How to Add Still Photo to Instagram Reels

You can make Instagram Reels with photos in four different ways. Let’s check them out.

1. Add Photos Directly to Instagram Reels

Earlier, Instagram didn’t let you add photos directly to Instagram Reels. You would get the ‘Photos are not supported in Reels’ error when you clicked on the Gallery option. Fortunately, that has changed and now you can add pictures directly to Instagram Reels. Before we move ahead, I would recommend you update the Instagram app on your Android phone or iPhone.

  1. After updating the app, launch the Instagram app and go to the Reels screen.
  2. Tap on the Gallery icon usually present at the bottom-right corner. Open the folder from which you want to add a photo by clicking the small down arrow at the top. Tap on the photo that you want to add to your Reel.
  3. On the next screen, adjust the length of the video created using the still photo. Hold and drag the extreme corners of the slider to adjust the length. Tap on the Add button to add it to your Reel. You will be taken to the recording screen. Now, if you want to add more photos to your Reel, repeat the above steps. That is, tap on the Gallery button and select the required photo or video from your Gallery.
  4. In case you want to add multiple photos to your Reel, tap on the Select multiple icon when you have to choose photos. If the Select multiple icon isn’t available, touch and hold any of the photos. The selection circle will appear on the image. Tap on the photos that you want to select. Tap on Next to go to the editing screen. Here you will be able to adjust the video length of photos one by one. Once you have added all photos, you can later add text, music, and audio to your Reels.

2. Add Photos to Reels Using Instagram Story

If the above method doesn’t work, Instagram Stories can help you in adding photos to Reels. That is possible by adding the Music Sticker to Story. To put it in perspective, when you add the Music Sticker to your photo in Instagram Story and download it, it’s downloaded in the video format without any music. However, you will need to hide the Music Sticker from your view for better results. Here are the steps:

  1. Go to the Instagram Story creation screen and tap on the Gallery icon to add the required photo.
  2. Tap on the Sticker icon and choose Music.
  3. Tap on any song to add it from the available options. On the next screen, you can choose between various Music sticker designs. Tap on the smallest one because it will be easier to hide. Hit the Done option.
  4. Drag the Music Sticker to any of the edges so that it seems hidden. Tap on the Download icon to save the photo as a video on your phone.
  5. Go to the Reels screen and upload the downloaded video to your Reel using the Gallery icon.

3.  Add Effects to Still Photos for Instagram Reels

If you feel that photos still look slightly boring in Reels, you can add an animated effect to them using the Instagram Story feature.

  1. Start by selecting the required photo in the Instagram Story mode.
  2. Now to add life to your still photos, tap on the Effects icon and choose the filter of your choice. Hit the Done button.
  3. After adding an animated effect, tap on the Download icon to save the photo with the animated filter to your phone.
  4. Then upload the video to your Reel.

4. Take Screen Recording of Photo

If the above methods don’t solve your problem of adding photos to Instagram Reels, there’s another workaround. But you will need to take a screen recording of your photo. You can do that by using the native screen recording feature available on your phone or by using third-party apps. Let’s check how to do so on Android and iPhone. Steps for iPhone

  1. On iPhone, open the required photo using the Apple Photos or any other Gallery app.
  2. With the photo in a full-screen view, launch Control Center either by swiping up from the bottom or by swiping down depending on your iPhone model.
  3. Tap on the Screen Recording button to start recording.
  4. Minimize Control Center to go to the photo. Capture a screen recording of a few seconds. Then tap on the red bar at the top and hit the Stop recording option. The video will be downloaded to your iPhone. Upload the video to your Reel. In case you don’t find the Screen Recorder option in Control Center, go to iPhone Settings > Control Center. Tap on the green add (+) icon next to Screen Recording to show it in Control Center. Steps for Android On Android 11 and above, you will find the Screen Recorder option in Quick settings.
  5. Open the photo using the Gallery app on your Android phone.
  6. Tap on the Screen Recorder option to start recording.
  7. Once done, open the Notification panel and hit the Stop button to save the video. Add the video created from the photo to your Reel on Instagram. If your phone doesn’t support screen recording, use free video editing apps such as InShot to make a video out of a picture or download free screen recording apps. Third-party video editing apps make it easy to create a Reel from multiple pictures as well. Download Inshot Android | iPhone

Wrap Up: Making Reels on Instagram With Photos

We hope you were able to add photos to Reels on Instagram using the above methods. While the first method should be enough, other methods come to your rescue if the original doesn’t work. To further spruce up your Instagram game, you can use free Reel editing apps to create interesting and unique videos.