How to paste a link in instagram story

Instagram Story links are one of the many ways you can customize your posts. When Story links were first launched, they took the form of a swipe-up feature, and were only available to Instagram accounts with more than 10,000 followers. 

The swipe-up feature is no more (except for sponsored story ads), and has been replaced with a link sticker that is available to all users. 

In this article, we'll go over what Instagram Story link stickers are, how to use them, and what to use them for.

What are Instagram Story link stickers? 

Like other types of stickers on Instagram — such as location, polls, and questions — Instagram Story link stickers are another way to personalize your Story posts. 

Unlike the now-retired swipe-up feature, which was only available for accounts with more than 10,000 followers, the Story link sticker is available to all. 

It can be used to share links to products, YouTube videos, or online articles like this one.

How to add a link to your Instagram Story

1. In the Instagram app home tab, tap the plus sign on your profile icon at the top-left of the screen, or swipe right.

2. Select a photo or video from your phone library, or tap Create to build a post from a blank background.

3. Tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen.

How to paste a link in instagram story
How to paste a link in instagram story

The button on iOS (left) and the menu item on Android (right).

If you don't want the web link to play your story wherever you copied it from, but instead want it to always play at the beginning, you can just share your base story link. By doing so, the link will always work, opening up whatever story you have for the day versus a specific one — unless you don't have any public stories available.

To get your base story link, just swap out "YOURUSERNAME" with your username below. Or when you copy your link via "Copy Link," delete all the stuff after your username and you've got a permanent story link to share.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/YOURUSERNAME

Sharing a Link to a Specific Story

Copying your story link may be a little more work than necessary when you can just share the link instead. To do that, you can tap "More," then "Save Link" to open the share menu and pick an app to post it to, but we've only seen that option on Android so far. Hopefully, it hits iPhone users soon.

How to paste a link in instagram story
How to paste a link in instagram story

The "Share Link" option is only on Android right now from what we can tell.

Opening Someone Else's Story Link

Let's say you receive an Instagram story link. What happens when you open it? If you have Instagram installed on your device, the link will open up the app automatically, taking you right to the point in the story that the link goes to. Easy, right?

If you don't have the app installed, the link will open Instagram in your mobile browser. No big deal but you'll need to be already signed in before being able to view the linked story. If you need to sign in first, you'll need to tap on or paste the story link again to open it.

However, if you don't have permission to view the story, whether because the poster's account is private, the story's for Close Friends only, the story has expired, or there is no story for the current day. In those cases, you'll see "Story Unavailable."

How to paste a link in instagram story
How to paste a link in instagram story

Trying to view a Close Friends story on iOS unsuccessfully.

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How do you put a link in an Instagram story?

How to Add Links to Your Stories.
Capture or upload content to your story..
Select the sticker tool from the top navigation bar..
Tap the “Link” sticker to add your desired link and tap “Done”.
Place the sticker on your story — like our other stickers — and tap on the sticker to see color variations..

Why can't I add a link to my Instagram story?

How do I get qualified to add links to Instagram stories? There are currently only two ways to “earn” the option to add links into Instagram stories: Either have 10,000+ followers or have a verified account. Links in Instagram stories were originally only available to users with a huge number of followers.
Q: Can you put a link in an Instagram post? A: Instagram does not hyperlink URLs in a post caption unless you are running paid advertising. However, Instagram does allow you to hyperlink to a website within Stories using the “Link” sticker, from the Instagram bio, as well as through Instagram Direct Messages (DMs).