How to Share Someone Else’s Story on Instagram

Instagram Stories are only visible for a short amount of time. Unlike other social media platforms that make it easy to share or retweet another person’s original content, Instagram is tricky.

But, if you enjoy someone’s Instagram Story enough, you may want to show it off to other friends and followers. This article discusses how and when to share other users’ content on the platform.

How to Share an Instagram Story

There are various ways to share someone’s Instagram Story. However, there are also rules when doing so. Let’s get started!

How to Share an Instagram Story to Your Story

It is straightforward to share someone else’s Story on Instagram.

The ability to add someone’s Story to your own depends heavily on whether or not the creator tagged you. If the user didn’t tag you, there is no option to add the Story to yours.

There are certainly more options below, but for now, the topic is how to share someone else’s Instagram Story, assuming you got tagged in it.

1. Open Instagram and tap on the “paper airplane” (direct messages icon) in the upper right-hand corner.
   
2. Open the “tagging notification” you received when tagged in the Story.
   
3. Tap on “Add to Your Story” and select “Send” to publish the Story as usual.
   

How to Send a Story to Someone Else

You could still send an Instagram Story to another user if you weren’t tagged. While this doesn’t post the Story for everyone else to see, this method is helpful if you want to show it to a few friends.

The original poster must set their account to “Public,” or you won’t see the option to send it to another person.

To send an existing Story to another user on Instagram, do this:

1. Tap on the “Story” at the top of your screen.
   
2. Tap on the “paper airplane” icon to the right of the text box.
   
3. Tap “Send” next to each user you want to get the Story.
   

That’s all there is to it. If the paper airplane icon does not appear next to the text box, the other user likely has their account set to private, or they haven’t set the permissions to allow sharing.

Share Instagram Stories Externally using the ‘Share to’ Option

Another nifty function of Instagram is sharing a Story link using an external application. For example, if you want to show your friend a cute or funny Instagram Story, you can share the link via Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, Meta Messenger, or even the default “Messages” app. Here’s how to do it.

1. Tap on the “Instagram Story,” then tap on the “vertical ellipsis” (three vertical dots) in the upper right-hand corner.
   
2. Select “Share To…”
   
3. Choose the “application” you’d like to use.
   

When your friend taps on the link, Instagram opens it and takes them directly to the Story.

How to Copy and Share Instagram Stories

Copying other people’s Instagram Stories and sharing them with others is a little different than sharing it on the app or in a different one, such as Facebook Messenger, Twitter Direct Messages, your phone’s default messages app, etc. This process lets you copy the link and paste it anywhere you want, even in Notepad on Windows, although that is probably not what you would do. You can paste the link in text/SMS/MMS messages, social app messages, Facebook posts, and much more. Here’s how to do it.

1. Select the “Instagram Story” you want to copy, then tap the “vertical ellipsis” (three vertical dots) in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Choose “Copy Link.”
3. Launch the app you want to send the link in, such as Gmail, Meta (Facebook), Messenger, Twitter, Twitter Direct Message, Excel, Word, Snapchat, or anything else you want.

Setting Your Stories as Public to Make Them Shareable

Instagram Stories must get set to “Public” to reshare them—the default setting unless you manually change them to “Private.” Ideally, you should keep as much of your account public as practical and only go private if you’re having issues with someone. Otherwise, it defeats the object of being on social media.

A Public Instagram profile is available for anyone to see, and it will appear in searches and suggested lists. A Private account is viewable only by friends that you follow. If you don’t follow the other person, they cannot view your Private profile. It is not enough for them to follow you.

To set your account to public or private, do this:

1. Tap your “profile” icon on Instagram to access the Menu.
   
2. Select “Settings” then “Privacy.”
   
3. Choose “Account Privacy.”
   
4. Turn “Private Account” on or off, depending on your needs.
   

Your profile gets set to Public by default, so you only need to follow the above steps if changing to or from a private setting.

Tagging Someone on Instagram to Make a Story Shareable

The second key component in sharing someone’s post is getting tagged within it. You can only repost a Story when the other person tags you. So, how can you tag someone in Instagram Stories?

1. Create your “Story” as usual with an image, captions, titles, stickers, etc.
   
2. Select “any space” in the image and write an “@mention” using their username.
   

You can tag multiple people within a Story, and each one receives a notification of the action. You cannot prevent this notification, but you can prevent your Story from getting reposted.

---

In closing, reposting is a crucial aspect of social media but use it sparingly. Think of it as a gaming or dating app, and imagine you have only one or two swipes per day or week. Naturally, you would keep them in reserve until you find something exceptional or exciting to repost. If you Repost on Instagram too often, you will find yourself unfollowed or ignored, and nobody wants that on a social network!

Instagram Story/Post Sharing FAQs

Can I share someone’s post on my Instagram Story?

Yes, you can share someone’s post in your Story, as long as their account gets set to “Public.” Tap the paper airplane icon and select “Add post to your story.”

Your Story will then contain a clickable link to the post you’ve chosen to share. You can also share “Reels” by following the same steps.

How do I stop someone from sharing my Stories?

If you don’t want other users to share your Story, you can toggle the option off using Instagram’s Settings menu.

1. Tap on the “Profile icon.” Then, tap on the “hamburger icon” (three horizontal lines) in the upper right-hand corner.

2. Select “Settings.”

3. Tap on “Story,” then toggle the switch next to “Allow sharing to Story.”

You can also keep others from sharing your Story privately in messages by toggling the same switch.

Will I get a notification if someone shares my Story?

No. Instagram doesn’t notify its users if someone shares their Story.