How to Coordinate Your Snapchat and Instagram Stories

Late in the summer, Instagram introduced “Stories” — their copy take on Snapchat. The gist is that you take photos or short video clips, do a little optional editing, and then add them to your “story.” Each clip disappears 24-hours after it is shared.

This post assumes you have both a strategy and a working knowledge of how to create engaging snaps/stories. But let’s say you want to share the same content on both networks without having to recreate it twice. Or maybe you’re extra creative and want to use the best of both apps — like a cool geo-filter or funny lens from Snapchat and the drawing feature of Instagram. All you have to know is how to save to and load from your device’s camera roll.

Snapchat

Saving to the camera roll

1. Take the photo/video and edit if desired.
2. Tap the icon in the lower left that looks like an arrow pointing down into a tray.
3. The app will say “saved to memories” and the icon becomes a check box in a tray.
4. Tap the X in the top left to return to the Snapchat camera.
5. Tap the smaller circle below the camera button at the bottom of the screen.
6. Scroll to the “memory” you wish to save to your device and long-press it (hold the screen for a second).
7. Tap the icon in the lower left that looks like an up arrow in a basket.
8. Use your phone’s share function to save the image to your camera roll.

There is a setting in the app you can change that makes this process even quicker:

1. From the Snapchat camera screen, pull down to access your profile.
2. Tap the gear icon in the top right.
3. Tap on “Memories” at the bottom of the My Account section.
4. Tap on “Save To…” at the top of the Saving section.
5. Select “Memories & Camera Roll” or “Camera Roll Only.”
6. Now, when you tap the icon that looks like an arrow pointing down into a tray, it will save your snap to the location(s) you just specified.

Loading from the camera roll

1. From the Snapchat camera screen, tap the small circle below the larger camera circle button.
2. Near the top, select “Camera Roll.”
3. Scroll to the image/video you wish to use and long press it.
4. If you wish to edit this photo/video, tap “Edit Photo,” edit the photo/video, and then send it or add it to your story as you normally would.
5. If you wish to use it as-is, tap the white arrow in the blue circle, and select the destination.

Instagram

Saving to the camera roll

1. Take the photo/video and edit as desired.
2. Tap the icon in the bottom right that looks like a down arrow over a horizontal line.

Loading from the camera roll

1. From the Instagram home screen, tap the circle with a plus icon in the top left to access the Instagram Stories camera screen.
2. Pull down on the screen.
3. Tap the photo/video you wish to use.
4. Edit the photo/video if desired and hit the check button at the bottom to add to your story.

Note: Instagram will only allow you to choose from photos and videos taken in the last 24-hours. However, if you are creating photos/videos for a later date, save the final versions to your Snapchat memories (make sure your save setting isn’t “Camera Roll Only”). Then, when you’re ready to share them, use steps 5-8 from the first Snapchat “saving to the camera roll” list to save the memories to your camera roll. They will now be available in Instagram because they will register as newly taken or saved images/videos.

Header image by Flickr user AdamPrzezdziek. Used under Creative Commons License. Edited/Cropped from Original.