How Instagram carousel posts appear on your website

What counts as a carousel post

On Instagram, you can select several photos and videos and share them as a single post. Visitors swipe sideways to see each one. These are often called carousel posts or multi-image posts. Through the Instagram API that feed tools use, such a post has the media type “CAROUSEL_ALBUM”, and its individual photos and videos are listed as the post’s children, according to Meta’s developer documentation.

The important point for your website: a carousel is one post. It has one caption, one like count and one comment count, shared by all of its images. Social Feed treats it the same way.

Carousel posts at a glance

How a carousel appears in the grid or slider

Every carousel post appears as a single square tile showing its first image. In the top-right corner, a small white mark of two stacked squares, with a light shadow so it stays visible on bright photos, tells visitors that there is more to see. This is the same symbol Instagram uses, so most visitors recognize it.

The mark appears on every carousel post, whichever lightbox option you choose. A carousel always has several images, and the mark simply reflects that.

On a computer, hovering over the tile can show an Instagram icon with the like and comment counts, if “Icon on hover” is set to Show. Those counts are for the whole post, not the first image.

Tiles are square. If your carousel is in portrait (4:5) or landscape format, the tile shows the center of the first image and crops the top and bottom, or the sides. The lightbox shows each image in full, without cropping.

Why carousels are not spread out into one tile per image

It can be tempting to want every image of every carousel as its own tile, to fill the feed faster. Social Feed deliberately keeps one tile per post, as Instagram does on your profile. If a ten-image carousel took ten tiles, one post could fill the whole feed, the same photo series would crowd out everything else, and visitors could no longer tell where one post ends and the next begins. Keeping one tile per post also keeps the number of posts you set meaningful: 12 posts means 12 different moments.

The setting: first image only, or all images in the lightbox

In the dashboard, open “Settings & preview”. Under “Display settings” you will find “Carousel posts (multiple images)” with two options. As the help text there says, either way the grid shows one image per post. The option only changes what happens in the lightbox, the larger view that opens when a visitor clicks a tile.

The setting is per widget and takes effect as soon as you save, both in the preview and on your site.

Step by step: let visitors browse your carousels

1. Sign in to the dashboard and open “Settings & preview” for the widget you want to change.
2. Under On click, choose Open lightbox.
3. Under Carousel posts (multiple images), choose All images in the lightbox.
4. Under Filter posts, make sure Include carousel posts (multiple images) is on.
5. In the preview, click a tile with the stacked-squares mark and use the arrows to check that all images appear.
6. Click Save settings. You do not need to change the embed code on your site; the new behavior appears there automatically.

If you also want visitors to read about each set, check that the lightbox shows the caption. The caption and the like count are chosen separately, so you can show one, both or neither.

What visitors see with “All images in the lightbox”

When a visitor clicks a carousel tile, the lightbox opens on the first image. Then:

1. Arrow buttons appear on the left and right of the image. Each click moves to the previous or next image or video.
2. A counter at the bottom of the image shows where they are, for example “3 / 8”.
3. The arrows loop. After the last image, the right arrow goes back to the first; on the first image, the left arrow goes to the last.
4. The caption and like count below the image (if you show them) stay the same, because they belong to the whole post. The “View on Instagram” link opens the post on Instagram.
5. Closing works with the × button or by clicking outside the lightbox. The next time the visitor opens the same post, it starts again at the first image.

Visitors move through the images with the arrow buttons, on phones as well as computers; swiping inside the lightbox is not supported. The arrows are 36-pixel round buttons, easy to tap. The buttons are labeled “Previous image” and “Next image” for screen readers, in the language of your page.

Each image is shown in full, up to about 60% of the screen height, so tall portrait images are scaled down rather than cropped. Posts with only one image or video show no arrows and no counter.

On phones

On a phone, the lightbox fills almost the whole width of the screen, with a dark background around it. At the top is a bar with your username and the × button, then the image, with the arrows on either side and the counter at the bottom of the image. The caption and the like count are under the image; long captions scroll inside the lightbox while the image stays in place. Visitors tap the arrows to move through the carousel and tap the × or the dark area outside to close it.

Because the image is limited to about 60% of the screen height, portrait carousels appear a little smaller on phones, but always uncropped. Before you publish, open your page on a phone and browse one long carousel to see how it feels.

Videos inside carousel posts

Carousels can mix photos and videos. With “All images in the lightbox”, a video in a carousel plays in the lightbox just like a video post: it starts muted, with the usual controls, so visitors can turn on the sound. Moving to another image with the arrows stops showing the video.

With “First image only”, the lightbox shows a still image and never plays video from a carousel. If your carousels often contain clips, choose “All images in the lightbox”.

Instagram does not provide the video file for some videos, for example some videos with copyrighted music. Meta’s documentation says the media URL is left out of the API response when the media contains copyrighted material. Such an item appears as a still image without playback, and visitors can watch it on Instagram through the link in the lightbox. An item for which Instagram returns no image at all is skipped.

The click action decides whether the lightbox is used

The carousel option only matters when “On click” is set to “Open lightbox”. With the other click actions:

1. Open Instagram: clicking any tile opens the post on Instagram in a new tab, where visitors can swipe through the carousel there. The carousel mark still shows on the tile.
2. Do nothing: the tile is just a picture. Visitors see only the first image of each carousel, and the mark tells them there is more without a way to see it. If you post many carousels, this is the least helpful choice.

On Wix, the feed is shown inside a box, and the lightbox opens inside that box too. If the box is small, browsing a carousel there is cramped; consider “Open Instagram”. See the Wix guide.

