How to Make a Collage on Instagram Stories (2026 Guide)

Quick Answer: Use the Layout Tool in Stories

The fastest way to make a collage is Layout mode. Open the story camera, tap the Layout icon (a square split into a grid) in the left-hand menu, choose a grid, fill each section with a photo, then tap the check mark and share. If you want photos at different sizes or angles instead of a neat grid, use photo stickers or copy-paste, covered below.

Method 1: Layout Mode (Grid Collages)

1. Swipe right from your feed, or tap + and choose Story, to open the story camera.
2. In the menu on the left, tap Layout. If you only see a few icons, tap the small down arrow to show the rest.
3. Tap Change grid to pick a layout. The usual options are two photos side by side or stacked, three, four (a 2×2 grid) and six.
4. Fill the highlighted section: take a photo with the shutter button, or tap the gallery thumbnail in the bottom-left corner to pick one from your camera roll. Instagram moves to the next section automatically.
5. To adjust a photo, drag it to reposition it inside its cell or pinch to zoom. Tap a section and choose the bin icon to delete it and start that cell again.
6. When every section is filled, tap the check mark, add text, stickers or music, and share to Your story or Close Friends.

Grids work best when the photos share a theme or colour palette. A two-photo split is ideal for before-and-after shots, while a four or six grid suits a menu, a product drop or highlights from a weekend trip.

Method 2: Add Multiple Photos With the Sticker Tray

Photo stickers give you a freer, scrapbook-style collage. You start with one background and stack more photos on top, each of which you can move, resize and rotate.

1. Open the story camera and pick a background photo, or create a plain background. Our guide to filling a story background with a solid colour explains the long-press trick.
2. Tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen and choose the photo sticker (it shows a thumbnail from your camera roll).
3. Select a photo. It lands on your story as a sticker; pinch to resize, twist with two fingers to rotate, and drag to place it.
4. Tap the photo sticker to cycle through frame shapes such as rounded square, circle, heart and star.
5. Repeat for each extra photo, then add text or other stickers and share.

This method is the one to use if Layout is missing from your app, or when you want one large hero photo with a few smaller images around it.

Method 3: Freeform Collage With Copy-Paste

Copy-paste lets you move photos, and even cut-out subjects, straight from your phone's photo app into a story.

On iPhone (Photos app):

1. Open a photo in Photos, tap the Share button and choose Copy Photo. For a cut-out with no background, touch and hold the main subject and tap Copy.
2. Switch to Instagram and open your story in the editor. A pop-up offering to add the copied photo as a sticker often appears; tap it. If not, tap the text tool, touch and hold, and choose Paste.
3. Resize and position the image, then repeat for the next photo.

On Android (Gallery or Google Photos):

1. Open a photo and use Share › Copy (or Copy to clipboard, depending on your phone). On many Samsung and Pixel phones you can also touch and hold a subject to copy it as a cut-out.
2. In the story editor, tap the text tool and open your keyboard's clipboard, then tap the copied image to paste it.
3. Arrange the images and share.

Copy-paste depends on your phone's software and keyboard, so if pasting doesn't work, fall back to the photo sticker method above.

Sizing: Keep Every Photo Inside the Safe Zones

A story canvas is 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16). Instagram places your username, progress bar and reply field on top of the story, so anything in the top 250 pixels or the bottom 340 pixels can be partly hidden. Keep faces, prices and text in the middle of the frame, and leave a small gap between collage photos so they don't blur together on smaller screens.

If you build the collage in another app first, export it at 1080 × 1920 so Instagram doesn't crop or add borders. You can check your image dimensions and safe zones before uploading, or start from a pre-sized design in our free story template maker.

Collage Ideas That Get Replies

• This or that. Two products or outfits side by side, with a poll sticker asking followers to vote.
• Before and after. A renovation, a haircut or a garden makeover in a two-photo split. Clear transformations get a lot of reactions.
• Weekend recap. Four to six moments from a trip to Banff, a Toronto food crawl or a cottage weekend, with a question sticker asking for recommendations.
• Behind the scenes. For small businesses, show packing orders, the workspace and the finished product in one frame.
• Customer favourites. A grid of your best sellers or most-requested items, with a slider sticker so followers can rate them.

Once a collage story performs well, save it to a highlight so new visitors see it too. If you want a strong collage to reach more people early, our story view packages for Canadian accounts and Instagram video view options can add initial visibility alongside your organic reach.

FAQ: Instagram Story Collages