Instagram 90 Minute Videos: What the New Test Means for You
Short answer
On October 26, 2026, Instagram began a limited test that lets selected creators publish videos up to 90 minutes long. The test isn't a full rollout, so most accounts can't use it yet. Instagram hasn't said when, or whether, the feature will reach everyone, and it's aimed mostly at podcasts and interview-style shows. Existing length limits still apply to every other account for now.
A business owner reads a headline about Instagram allowing 90-minute videos, opens the app to try it, and finds no such option anywhere in their Reels composer.
They check their business account, then a personal account, then ask a colleague to check theirs too.
Nothing changes. The upload limit looks exactly like it did last week.
That gap between the headline and the app is the real story here. Instagram did start testing Instagram 90 minute videos with a limited group of creators on October 26, 2026, but a test and a release are two different things, and most accounts simply aren't part of it yet.
Here's what Instagram actually confirmed, who has access right now, and what a small business can reasonably do about it while the test is still a test.
What Instagram Announced on October 26, 2026
On October 26, 2026, Instagram said it had begun testing the ability for a limited group of creators to publish videos up to 90 minutes long. The company described this as an early test, not a feature available to every account.
This is a dated, specific claim, not a rumor built from screenshots or secondhand reports. The length, the date, and the word
The length, the date, and the word test are all things Instagram stated directly, not details pieced together from leaked screenshots or secondhand reports. That's worth holding onto before anything else, since the rest of this guide depends on keeping confirmed facts separate from reasonable guesses.
Who Has Access to the 90-Minute Video Test Right Now
Instagram said the test is limited to a group of creators it selected directly. There's no public sign-up form, no setting to toggle on, and no documented waitlist a business account can join to request early access.
What's confirmed about who can use it
What's confirmed is narrow: a specific, limited set of creators can currently publish videos up to 90 minutes long, and Instagram chose who that group includes rather than opening the option broadly. Everyone else, including most personal accounts and the overwhelming majority of small business accounts, is working under the same video length rules that applied before October 26, 2026.
That's not a bug or a regional delay. It's the test working as described. A limited test, by definition, isn't supposed to reach every account at once, and Instagram hasn't said otherwise.
What hasn't been explained yet
Instagram hasn't published the criteria it used to choose participating creators, how many accounts are involved, or whether business accounts are included at all alongside individual creators. It also hasn't said whether the group will grow gradually over the coming weeks or stay fixed while the test runs.
Any claim about exactly who qualifies, or how to apply, isn't something Instagram has documented publicly as of this test. If a specific process for requesting access does get published, it would show up in Instagram's own help resources or official announcements, not in secondhand posts guessing at a method.
How 90 Minutes Compares to Instagram's Other Video Formats
Instagram already supports several video formats, each built around a different typical length and purpose. Placing the new test next to those existing formats is useful, without pretending to know exact caps Instagram hasn't recently restated for every format.
Format | Typical length | Usual purpose |
|---|---|---|
Stories | Short, a few seconds per segment | Quick, casual updates that disappear after a set time |
Reels | Short to moderate | Discovery-focused video meant to reach people who don't already follow the account |
Feed video | Short to moderate | Standard posts shown in an account's main feed and grid |
Live video | Can run long, with no fixed length in practice | Real-time broadcasting, not saved as a standard upload by default |
90-minute test | Up to 90 minutes, limited access | Long-form native video for selected creators |
These descriptions reflect how each format is generally used, not exact published limits for every format.
The gap between the existing short-form formats and the new test is large. That gap is also the point. Instagram isn't describing this as a small bump to Reels length. It's describing a genuinely different kind of upload, closer in spirit to a full episode than a clip.
Why Podcasts and Interviews Are the Likely First Use Case
Instagram's framing of the test points toward a specific kind of content as the natural first use: podcasts and interview-style shows. Nothing here is a guarantee about who will actually use the feature once it's available, but the shape of the test lines up closely with how those formats already work elsewhere.
What makes podcast content a fit
A podcast episode often runs well past the length any short-form Instagram format could hold. Right now, a podcast creator who wants a presence on Instagram usually has to cut a full episode down into short highlight clips, or point their audience somewhere else entirely to hear the whole thing.
A 90-minute native upload removes that second step for creators who get access to it. A full episode could live on Instagram directly, next to the clips, instead of only the clips living there while the full conversation stays on a separate podcast platform.
What makes interview formats are a fit
Interview-style video has a similar problem today. A single, continuous conversation doesn't always compress well into a short clip without losing context, and chopping an interview into pieces can strip out the back-and-forth that made it worth watching in the first place.
Longer native video gives that kind of content a format built for its actual length, rather than forcing every interview through the same short-form edit that works for a product demo or a quick tip. Whether that turns into wider use once access expands is still open, but it's a reasonable read of why Instagram is testing this shape of feature now rather than, for example, extending Reels by a minute or two.
Testing vs Full Rollout: What the Difference Actually Means
It's worth being precise about what a limited test like this one actually proves, because the gap between
a confirmed test and a confirmed feature available to everyone is exactly where guessing tends to creep in fastest.
