The Ultimate Instagram Carousel Guide:  You Can’t Miss in 2025

Think Reels have overweighted Instagram carousel? Not quite.
While videos dominate the feed, carousel still gives you a chance to stand out, keep followers swiping, and drive real results for your business. Instagram carousels let individuals, creators, and brands share multiple images or videos in one post, perfect for storytelling, tutorials, or product showcases. 

In this guide, you’ll learn how to master Instagram carousels in 2025, including:

• What is an Instagram carousel
• Does Instagram carousel still work in 2025?
• Instagram carousel dimensions
• How to make a carousel on Instagram
• How to schedule an Instagram carousel post
• 6 best Instagram carousel ideas & examples
• 8 best tips when creating an Instagram carousel

Let’s discover everything you need to know to make your Instagram carousels work best for your brand.

---

What Is a Carousel on Instagram?

First things first, let’s define what a carousel post exactly is.

An Instagram carousel is a post format that allows you to share up to 20 photos and videos in a single, swipeable format. It works like a mini slideshow or photo album, letting you stack multiple pieces of content in one post. 

You can mix and match photos and videos in your Instagram carousel, or stick to one format. Either way, the post appears like any other on your profile, with small dots at the bottom signaling there’s more to see. Each swipe keeps people interacting, thus making them engaged for longer periods, which can help boost your post’s reach in the algorithm.

As this Instagram post format allows you to include multiple pieces of media, it’s great for:

• Telling your brand story
• Sharing how-to guides
• Showcasing products from different angles or in various scenarios
• Emphasizing important details or features of a product or service
• Creating a swipe-through story experience

---

Why Use Instagram Carousel in Your Content Strategy in 2025?

In fact, Instagram carousels are more than just a post format; they’re a great tool for engaging your audience. Here’s why Instagram carousels should be a key part of your content strategy in 2025:

• Carousel can boost your post’s reach. Essentially, a post featuring multiple pieces of media encourages more interactions than a single-photo post. Moreover, as Mosseri, Head of Instagram, explains, if someone doesn’t swipe your carousel, Instagram may give your post a second chance by showing the next slide to that viewer. And lastly, adding music makes carousels eligible for the Reels tab, giving your content an extra boost in reach.
• Instagram carousels help build a deeper emotional connection with your audience: They stand out among video-heavy feeds, allowing followers to swipe and engage at their own pace.
• The Instagram carousel feature diversifies your content: Carousels add variety to your content, offering a mix of photos, tips, and different content types in one post.
• Carousels give you the space to break down your product features in detail, thus showing your products more effectively. For example, The Ordinary does this with their keychain-sized product, showing it from various angles. Their caption, “The key(chain) to smoother, brighter skin. Want a nia-mini-mide?”, cleverly ties the product to its benefits, making it fun and encouraging followers to engage.

• While videos often need to move fast, carousels allow Instagram users to slow things down and keep them longer on your post. Multi-image posts are great for breaking down educational content into smaller, digestible pieces that keep your audience engaged.

---

Instagram Carousel Size Guide

Getting the right image and video dimensions for Instagram carousel is an important part of social media content planning. Whether you’re sharing a product showcase or telling a story, the correct Instagram carousel dimensions ensure your content looks professional and performs well. Below are the optimal specs for Instagram carousel posts:

Image dimensions for Instagram carousel

• Landscape: 1080 × 566 pixels (Aspect ratio: 1.91:1)
• Portrait: 1080 × 1350 pixels (Aspect ratio: 4:5)
• Square: 1080 × 1080 pixels (Aspect ratio: 1:1)
• Optional image sizes: 1080 x 566-1350 pixels

Video specifications for Instagram carousel

• Length per slide: 3-60 seconds (up to a total of 20 minutes with 20 slides)
• Formats: .MP4 or .MOV
• Aspect ratios:
  • Landscape: 1.91:1
  • Square: 1:1
  • Portrait: 4:5
• Max file size: 4GB

---

How to Create an Instagram Carousel Post? – 7 Simple-Step Guide

Now that you know the perfect dimensions for Instagram carousels, creating your post becomes a simple process once your images or videos are ready.

Here is how to create a carousel Instagram post:

1. Open your Instagram and tap the + button at the bottom of your screen.
2. Select Post.
3. Tap the multi-item icon to enable carousel mode.
4. Select the images or videos you want to include in your carousel post.
5. Once done, tap Next.
6. Edit photos & videos: Apply filters, crop, and arrange them in your preferred order. Then, tap Next again.
7. Once everything is set, tap the Share button.

And that’s it, once finished, your Instagram carousel will go live, and your followers can see your post.

One of the most interesting things of Instagram’s algorithm is that Single-photo and Carousel posts are shown to your followers first, while Reels are shown to non-followers. However, your Instagram carousels can still appear in non-followers’ feeds if your content is public and matches their interests.

---

How to Schedule an Instagram Carousel Post

Publishing Instagram posts manually is simple, but not always efficient. As a busy social media manager or brand owner, consistency is key. That’s where scheduling comes in. Planning your content in advance helps you stay organized and post regularly, without scrambling at the last minute. 

