Posting on Facebook and Instagram at the same time can save you a lot of time, but only if you do it right.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to post on both platforms at once, how Meta’s cross-posting works, and how to use SocialBee to publish and customize your posts from one place.

Meta’s limitations when cross-posting from Facebook to Instagram

Meta Business Suite does allow cross-posting between Facebook and Instagram, but the feature comes with several constraints:

• Accounts must be linked in Meta Accounts Center.
• You can’t share a Facebook post to Instagram after it’s already published.
• Only basic sharing is available; no scheduling posts.
• If your post has a link, you'll need to manually edit it on Instagram after cross-posting, since links aren't clickable there.
• Not all post types are supported, including:
  • Text-only posts
  • Live videos
  • Reshares
  • Posts with multiple videos or more than 10 images
  • Mixed image sizes or unsupported aspect ratios
  • Certain Facebook-only creative formats

How to connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts to SocialBee

Before you can auto-post to Facebook and Instagram at the same time from SocialBee, you need to connect both accounts. This is a one-time setup and only takes a few minutes.

• Go to your SocialBee dashboard.
• Scroll to the “Connect a new account” section.
• Click “+ Connect” under the Facebook or Instagram icon.

To connect Facebook accounts:

• Choose “Connect page” or “Connect personal profile.”

• Log in with your Meta account and click “Continue as [your username].”
• Select the Page or profile you want to connect.
• If connecting a Page, choose the Business(es) you want SocialBee to access.
• Review permissions and click “Save.”
• Select the Page and click “Connect account.”

To connect Instagram accounts:

• Choose the type of account you want to connect:
  • Professional Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page
  • Professional account connected via Instagram login
  • Personal Instagram account

• Complete the login using your Instagram credentials and finish the authorization process.
• Click “Connect account.”

Once connected, both accounts will appear in your SocialBee dashboard and will be ready for publishing.

How to automatically share posts from Facebook to Instagram simultaneously 

Posting on both Facebook and Instagram sounds simple until you actually do it. You either jump between apps, rewriting the same post twice, or you turn on cross-posting and hope it works everywhere.

Most of the time, it doesn’t. The same caption, links, and formatting won’t land the same way on both social media platforms.

What you really want is a way to create the post once, tweak it quickly for each platform, and publish everything without extra steps. That’s exactly what SocialBee helps you do. You stay in one place, adjust what matters, and move on.

How to share a Facebook post to Instagram and publish at the same time:

• Click “Create post” at the top of your SocialBee dashboard.

• Choose both your Facebook and Instagram accounts from the left menu.

• Turn on “Customize each” so you can edit the Facebook and Instagram versions separately.

• Select “Feed post” from the post type dropdown.

• Upload your media (photos and videos) by clicking on the image icon.

• If your feed post includes a video, click the thumbnail icon in the bottom-right corner of the video preview to choose or upload a custom thumbnail.

• Edit your visuals by cropping, resizing, or flipping them to fit each platform.

• If you added images to the Facebook Page version, click the text icon on each image to add alt text.

• Write your caption in the post editor, then adjust each version.
• Use the Hashtag Generator (wand + # icon) to generate Instagram hashtags, or click the # icon to insert saved hashtag collections.

• If you need help generating copy or visuals, click the “AI” icon.

• Format your captions with spacing, bold, italic, or emojis to improve readability.
• Mention Instagram profiles directly in the caption by typing “@” followed by the account’s username.
• To tag a Facebook Page, type “@” in the Facebook caption, and paste the Page handle. If the Page has no @handle, use the numeric ID from the end of its URL.

• (Instagram feature) Click the “Tag” icon on the post preview, enter the collaborator’s username, then click “Add collaborator.” You can add up to 5 collaborators, then click “I’m done tagging.”

• (Instagram feature) Click the location icon to add a location tag.

• Click “1st comment” to schedule a first comment at the same time as your posts.

• Add the posts to a category to keep content organized based on different topics or themes.

• Choose “Post now” to publish immediately or “Post at a specific time” to schedule it for later. SocialBee will suggest the best times based on your previous performance.

• If needed, enable “Re-queue after posting” or “Expire post.”

• Set the post status to “This is approved” or leave it as “This is a draft.”
• Click “Create post” to publish or schedule the post on both platforms.

How to share Reels to Facebook and Instagram at the same time:

• Click “Create post” at the top of your SocialBee dashboard.

• Choose both your Facebook and Instagram accounts from the left menu.

• Turn on “Customize each” so you can edit the Facebook and Instagram versions separately.

• Select “Reel” from the post type dropdown.

• Upload your video by clicking on the image icon.

• Click the thumbnail icon in the bottom-right corner of the video preview to choose or upload a custom thumbnail.

• Write your caption in the post editor, then adjust for each platform.
• Use the Hashtag Generator (wand + # icon) to generate Instagram hashtags, or click the # icon to insert saved hashtag collections.

• If you need help with copy or visuals, click the “AI” icon.

• Format your captions with spacing, bold, italic, or emojis to improve readability.
• Mention Instagram profiles directly in the caption by typing “@” followed by the account’s username.
• To tag a Facebook Page, type “@” in the Facebook caption and paste the Page handle. If the Page has no @handle, use the numeric ID from the end of its URL.

• (Instagram feature) Click the “Tag” icon on top of your Instagram photo, enter the collaborator’s username, then click “Add collaborator.” You can add up to 5 collaborators, then click “I’m done tagging.”

• (Instagram feature) Click the location icon to add a location tag to your Reel.

• Click “1st comment” to schedule a first comment at the same time as your post.