What a limited test confirms
A limited test confirms that a working version of the feature exists, that Instagram built it well enough to put in front of real accounts, and that at least one group of creators can currently publish video up to 90 minutes long. That's genuinely useful information. It tells you the capability is technically real, not a concept still sitting in a planning document.
What it doesn't confirm yet
What it doesn't confirm is a release date, a wider rollout, or any outcome for accounts that don't have access. A similar pattern showed up when Reddit replaced its Home and Popular tabs with new feeds: the interface change itself was confirmed and dated, but what it meant for any specific account's reach stayed an open question for weeks afterward. Our look at Reddit's For You and Following feeds covers that same gap between a confirmed product change and an unconfirmed outcome, and the same caution applies here. Instagram testing long-form video with a limited group says nothing yet about whether, or when, that option reaches every account.
What This Could Mean for Instagram Marketing (and What Nobody Can Guarantee)
This is the part worth reading slowly, because it's easy to slide from a reasonable guess into a confident claim without noticing. Everything below is framed as a possibility, not a documented result, because Instagram hasn't published details that would let anyone state it as fact.
Plausible opportunities for brands
If 90-minute video does reach more accounts over time, a few things become plausible. A business that currently records a webinar or a customer Q&A and hosts it somewhere else could, in principle, publish the full session natively on Instagram instead. A brand running an interview series could keep the whole conversation in one place rather than splitting it across a podcast host and a handful of short clips. A longer native upload could also mean more time for a viewer to stay inside the app, rather than clicking away to watch the full version somewhere else.
None of that is unique to Instagram. Platforms across social media have been shifting toward longer, more native formats for a while, and our guide to AI bots on social media touches on some of the broader changes in how content gets surfaced and judged right now, beyond any single platform or format.
What remains genuinely unknown
What's genuinely unknown is how Instagram's algorithm will treat a 90-minute upload once it's more widely available. Instagram hasn't published distribution rules for long-form video, hasn't said whether it will be recommended the same way Reels are, and hasn't said whether watch time on a long video counts the same as watch time on a short one. Any claim that longer video automatically means more reach, more engagement, or more discovery is speculation, not something Instagram has stated. The honest position is that long-form video might become a useful format for some businesses, and it might not change much at all for others, and nobody outside Instagram can say which yet.
Three Practical Content Ideas to Prepare Now
None of these ideas require access to the test. They're things worth having ready regardless, since a business that already has a long-form concept prepared is in a better position whenever, or if, wider access arrives.
Idea 1: Repurpose an existing podcast episode
A business that already records a podcast has raw material sitting ready. Pulling a full episode, or a close-to-full cut of one, into a video format gives you something to publish natively if access arrives, and something to hold onto as a long-form asset either way. It also forces a useful exercise: reviewing which episodes actually hold up as a single continuous watch, rather than only working as short highlight clips.
Idea 2: Record a long-form interview
A single, unhurried conversation with a customer, a supplier, or someone in your industry often loses its best moments when it gets chopped into thirty-second clips. Recording a full interview, even one you don't publish in full yet, gives you a complete asset to draw from. You can cut shorter clips from it today and keep the full recording ready for a longer format later.
Idea 3: Film an in-depth how-to or behind-the-scenes session
A detailed walkthrough, a full process explanation, or an extended look behind the scenes of how a product gets made often works better as one continuous piece than as a series of fragments. This kind of content also tends to answer more of a customer's actual questions in one place, which is useful on its own, separate from whatever Instagram does with video length next. Planning content like this ahead of time fits naturally into a regular posting rhythm, and our guide to building an SEO content calendar covers the same habit of mapping out content before you need it, rather than scrambling once a feature or deadline arrives.
A Worked Example: Planning a Long-Form Video Before You Have Access
Imagine a home renovation company that gets a steady stream of the same questions from customers: how long a kitchen remodel actually takes, what tends to go over budget, and what to ask a contractor before signing anything. This example is illustrative.
The owner decides to record a 45-minute customer Q&A session, answering those questions in detail with a staff member asking the questions on camera. They don't have access to the 90-minute test, and there's no confirmed way to request it, so they plan the recording as two outputs from the start rather than waiting to see if access arrives first.
The first output is the full, unedited 45-minute recording, kept ready to publish natively if the account ever gets access to long-form video. The second is a tightly edited eight-minute cut, trimmed down to the most useful answers, published on Instagram right away under the existing length rules. Neither output depends on the test actually expanding. The full recording is simply ready and waiting if it does, and the shorter cut is already doing useful work on its own.
A 30-Day Plan to Get Ready for Long-Form Instagram Video
A short, structured month of preparation is a more realistic response to this test than either ignoring it completely or waiting anxiously for access that may or may not arrive on any particular timeline.
Week | Action | What to check |
|---|---|---|
Week 1: Audit | Review the video content you've already published or recorded, including any podcast episodes, interviews, or long recordings sitting unused | Which existing recordings could work as a long-form upload with little extra editing |
Week 2: Plan | Choose one long-form concept to develop, using one of the three ideas above as a starting point | Whether the concept genuinely needs the length, or whether it would work just as well as a short clip |
Week 3: Produce | Record the full session, then prepare two cuts: a complete long-form version and a short, edited version for publishing now | That both versions are clearly labeled and saved, so the long cut is ready whenever it's usable |
Week 4: Review | Publish the short cut under the current rules and track how it performs compared to your usual content | Real engagement on the short cut, not assumptions about what the long version might do later |
This plan doesn't depend on Instagram expanding access on any particular schedule. It produces something useful either way: a shorter piece published now, and a longer piece ready to go the moment it's relevant.
