Multiple photos in one post

Up to 20 photos and videos go in one post, which Instagram calls a carousel. The feed shows the first with a row of dots beneath it, and people swipe for the rest. Your profile grid shows only the first.

The shape you pick, square, portrait or landscape, applies to every photo in the post: Instagram's help centre says plainly that you cannot choose a different one for each. Portrait now goes as tall as 3:4 (1080 × 1440) and landscape as wide as 1.91:1. Some accounts have been offered a Mixed option that keeps each photo's own shape, so it is worth checking your app, but plan for one shape.

One thing that catches out anyone who schedules: the app takes 20, but Meta's publishing API, which scheduling tools use, still stops at 10. A longer carousel may have to go out from the app itself.

Up to 4photos. In X's phone app they sit side by side at one height in a strip you swipe, each keeping its own shape, with the next one already showing at the edge. A single photo shows uncropped anywhere between 2:1 and 3:4.

Up to 20 photos. Two sit side by side across the column at one height, each as wide as its shape says. Three or more become a strip you swipe, running out to the edge of the screen.

Threads keeps every photo between 3:4 and 4:3, so a panorama or a very tall screenshot gets trimmed. The strip's height is set by the first two photos alone: when both are 4:3 or wider, it is about a third shorter than for two portraits, so the order decides how much of the screen the post takes.

Up to 10 photos, since an app update in June 2026 (it was four). Two show as a pair of squares, three as a square beside two stacked halves, and four as a grid of 3:2 cells. From 5 they become a swipe carousel, each photo kept between 2:3 and 3:2.

A single photo shows at the shape you uploaded, unless it is taller than 1:2, which the feed trims. A full-height phone screenshot is taller than that.

Up to 20 photos. Two sit side by side, each keeping its shape. From three, the first photo decides the layout: one wider than 4:3 runs across the top with the others in a row beneath it, and anything squarer or taller, a square included, takes the left column with the others stacked down the right.

LinkedIn gives the first photo the most room, and the whole post stops at 4:5. When a tall set would run past that, LinkedIn crops the bottom row to fit.

Facebook also builds a collage around the first photo: a wide one goes across the top with the others beneath, and a tall one runs down the left with the others beside it. When there are more photos than tiles, the last tile shows how many more there are.

Facebook does not publish these rules or a limit, so this describes what its feed does rather than a documented spec.

A photo post takes up to 35 photos. They fill the screen one at a time and people swipe through them.

1. Put the photo that has to work alone first. It is the one Instagram shows in the feed and on your grid, and the one LinkedIn and Facebook give the most room.
2. Pick the first photo's shape on purpose. On LinkedIn and Facebook it decides the whole arrangement, on Instagram the shape you choose covers every photo, and on Threads the first two set the height of the strip.
3. Keep extreme shapes out. Threads trims anything wider than 4:3 or taller than 3:4, and Bluesky's carousel keeps photos between 2:3 and 3:2, so a panorama loses its ends either way.
4. Posting one set everywhere? 4 is the number that fits every platform here, because X stops there.

How many photos can you post on Instagram?

Up to 20 in one post from the Instagram app, which calls it a carousel. Scheduling tools publish through Meta's API, which still allows 10, so a longer carousel may have to be posted from the app.

How many pictures can you put in one X post?

4. In X's phone app they sit side by side in a strip you swipe, and a single photo shows uncropped anywhere between 2:1 and 3:4.

How many photos can a Bluesky post have?

10, since an app update in June 2026. Up to 4 show as a grid, and 5 or more as a swipe carousel.

Why does Instagram crop some photos in my carousel?

Because the shape you choose, square, portrait or landscape, applies to every photo in the post, and Instagram does not let you pick a different one for each. Some accounts have been offered a Mixed option that keeps each photo's own shape, but plan for one shape.

How does LinkedIn lay out several photos?

Two photos sit side by side at their own shapes. From three, the first photo decides: one wider than 4:3 goes across the top with the rest in a row beneath it, and anything squarer or taller takes the left column with the rest stacked on the right. The post stops at 4:5, so a tall set loses some of its bottom row.