Going to a cool restaurant? A concert? Staying inside and bingeing TV? Let your followers see what's up.

Instagram Stories let users post temporary updates to their profile that disappear after a day.

Snap a pic at a cool restaurant? Add it to your Story. Hanging inside watching movies on a rainy day? Add it to your Story. Take a really shaky video at a concert with incomprehensible audio? Add it to your Story *forces a smile.* That's the kind of content we love to see *forced smile intensifies.*

Many people use Stories to post minor updates to their day or life that they don't necessarily feel the need to commemorate with a permanent post. Followers can view the Story to check in, see what's up, and then be on their way.

There's probably a million other reasons people use Insta Stories. We could try to list them all, but you probably just want to know how to make one, right? So without further ado...

There are a bunch of different ways you can start. All will get you to the same place.

1. From the home page (where your feed is), tap your profile picture in the top left where it says "Your Story" with a little plus sign next to it.

OR

2. From the home page, tap the "+" icon at the top (to the left of the heart icon).

OR

3. From your profile page, tap the "+" icon in the top right corner, then select "Story" in the menu that pops up.

OR

4. From the home page, simply swipe across your screen from left to right.

Any of those options should get you to your camera feed. Just make sure "Story" is selected at the bottom.

Now that you're here, this where the fun begins. You have access to a multitude of tools and features you can play around with to create your story. We'll give you the most important three steps and some basic info about the features in between. You'll have to play around with everything to create the specific Story you want.

1. Generally, you'd start by snapping a pic or a video.
But you don't have to. You can scroll across the bottom to pick out a fun filter. You could also tap any of the features on the left to start. Here's a quick guide on what they can do.

Create
Add text with a background

Create a special occasion/shoutout post for someone (birthday, anniversary, etc.)

Add a GIF

Boomerang
Creates a back-and-forth effect from a short video

Layout
Allows you to take multiple pictures and include them all in a layout of your choice

Hands-Free
Records video segments in 15-second intervals until you hit "stop"

-Lets you decide which segments you want to use after

Multi-Capture
Lets you snap up to eight pics, one after another

Decide which ones to keep and which ones to discard after

Level
Provides a grid on your camera view to help ensure the view is level

Middle segment lights up when the view is level

2. Once you have your picture or video, use the features at the top to edit it.

Symbols from left to right:

Save

Saves the content to your phone's library

Add music

Search for a song you want on your Story

Choose which 15-second segment of the song you want

Include lyrics in different fonts/colors or display the album artwork

Add stickers

Add location-themed stickers

Emoji

GIFs

Use search bar to find a sticker you're looking for

Draw/paint:

Tap to draw

Use different colors

Draw arrows easily

Add glow effects

Add text

Type custom text to overlay on your Story

Apply background

Use different colors

Center or align however you want

3. Once your masterpiece is ready, tap "Your Story" in the bottom left corner, and your content will be uploaded to your story!
You can also choose to send it directly to somebody you follow. But otherwise, it's up on your Story for your followers to view for the next 24 hours.