Add a link sticker to your Instagram story

Instagram's Help Center and its story guide, posted on 2 July 2026, describe the same route. Your screens may differ slightly, because the two pages word the first tap differently.

1. Tap + in the top right of the app, or swipe right from Feed, to open the story camera.
2. Take a photo or video, or tap the gallery icon at the bottom left to upload one.
3. Tap the sticker icon in the top toolbar to open the sticker tray. The Help Center calls it Stickers.
4. Tap Link and paste your URL. Instagram says to tap See preview below the link to check how it will look when someone opens it.
5. Tap Done, drag the sticker where you want it, then tap Your story to share.

Anyone who can see your story can tap the sticker, and it can lead to any address outside Instagram. To take a sticker off, drag it to Delete at the bottom of the screen, which is Instagram's way of removing any sticker.

Instagram's story guide says you can customize the text on a link sticker so the link feels inviting. It does not write out which tap opens the text, so look for a text field when you paste the link, or tap the sticker once it sits on the story.

Say what the person gets, in a few words: the recipe, the booking page, the price list. Instagram's October 2021 announcement said it was still working on ways to customize the sticker, so if your app offers no text option, update it first.

Once the sticker is placed on your story, tap it to see color variations. That instruction comes from Instagram's announcement of 27 October 2021, and it is the most recent Instagram description we found. Instagram's July 2026 guide does not repeat it, and neither page lists the colors.

Choose the one that reads best against your photo. If tapping does nothing in your app, update it: Instagram's sticker article says not all stickers are available to everyone, and it tells people to install the latest version when a sticker is missing.

Instagram's Help Center says story Insights count sticker taps and link taps inside Interactions, and that you need a public account, personal or professional, to see them.

As of 14 October 2026, the Help Center path for a live story is to tap your profile picture at the top of Feed or your profile to open it, tap Activity, then tap Insights. For an older story, go to your profile, tap More to reach Settings and activity, then tap Insights below For professionals, or Your dashboard below Your insights and tools on a personal account. Tap Content you shared, then tap the story.

Instagram keeps story Insights for up to two years, although the story itself expires after 24 hours, and it says reported numbers can be delayed while they fill in. Its article lists link taps as part of Interactions and describes no separate link-tap screen. Insights shows taps, not what people did after they landed, so use your own site's analytics for that.

Work down this list in order. Every item comes from Instagram's own pages, read on 14 October 2026.

Check you are eligible. Instagram's announcement of 27 October 2021 opened the link sticker to all accounts, with two exceptions: new accounts, and accounts that repeatedly share content that breaks the Community Guidelines. It does not say how new is new. To see whether a feature has been withdrawn from your account, open Account Status: on a phone, go to your profile, tap Menu, and look for it below More info and support, where Instagram lists Features you can't use.

Update the app. Instagram's sticker article says to update to the latest version if a sticker is missing, and notes that not all stickers are available to everyone or on reels. If you are in the reel editor, switch to a story.

Make sure it is an organic story. Instagram says link stickers work only in organic stories. A boosted story cannot contain one, and a partnership ad cannot be made from a story that carries one.

Rule out a glitch. Instagram's troubleshooting page suggests restarting your phone, trying both Wi-Fi and mobile data, and reinstalling the app. It says your photos and profile information are saved by Instagram when you reinstall.

The link ends with the story. Instagram says stories disappear after 24 hours unless you add them to a Highlight. We found no Instagram page saying whether a link sticker keeps working once a story is saved to a Highlight, so test it before you rely on it.

One sticker, one address. Instagram's article describes entering a single URL per sticker. We found no statement about adding several link stickers to one story, so check in your app.

No benchmark. Instagram publishes no tap rate for link stickers, and we do not quote one from anywhere else.

The text and color screens are undocumented. Instagram mentions customizing the text and tapping for color variations, and writes out neither screen in full.

A note on regions. The top of Instagram's sticker article says a feature there may be unavailable in Japan and in Europe, without saying which one. We could not confirm whether it covers the link sticker.

Paths come from the Help Center as read on 14 October 2026. Instagram changes menus without notice.

If you want the link to outlast the story, a story reply route does that. With inDM's story reply automation, someone replies to your story with a keyword and the link arrives in their DMs, where it stays. The link sticker glossary entry covers the basics, and story replies that convert covers the wording.