• Add the post to a category to keep content organized based on different topics or themes.

• Choose “Post now” to publish immediately or “Post at a specific time” to schedule it for later. SocialBee may suggest the best times based on your previous performance.

• If needed, enable “Re-queue after posting” or “Expire post.”

• Set the post status to “This is approved” or leave it as “This is a draft.”
• Click “Create post” to publish or schedule the Reel on both platforms.

How to share Facebook Stories to Instagram and vice versa:

• Click “Create post” at the top of your SocialBee dashboard.

• Choose both your Facebook and Instagram accounts from the left menu.

• Turn on “Customize each” if you want to adjust the Facebook and Instagram versions separately.

• Select “Story” from the post type dropdown.

• Upload your media (photo or video) by clicking on the image icon.

• Edit your image by cropping, resizing, or flipping it.

• Add the Story to a Post category if you want to keep your content organized.

• Choose “Post now” to publish immediately or “Post at a specific time” to schedule it for later. SocialBee may suggest the best times based on your previous performance.

• If needed, enable “Re-queue after posting” or “Expire post.”

• Set the post status to “This is approved” or leave it as “This is a draft.”
• Click “Create post” to publish or schedule the Story on both platforms.

How do I cross-post between Instagram and Facebook natively?

To cross-post between Instagram and Facebook, you need to connect both accounts through Meta Accounts Center, which you can access from either app:

• On the Instagram app, go to your profile, tap the menu in the top right, and open “Accounts Center.” 
• OR open Facebook, go to “Menu” → “Settings & Privacy” → “Settings” → “Accounts Center.” Inside, go to “Profiles” and use “Add accounts” to link your Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Once they’re connected, open “Sharing across profiles” in Accounts Center. Select your Instagram account under “Share from,” choose your Facebook profile or Page, and turn on sharing for Facebook and Instagram Stories, Reels, and Feed posts. This enables automatic cross-posting, so content published on Instagram also goes to Facebook.

If you don’t want everything shared automatically, you can control it per post. On Instagram, use the “Also share to Facebook” option before publishing. On Facebook, use the Instagram sharing option when creating a post, though it’s more limited and doesn’t support all formats.

If you want more control over how your posts look and perform, you can also cross-post using SocialBee. Instead of relying on Meta’s basic sharing toggles, SocialBee lets you create one post, customize the Facebook and Instagram versions separately, and publish or schedule them at the same time from one dashboard. 

How do I edit a Facebook post to share to Instagram?

You can’t just copy a Facebook post and expect it to work on Instagram. Before sharing, you need to adjust the content so it fits how people actually use each platform.

Step 1: Start with the caption 

Facebook allows longer, link-heavy posts. Instagram doesn’t. Remove any URLs because they aren’t clickable, replace them with “link in bio,” and move the most important message into the first one or two lines. 

Step 2: Fix the image or video format 

A wide image that looks fine on Facebook can look small on Instagram. Resize it to a square (1:1) or vertical (4:5) format so it takes up more space in the Instagram feed. If you’re using multiple images, make sure they’re consistent in size.

Step 3: Adjust hashtags and tags 

Facebook hashtags don’t do much, but on Instagram, they help with discovery. Add a few relevant hashtags at the end of the caption or in the first comment. You can also tag people and collaborators, and add a location tag, which tends to perform better on Instagram than on Facebook.

The problem with relying on native cross-posting 

Native cross-posting pushes the same version of a post to both Facebook and Instagram, even though each platform favors different formats, captions, and user behavior.

That’s where third-party tools like SocialBee become a better option if you don’t want to post on Facebook and Instagram manually. Instead of duplicating Instagram posts or relying on a simple toggle, you can create one post and then use “Customize each” to tailor it for Facebook and Instagram from the same place. You can remove links, adjust the caption length, add hashtags, and format each version properly before publishing.

In practice, this gives you two platform-optimized posts without doubling your work, which is exactly what most native cross-posting setups fail to deliver.

Frequently asked questions

Can Facebook posts go directly to Instagram?

Yes, Facebook posts can go directly to Instagram, but only if your Facebook and Instagram accounts are connected in “Meta Accounts Center” and sharing is enabled before you publish. 

When you create a post on Facebook, you can use the Instagram sharing option to send it to both platforms at the same time. 

That said, Meta’s native cross-posting has limits. You can’t send a Facebook post to Instagram after it’s already live, and some formats won’t work, including text-only posts, live videos, reshares, posts with multiple videos, posts with more than 10 images, or posts with unsupported image sizes. 

If you want more control, SocialBee gives you a better option to share Instagram and Facebook Stories, Reels, and Feed posts. You can create one post, select both platforms, customize each version separately, and publish or schedule them together without relying on Meta’s built-in sharing settings.

Is it better to cross-post the same content or create separate posts?

In most cases, posting the exact same thing on Facebook and Instagram just doesn’t work that well. The platforms behave differently, and what performs on one can easily fall flat on the other.

What works better is keeping the idea the same but changing how it shows up. Maybe the Facebook version keeps the link and more context, while the Instagram version is shorter, cleaner, and more visual.

With SocialBee, you don’t have to rewrite everything from scratch. You create the post once, turn on “Customize each,” and adjust both versions side by side.

How do I turn on cross-posting on Facebook?

Open the Facebook app, go to “Menu” → “Settings & Privacy” → “Settings” → “Accounts Center.” From there, tap “Sharing across profiles,” select your Facebook profile or Page, and turn on sharing for posts, Stories, or Reels. Once enabled, you’ll be able to share content to Instagram when you publish.