possibly | Through the reposter’s followers |
| The original creator’s followers | As usual | The original post is unchanged |

“Possibly” is doing real work in that table. A repost doesn’t push a notification to every follower. It becomes one more item Instagram can recommend, and the reposter’s followers see it if the feed ranking decides they should.

The Friends tab adds a second route. Meta’s August 2025 announcement says the tab shows public content your friends have interacted with, and lists reposting among those interactions alongside liking, commenting and creating.

## How is a repost different from other ways to share?

| Action | Creator shown | Public on your profile | Lasts | Who can see it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Repost | Yes, credited automatically | Yes, reposts tab | Until you delete it | Followers and profile visitors |
| Share to story | Yes, viewers can open the original account | No | 24 hours | Your story viewers |
| Send in a DM | The original post opens | No | In the chat | The people you sent it to |
| Download and re-upload | Only if you write it | Yes, as your own post | Until removed | Anyone, but see the originality rules |

The last row is the one to avoid. On April 30, 2026, Instagram extended its originality rules from reels to photos and carousels. Accounts that mainly post content they didn’t create are no longer recommended, and adding only a credit, border or watermark doesn’t count as making it original. The repost button exists precisely so you can share other people’s work without looking like an aggregator.

## What do reposts do for the original creator?

Meta’s announcement says it directly: “if your content is reposted by someone else, it may be recommended to that person’s followers, even if those people don’t follow you.”

That makes a repost a route to new audiences that a like isn’t. A like tells Instagram one person enjoyed a post. A repost puts the post in a new context: the reposter’s feed, with their name next to it and often their note on top.

For creators it also changes what to make. Posts that people repost tend to say something the reposter agrees with or wants to be associated with: a clear opinion, a useful checklist, a well-made piece of local news. Our guide to [Instagram shares and sends](https://socipro.com/blog/instagram-shares-and-sends) covers the private side of sharing, which Instagram’s head has called one of the strongest signals for reaching non-followers.

## Can you stop people from reposting your posts?

Yes. Instagram’s help center describes a setting that lets you choose whether or not to allow reposts of your content, so you can switch it off if you’d rather your posts stay only on your own profile.

Some related controls:

- **Private accounts.** Only public posts can be reposted. Instagram also says that for private accounts, no one can reuse any part of your reels, videos or photos.
- **Reuse settings.** On a public account you can turn off reuse in remix, sequence, templates and stickers for your whole account or for single posts.
- **Reporting.** If a repost breaks the rules, long-press the profile picture on the repost and report it.

## How do you see how often a post was reposted?

The repost count belongs to the post’s owner. Meta’s developer documentation lists a `reposts` metric for Instagram media, defined as “the number of reposts on the IG media minus the number of deleted reposts.” That means the figure can go down if people remove their reposts later.

When you review a post, read reposts next to sends and saves. All three say people found the post worth passing on or keeping. A post with an unusually high repost count is a format to repeat.

## How can a business use reposts?

Reposts give a business a way to show other people’s posts about it without asking for files or permission to re-upload.

- **A shop** can repost customers’ public posts that feature its products. The customer keeps the credit, and the shop’s reposts tab becomes a gallery of people using what it sells.
- **An event organizer** can repost performers’ and attendees’ reels from the night, with a note thanking them. Each performer gets reach to the organizer’s followers.
- **A venue or restaurant** can repost a local creator’s review reel. The creator’s name stays on it, which reads as more credible than the venue praising itself.
- **A brand with partners** can repost its partners’ launches, which costs nothing and builds goodwill.

One caution. If a creator was paid or given free products for a post, the post itself should already carry the paid partnership disclosure. Reposting it doesn’t remove that duty or replace it.

## Why would a repost count go down?

Because Meta counts reposts net of deletions. Anyone who reposted your post can remove it from their reposts tab at any time, one by one or in a bulk clean-up, and the count drops by one each time. People tidy their tabs the way they unfollow accounts: quietly, in batches.

A repost also depends on the reposting account. If that account is deleted or removed by Instagram, its reposts go with it.

So a slow decline over months is normal and says little about the post. A sharp drop within days of delivery on a paid order is different. That is the case Socipro’s Premium refill window covers, inside the window shown on the service page.

## Should you repost other people’s posts on your account?

In moderation, yes. A reposts tab full of relevant posts from your niche tells visitors what you care about. It also builds goodwill with the creators you repost, who see their work reaching new people with credit.

Keep your own posts as the core of the profile, though. Reposts live in their own tab, so they don’t replace original posts on your grid. If your growth depends on being recommended, original work is what keeps the account eligible. For the wider picture, see [how the Instagram algorithm works](https://socipro.com/blog/how-instagram-reels-algorithm-works) and our other [Instagram guides](https://socipro.com/blog/instagram).

### Sources (6)

1. [New Instagram Features to Help You Connect (Meta, Aug 6, 2025)](https://about.fb.com/news/2025/08/new-instagram-features-help-you-connect/)
2. [How to repost a reel or a post on Instagram (Instagram Help Center)](https://help.instagram.com/1743992069496286/)
3. [Who can see and share your reels on Instagram (Instagram Help Center)](https://help.instagram.com/1392551434468488)
4. [Reuse of media on Instagram (Instagram Help Center)](https://help.instagram.com/652943337035777)
5. [Instagram Media Insights reference (Meta for Developers)](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/instagram-platform/reference/instagram-media/insights/)
6. [Rewarding original creators on Instagram (Instagram for Creators, Apr 30, 2026)](https://creators.instagram.com/blog/rewarding-original-creators-on-instagram)

## Frequently asked questions

### Can you repost on Instagram from a private account?

Only public reels and posts can be reposted, so posts on a private account can't be reposted by anyone. Instagram's help center adds that nobody can reuse any part of a private account's reels, videos or photos in remixes or templates either. If you want other people to repost your work, the account has to be public.

### Does reposting count as stealing someone's content?

No. The repost button keeps the original creator's name on the post and credits them, which is why Instagram built it. Downloading someone's reel and uploading it as your own is different: Instagram treats that as unoriginal, and accounts that mainly do it lose recommendation eligibility. Use the button, not a re-upload.

### Do my followers get notified when I repost?

Instagram doesn't describe a separate alert. Its announcement says reposts are recommended into your friends' and followers' feeds, and they sit in the reposts tab on your profile. Whether a given follower sees your repost depends on the same ranking that decides what appears in their feed, so not every follower will see every repost.

### Can I add a comment to my Instagram repost?

Yes, a short note. When you repost, a thought bubble appears by your profile picture at the bottom left of the reel or post. Tap it, type your note and tap Save. The note travels with your repost, which is a good place to say why you're sharing it.

Eleanor WhitmoreContent Lead, Instagram and TikTokEleanor Whitmore writes Socipro's Instagram, TikTok and local guides. The platform guides cover how Reels, Explore and the For You feed choose what to show and how a LIVE gets its first viewers. The local guides cover posting times by time zone and the ad-disclosure rules in each country Socipro serves.

Socipro sells the services mentioned in this article. How we write and check our guides: [editorial policy](https://socipro.com/editorial-policy).

In this article

- The short answer
- What does the repost button do?
- Who sees a repost?
- How is a repost different from other ways to share?
- What do reposts do for the original creator?
- Can you stop people from reposting your posts?
- How do you see how often a post was reposted?
- How can a business use reposts?
- Why would a repost count go down?
- Should you repost other people’s posts on your account?
- Sources
- FAQ

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