The good news? Instagram now lets you schedule carousel posts directly from the app. 

Here’s how to schedule an Instagram carousel post:

1. Once your carousel is ready, head to the Share page and tap More options.
2. Toggle on the Schedule this post option.
3. Choose when you want your carousel to go live, then tap Done.
4. Back on the Share page, you’ll now see a Schedule button in place of Share. Tap it to confirm your scheduled post.

And that’s it. That’s how you can schedule your Instagram carousel to free you up from the fear of posting at the right time.

---

6 Best Ideas & Examples for Your Next Instagram Carousel

Now that you understand why carousels are so effective and how to create them, it’s time to explore creative ways to use them. Here are 8 Instagram carousel content ideas, along with examples, to inspire your next posts and keep your audience swiping for more.

1. Share story or milestones 

Use carousels to showcase your brand’s journey, milestones, or achievements. Post photos or videos from your beginnings to current highlights. This approach humanizes your brand and builds a stronger connection with your audience.

2. Show product details

An Instagram carousel post gives you the room to show followers a closer look at your products with close-up shots highlighting textures, colors, or features. This works especially well for fashion, tech, or travel brands. Always use high-quality visuals for maximum impact.

Example: Tiffany & Co. showcases the Seahorse Necklace from Blue Book 2025: Sea of Wonder, highlighting its intricate craftsmanship, moonstone strand, and sparkling diamonds and sapphires.

3. Make listicles

When you’re unsure what to post next on Instagram, turning a blog post or existing content into a multi-slide listicle is a quick and effective solution. Listicle carousels keep your audience swiping, repurpose valuable content, and can boost engagement across your feed.

You can create listicles from scratch, too. Some popular ideas include:

• Top product features or benefits
• Checklists or step-by-step processes
• Industry best practices
• Actionable tips
• Common mistakes and how to avoid them
• Breakdowns of complex concepts
• Customer FAQs

4. Post how-to tutorials

Step-by-step guides or tutorials perform well in carousel format. It allows you to break down complex tasks or show how to use your product with a step-by-step guide. 

You can use them for makeup tutorials, DIY projects, recipe walkthroughs, or any process that benefits from visual guidance. Carousels make it easy for your audience to follow along, slide by slide, and fully understand each step.

For example: Influencer sophie.healthness shares 8 ways to romanticize each day, guiding followers with simple, actionable steps in a swipe-through carousel.

5. Before & after scenes

Show transformations with before-and-after posts. Whether it’s a makeover, home renovation, or product result, carousel posts spark curiosity and keep people swiping to see the final outcome. You don’t need all 10 slides; 2–3 can work too.

6. Post an event or launch recap

You can also use Instagram carousels to share event highlights and recaps. You can use multiple slides to show behind-the-scenes moments, keynote speeches, guest interactions, or product showcases from your event. This keeps your audience engaged and lets them experience the event as if they were there.

Look how Fenty Beauty uses carousel to recap their participation at Copenhagen Fashion Week. They share how guests visited Fenty’s styling lounge, enjoyed a glam moment, and left glowing with the iconic Fenty touch.

---

8 Best Practices When Creating Instagram Carousels

To get the most out of your Instagram carousel posts in 2025, keep these best practices in mind:

1. Start strong with the first slide: Your first image is your hook, so make it count. Use an eye-catching visual, bold text, or an engaging question that stops the scroll.
2. Use at least three images or videos: Carousels perform best when they tell a story. Use a minimum of three slides to build momentum and keep users swiping.
3. Use bold, high-impact visuals: Instagram is fast-moving. Sharp photos, clear graphics, and strong visual contrast help grab attention quickly.
4. Add clear, readable text to each slide: Smart use of text helps guide your audience through the story and keeps them engaged longer. Use short, bold headlines or key phrases to make each slide easy to follow, especially on mobile.
5. Add trending music to your carousel: Music can make your posts appear in the Reels tab. Moreover, using trendy sound can make your content more appealing, and even trigger algorithm favor, thus increasing reach and engagement.
6. Keep your visuals consistent: Use the same color palette, fonts, filters, and layout across all slides so the post feels cohesive and branded.
7. Tap into trends – carefully: If a visual trend or popular format aligns with your brand, use it! However, always ensure that the trend aligns with your voice and message.
8. Test, measure, and improve: Use Instagram Insights or third-party tools to track carousel performance. Pay attention to saves, shares, and swipe-through rates. Use that data to improve future posts.

---

Instagram Carousel – FAQs 

---

Get the Most Out of Instagram Carousel!

Instagram carousels are an incredibly powerful tool for engaging your audience and showcasing your brand’s story in 2025. Whether you’re using them to build emotional connections, share educational content, or highlight your products, carousels offer a versatile format to keep your audience swiping.

Instagram carousels are a great way to showcase your products, but you can maximize your reach by sharing them across multiple platforms, such as Google Shopping, Pinterest, and TikTok. This is where LitCommerce comes in. LitCommerce is a powerful product feed management tool that helps you easily list and manage your products on the most popular advertising platforms. LitCommerce is your ideal partner for boosting your online sales.