Loading speed: browsing carousels costs nothing up front

Choosing “All images in the lightbox” does not make your page heavier. The feed loads one image per tile, the same as with “First image only”. The other images of a carousel are loaded only when a visitor opens the post and clicks to them. A visitor who never opens a carousel never downloads its other images.

The usual layout rules still apply: a grid loads the first images right away and the rest as visitors scroll near them, and a slider loads all tiles right away. See grid or slider for details.

Carousels in a slider

In the slider layout, carousel tiles work exactly as in the grid: one square tile with the first image and the stacked-squares mark, and the same lightbox. The two kinds of browsing do not get in each other’s way. Visitors swipe or use the slider’s arrows to move between posts, and use the lightbox arrows to move between the images of one post.

That makes a slider of carousel posts a compact way to show a lot of content on a product page or a narrow section: one row of covers, with every image one click away.

Hiding carousel posts

Some accounts use carousels for content that does not work well on a website: slides full of text, step-by-step tips that make sense only on Instagram, or a cover slide that says “swipe →”. If that describes your account, you can leave carousels out of a widget.

1. In “Settings & preview”, go to Filter posts.
2. Turn off Include carousel posts (multiple images).
3. Check the preview, then click Save settings.

When carousels are hidden, the widget does not simply show fewer posts. It looks further back in your Instagram posts to fill the number of posts you set with photos and videos that are not carousels. If your account posts mostly carousels, that can mean the feed reaches back to older posts; combine it with a date range filter if the result looks dated.

All filters work together: a post appears only if it passes every filter you set. A few combinations to know:

The caption keyword filter is the most precise tool. Rather than hiding all carousels, add a word or hashtag to the captions of the carousels you want (or do not want) on your site, and filter by it. Filtering your Instagram feed by keyword explains how.

Should you show or hide carousels?

Industry posts go into more detail: real estate (where listings are almost always carousels, so never hide them), hotels and B&Bs, nonprofits (event recaps), photographers and online stores.

Making carousels look good on your website

Because the tile always shows the first image, cropped to a square, the first slide does most of the work. A few habits help:

1. Lead with your strongest image. It is the only one most visitors see unless they click.
2. Keep the subject in the center of the first slide. Portrait carousels lose the top and bottom in the square tile; landscape ones lose the sides.
3. Avoid text near the edges of the first slide. A title at the top of a 4:5 cover slide may be cut off in the tile.
4. Write captions that work for the whole series. In the lightbox, the caption stays the same while visitors browse, so a caption that describes the set reads better than one about slide one.
5. Use a recognizable word or hashtag in carousels you want on specific pages, so a caption keyword filter can pick them out.

Different carousel settings on different pages

All of these settings belong to a widget. If one page needs carousels with every image and another needs no carousels at all, create two widgets from the same Instagram account. For example:

1. A gallery or listings page: a grid with carousels included and “All images in the lightbox”, so visitors can browse each set.
2. The footer or a sidebar: a short slider with carousels hidden, or with “First image only”, so it stays light and simple. See adding an Instagram feed to your footer.

You can copy the settings of an existing widget when you create a new one, then change only what differs. The Free plan includes one widget, the Light plan three, and the Standard plan unlimited widgets.

Troubleshooting carousel posts

The lightbox shows only the first image. “Carousel posts (multiple images)” is set to “First image only”. Change it to “All images in the lightbox” and save.

Clicking a carousel tile opens Instagram, or nothing happens. “On click” is set to “Open Instagram” or “Do nothing”. Set it to “Open lightbox”.

Carousel posts do not appear at all. Check that “Include carousel posts (multiple images)” is on, and that Reels is not set to “Reels only”. A caption keyword filter or date range may also be hiding them. More causes are in Instagram feed not showing on your website.

A carousel has fewer images in the lightbox than on Instagram. Items that Instagram does not return an image for are skipped. Videos without a playable file appear as a still image.

The tile crops the title of my cover slide. Tiles are square. Move the title toward the center of the first slide, or rely on the lightbox, which shows the whole image.

A new carousel has not appeared yet. On the Free plan, new posts reach your site once a day; on paid plans, right away. See why your Instagram feed is not updating.

Frequently asked questions

Can each image of a carousel be its own tile? No. One post is always one tile, as on your Instagram profile. Visitors can browse the other images in the lightbox.

Can I choose which image of a carousel is used for the tile? No. The tile always shows the first item of the carousel, as Instagram returns it.

Can I remove the carousel mark? No. It is always shown on carousel posts so visitors know there is more than one image.

Are likes shown per image? No. Instagram counts likes and comments for the whole post, and the lightbox shows those totals.

Do carousel posts cost more views or count against my post limit? No. Views are counted per page load, not per image, and a carousel counts as one post toward the number of posts you show (up to 16 on Free, 30 on Light and 50 on Standard).

Do Reels work the same way? No. A Reel is a single video post. See how to show Instagram Reels on your website.

I edited a carousel’s caption on Instagram. When does my site update? The widget reads your posts from Instagram, so the new caption appears on its own: within a day on the Free plan, right away on paid plans.

Can I show only carousel posts? There is no “carousels only” option. To show mostly carousels, add a word or hashtag to their captions and use the caption keyword filter with “Only matching posts”.

New to Social Feed? Create a free account, connect your Instagram professional account, and try both carousel options in the preview before you add the feed to your site.

Sources

1. Meta for Developers, “IG Media” reference (Instagram Platform): https://developers.facebook.com/docs/instagram-platform/reference/instagram-media
2. Instagram Help Center, “Share a post with multiple photos or videos on Instagram”: https://help.instagram.com/269314186824048/