Common Mistakes to Avoid While the Feature Is Still Testing
A handful of reactions to this test show up often enough that they're worth naming directly, separate from the plan above.
Mistake | What it leads to | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Assuming your account already has access | Time spent searching settings for an option that isn't there, and confusion about whether something is broken | Check for the option directly in your upload composer rather than assuming a headline applies to your account |
Assuming length alone drives more reach | Publishing a long video expecting better distribution, with no evidence Instagram treats long and short video the same way | Treat length as a format choice, not a ranking strategy, until Instagram publishes distribution details for long-form video |
Publishing an unedited 90-minute file with no structure | Viewers dropping off early because there's no reason to keep watching past the first few minutes | Plan a long upload the way you'd plan an episode, with a clear opening and a reason to stay for the rest |
Dropping shorter formats entirely while chasing the new one | Losing the short-form content that already reaches people who don't have time for a full episode | Keep producing short cuts alongside any long-form concept, the way the worked example above does |
The pattern underneath most of these mistakes is the same one that shows up with almost every platform test: treating a confirmed capability as though it also confirms an outcome. Instagram confirmed the 90-minute upload works for a limited group. It hasn't confirmed what that means for reach, for anyone's account, or for marketing in general.
Where RepGet fits
RepGet doesn't manage Instagram accounts, publish video, or request access to Instagram's tests on a business's behalf. Nothing about the 90-minute test runs through RepGet, and that isn't going to change.
What RepGet does help with is the website a long-form video usually points people back to. A podcast episode or interview published on Instagram often works better alongside a written companion piece, like show notes, a transcript summary, or a blog post that covers the same ground in text a search engine or an AI assistant can read directly. RepGet's content planning and article writing can help build that companion content, and articles it writes can stay as drafts for a business to review before anything goes live.
Before adding that kind of content, it's worth knowing what the site it lives on already needs fixing. RepGet's free website audit crawls a site and gives it a 0 to 100 SEO score, flagging technical and content issues worth addressing regardless of what format drives traffic to the page. No account or credit card required. Its free SEO tools cover things like page titles and meta descriptions, which matter just as much whether a visitor arrives from a short Reel, a long-form Instagram video, or a search result.
RepGet doesn't guarantee reach on Instagram or anywhere else, and it doesn't predict whether or when the 90-minute test will reach a specific account. What it can do is make sure the site a video links to is actually ready for whoever clicks through.
The bottom line
Instagram confirmed a real, dated test on October 26, 2026: a limited group of creators can now publish video up to 90 minutes long, aimed first at formats like podcasts and interviews. That's genuinely new. It isn't, yet, a feature available to every account, and Instagram hasn't published a timeline for when or whether that changes.
What hasn't been confirmed is just as important as what has. There's no public way to request access, no detail on how the algorithm treats long-form video, and no guarantee that wider access, if it comes, will change reach for any specific business. The sensible response isn't to wait for access or to assume it will reshape Instagram marketing on its own. It's to prepare a long-form concept now, keep publishing the short formats that already work, and treat the test as a reasonable signal of where Instagram might be heading, not a confirmed plan.
Find out what your website needs first
Run a free website audit with RepGet to see what your own site needs before building content around a feature that's still in limited testing. No account or credit card required.
FAQ
Can anyone post 90-minute videos on Instagram?
No. As of October 26, 2026, only a limited group of creators Instagram selected directly can publish videos up to 90 minutes long, and there's no public sign-up process for other accounts.
How do I get access to Instagram's 90-minute video test?
Instagram hasn't published a way to apply or request access. The test is limited to creators it chose itself, and no public waitlist or sign-up method has been confirmed.
What is the current video length limit on Instagram Reels?
Instagram hasn't changed Reels length limits because of this test. Reels and other standard formats still follow the same rules they did before October 26, 2026.
Is Instagram's 90-minute video test available worldwide?
Instagram hasn't published a regional breakdown. What's confirmed is that access is limited to a specific group of creators Instagram selected, not to a particular country or market.
Will Instagram's long-form video test become a permanent feature?
That's not confirmed. Instagram described this as a test, not a release, and hasn't said whether or when it might expand to more accounts.
What kind of content works best in a 90-minute Instagram video?
Instagram's framing points toward podcasts and interview-style shows, since both formats already run long elsewhere and lose context when chopped into short clips.
Does Instagram's video length test affect the algorithm or reach?
Instagram hasn't published distribution details for long-form video, so there's no confirmed evidence that longer videos get more or less reach than shorter ones.
How is Instagram's 90-minute video different from Instagram Live?
Live video broadcasts in real time and isn't saved as a standard upload by default, while the 90-minute test is a pre-recorded, native video upload available only to a limited group.