# Connect Instagram to X

> Connect your Instagram account as the source and your X account as a destination in Post Once. From then on, the Reels, photos and carousels you post on Instagram go to X on their own, with your caption. Long or landscape videos and Stories skip X, because X takes short vertical videos, photos and text only.

Post Once help center, Connect two apps. Source: https://postonce.com/help/connect-instagram-to-x.

## Before you start

- An Instagram Business or Creator account. Instagram only lets apps read posts from professional accounts. Switching is free in the Instagram app (Settings, then **Account type and tools**), and your posts and followers stay as they are.
- An X account you can sign in to.
- A Post Once account. The free plan includes 10 reposts, with no card needed.

## How to connect Instagram to X

1. Create a free account at [app.postonce.com](https://app.postonce.com/signup). After two short intro screens, Post Once asks where you post.
2. Under **Where do you post first?**, pick **Instagram** and press **Continue**.

   (Screenshot: Instagram picked under Where do you post first? in Post Once)

3. Under **Where else should it land?**, pick **X**. Add any other apps, or a backup, then press **Continue**.
4. On **Connect your accounts.**, press **Connect** on the Instagram row. Instagram's sign-in page opens. If you have more than one account, choose the one you post on, then allow access.

   (Screenshot: The Connect your accounts screen with Instagram as the source and X as a destination)

5. Press **Connect** on the X row. Sign in on X's page and authorize Post Once.
6. When both rows say **Connected**, press **Go to dashboard**.

From then on, keep posting on Instagram as usual. Post Once checks it about every minute and reposts each new post to X.

## Already using Post Once?

If Instagram is already the source of your bridge, open **Bridge** and press **Connect** next to X in the **Destinations** card, or press **Add destination** on the dashboard.

If your bridge reads from another account, add a second bridge with Instagram as its source from the bridge switcher. Free and Solo include 1 bridge, Studio 3 and Agency as many as you need. See [bridges](https://postonce.com/help/bridges).

## What each Instagram post becomes on X

| On Instagram | On X |
|---|---|
| A Reel or video up to 3 minutes, vertical or square | A video post. |
| A Reel or video over 3 minutes, or a landscape one | Skipped, with "X only takes short vertical videos". |
| A photo | A photo post. |
| A carousel (its video slides are left out) | The first 4 photos, because X allows 4 per post. |
| A Story | Skipped. X does not take Stories. |

A skipped post shows the reason on your dashboard and still goes to your other destinations. See [long videos](https://postonce.com/help/long-videos) for how Post Once tells short from long.

## How your caption carries over

Your Instagram caption goes with each repost.

X allows 280 characters, so Post Once:

1. writes links as plain text, such as example[dot]com/page, dropping https://, www. and tracking tags,
2. leaves the links out when they would push the caption past 280 characters,
3. shortens what is left to 280 characters, counted the way X counts them, and ends it with "…" when it had to cut.

## Choose what goes to X

On the **Bridge** page, the X row has two settings.

- **What to post** has a switch for **Videos** and **Photos**. Switch a kind off and those posts skip X, though you can still send one there by hand. Switching every kind off pauses X.
- **Rewrite caption** changes the caption for X only: **Remove comment, DM and link in bio prompts**, **Remove hashtags and mentions**, **Rewrite with AI to suit X**, and **Add your own text** at the start or end. Each one is off until you turn it on.

Your Instagram row also has **Include trial reels**. When it is off, the default, a trial reel waits until you share it with your followers, then reposts like a new post. Post Once checks for that every 30 minutes for up to 7 days. Turn it on to repost trial reels right away.

## Check that it works

Post something on Instagram as usual. Within a minute or two it shows up under **Your posts** on the dashboard, then goes to X. Each post shows where it went, what was skipped and why.

If a repost fails, Post Once tries again up to 5 times over about half an hour. If it still fails, you get an email, and **Retry** sends it again to just the accounts it missed. See [a post did not repost](https://postonce.com/help/post-not-reposted).

Only posts published after you connect are reposted on their own. Older ones are listed in [Your posts](https://postonce.com/help/your-posts), where you can send any of them by hand.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is it free to repost Instagram to X?

Every account gets 10 free reposts, with no card and no watermark. One repost is one post sent to all your destinations, so it counts once however many apps it goes to. After that, paid plans start at $9 a month. See [pricing](https://postonce.com/pricing).

### How fast do Instagram posts reach X?

Post Once checks Instagram about every minute, then reposts straight away. Long videos take a few more minutes to fetch and upload.

### What are the limits of reposting from Instagram to X?

Post Once sends at most 50 posts per X account per day. Extra posts wait and go out once the limit resets. X only takes vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes.

### Are the reposts lower quality than my Instagram post?

Post Once fetches Reels at 1080p where Instagram makes that version available, and falls back to the 720p file Instagram's API provides.

### Why did a Reel with music not repost?

Instagram sometimes withholds the file for Reels with licensed music. If Post Once cannot get it another way, the post shows "Instagram did not provide the video file for this reel, usually because it uses licensed audio". Other reasons are in [a post did not repost](https://postonce.com/help/post-not-reposted).

### Why do links show as example[dot]com on X?

X charges apps far more for a post with a clickable link, so Post Once writes each link as plain text, like example[dot]com/page, without https://, www. or tracking tags. People can still read the address and type it in. Your other destinations get working links.