How to add someone to your Instagram business account

To add someone to your Instagram business account, you do not need to share your password. The reliable way is Meta Business Suite on a computer: you invite the person to your business portfolio and give them your Instagram account, or, for an agency, you add their business as a partner. Each route takes a few minutes, and you can take the access back at any time. Here is which route fits whom, and the exact clicks.

Three checks before you invite anyone

Open Meta Business Suite, go to Settings, and check these first:

1. Your Instagram is a professional account. Meta only lets you add a professional account to a business portfolio. If yours is still personal, switch it in the Instagram app: your profile, the menu, Account type and tools, then Switch to professional account. It is free.
2. Your Instagram account is in your portfolio. Look under Accounts, then Instagram accounts. If it is missing, click Add and log in to Instagram in the window that opens. An Instagram account can sit in only one business portfolio at a time, so if a former agency once added it to theirs, they have to remove it first, or give you access from their side.
3. You have full control. Only people with full control of the portfolio can invite new people. If you do not see People in the left menu of Settings, you probably do not have it.

Meta adds one small trap: before you give someone your Instagram account, make sure you are logged into it in Settings. Click Instagram accounts, select the account and log in if Meta asks.

Who are you adding? Pick the route first

Two levels matter here. Full control is everything, including adding and removing other people. Partial access means the person can only work on the accounts and tasks you assign, such as creating content, managing ads or answering messages. Meta's own advice is to give people only what they need for their work, and partial access is the right answer for almost everyone except a co-owner.

Temporary access is worth knowing about in June. When you invite someone, you can make their access temporary: it gives basic access only, for at least 3 and at most 75 days, and Meta removes the person automatically when it runs out. For a student who helps with posts over the summer, that means one less thing to remember in September.

Route 1: invite a person

1. In Meta Business Suite, open Settings.
2. Click People in the left menu.
3. Click Invite people in the top right.
4. Type the person's e-mail address. It has to be the address they use for their own Facebook account, or the invitation will not reach them.
5. Click Next. Choose their access to the business portfolio. Basic access is the default; leave it unless this is a co-owner. Click Next.
6. Tick your Instagram account, switch on only the tasks they need, then click Invite.

The person has to accept the invitation. Meta warns that after someone joins a portfolio, it can take a few days before every feature works for them, so do not panic if they cannot publish in the first hour.

Route 2: the person is already in your portfolio

Maybe your manager already handles the Facebook Page and now needs Instagram too. You do not invite them again; you assign the account:

1. In Settings, choose Instagram accounts in the left menu and select your account.
2. Click Assign people.
3. Select the person.
4. Choose their permissions.
5. Click Assign, then Done.

If you have full control of the Instagram account itself, you can do this even without full control of the whole portfolio.

Route 3: an agency or a freelancer

A business that works for you should get access as a partner, through its own business portfolio, not as a person in yours. That way their staff come and go on their side, and your list of people stays short.

1. Ask them for their business portfolio ID: a long number they find in their own Settings.
2. In your Settings, click Partners under Users, then Add.
3. Choose Give a partner access to your assets and enter their ID.
4. Select your Instagram account and choose partial access with the tasks you want them to do.
5. Click Assign assets.

Even a partner with full control of your account cannot pass it on to another business. Only the business that owns the account can share it.

What the other person sees, and what you see

• They work through their own Facebook login in Meta Business Suite. Your Instagram password stays with you.
• Once they join, people with full control of your portfolio can see their name, their work e-mail address and the accounts they were given.
• Ask them to turn on two-factor authentication. Meta suggests it to protect a business portfolio from people who should not be there, and a helper's hacked login puts your account at risk too. If you have ever been through that, our first-hour plan for a hacked Page shows why it matters.

When the job ends

Taking access back is three clicks: Settings, People, the person's name. Next to your Instagram account click Manage, then change their tasks or click Remove access. Do it on their last day, not when you happen to remember.

If the words Business Suite and business portfolio still blur together, our explainer What is Meta Business Suite sorts them out. Meta renames buttons from time to time; the help pages listed below always have the current wording.

If there is no portfolio yet

All three routes assume a business portfolio that you control. If you do not have one, or your Instagram account is stuck in someone else's, our Business Manager Setup is a one-time job for $99. On one 45-minute video call you click and we guide: a portfolio in your name, your Facebook Page and Instagram account in it, and us added as a partner so posting can start. You stay the owner, and we never ask for a password. If your portfolio already works, the steps above are all you need. The setup job is listed with our one-time services.