Got multiple Instagram accounts?
One for business, one for fun?
Another one for another business? Or maybe your pet?
Maintaining separate accounts is a highly recommended, yet frustrating, tactic.
Recommended, because Instagram users love to follow laser-focused accounts.
Frustrating, because you’ve had to sign in and out of one account to access another.
But no longer!
In this article, you’ll learn how to add and switch Instagram accounts in the app.
New! Now business users and social media managers can also switch Instagram accounts on computer.
We’ll cover all this below:
- How to create a new IG account that’s linked to your current one.
- How to add account switching to existing accounts.
- The latest on “one login” 2021.
- Push notifications on multiple Instagram accounts.
- How to unlink an account you’ve added.
- Posting to multiple accounts from scheduling tools.
The purple banners will help you find a specific section. Read on!
How can I create another Instagram account?
You can create a new Instagram account while you’re logged into your current account.
If you’ve already created multiple Instagram accounts, you can simply connect them, so skip to the next section.
Here’s how to create a new Instagram account that will instantly be connected to your current one.
There are 12 steps, but they’re really easy:
1 | Open your current Instagram account.
2 | Go to your profile.
3 | Tap the 3 lines at top right.
4 | Tap the gear icon at the bottom for Settings.
5 | Scroll to the bottom. Tap Add Account.
6 | On the next screen, choose Create New Account.
7 | Next, create a unique username. You can include dots, dashes, or numbers. If the one you want is taken Instagram will suggest alternatives, probably with a few numbers at the end of your choice.
8 | Create a password.
9 | You can choose Complete Sign Up, and your new account will be linked to your current account, phone number, and email.
OR tap Add New Phone or Email to have it linked to a different phone number or email.
10 | You can choose whether to Connect to Facebook to find friends to follow, or Skip.
11 | Same thing with your contacts: Search Your Contacts or Skip.
12 | Next you’ll add an Instagram profile photo for this new account.
You can skip the remaining steps for now. You’ll get another chance to Discover People by connecting to Facebook or your Contacts. Tap Next and you can manage your ad settings, or… start posting!
You’re logged in to your new account, and can switch to your original account at any time.
Can I create more than one account with the same email?
This issue seems to be resolved in 2021.
It used to be that you couldn’t use the same email or phone for a second Instagram account. Readers who managed to do this found themselves permanently locked out of the second account when they forgot their password.
Now you do NOT have to enter a new email or phone number to create another account, if you create it when logged into another account, as described above. They can share the same email / phone, OR you add a different one under Step 9 above.
Old version:
An email address can only be associated with one Instagram account.
New version:
…an email address can be associated with up to 5 Instagram accounts. source
Here’s where to report it if you try to create an account with an email address, and get a message that the email is already in use.
Remember, per Instagram, “If you sign up with email, make sure you enter your email address correctly and choose an email address that only you can access. If you log out and forget your password, you’ll need to be able to access your email to get back into your Instagram account.”
More about “one login” further down.
How to add Instagram Account Switching to existing accounts
Account switching became available as part of Instagram version 7.15 for iOS and Android. First make sure your app is updated. If it IS and you still don’t have account switching, one user reported that deleting and reinstalling the app solved this issue.
You can add multiple Instagram accounts to switch between them without having to log out and log back in.
To add existing Instagram accounts:
- Go to your profile and tap your account name along the top.
- In the pop-up that opens, tap ‘Log Into Existing Account’.
- Once you have added the account, it will show in this pop-up (3rd pic).
- Tap the account you want to use to switch between them.
To switch between accounts you’ve added:
- Go to your profile.
- Tap your username at the very top of the screen.
- Tap the account you’d like to switch to.
- OR you can switch from any tab with a long-press your profile picture in the bottom left!
Note that you can add up to 5 accounts on one device. source
From now on, just tap your Instagram profile picture at the bottom of any panel to switch between accounts.
Once you have multiple accounts added, you’ll see your profile photo appear in places throughout the app so you can always tell which one you’re using at the moment. I noticed that my account name appears in the comment field so I’m sure which account I’m using. Nice!
Where do I add an Instagram account? I don’t have this option.
There’s another way to add an account to your existing one.
Tap the three lines in the top corner and then click ‘settings’.
Scroll all the way down. You’ll see an ‘add account’ option.
Tap, and you can create a new account or log into an existing one.
Can I use one login on multiple Instagram accounts?
News! One login has been deprecated in 2021.
You can no longer create one Instagram login for multiple Instagram accounts. If you’ve previously set up a single login for multiple Instagram accounts, you can continue to use this feature for those accounts.
You can’t add new Instagram accounts to a single login, but you can remove any previously added accounts at any time. If you remove an account from your single login, you can’t add it back. source
This is no great loss. I always recommended against it, since it permanently linked your accounts. It could be tricky to separate them once linked.
How to set up one login
One login no longer exists.
I’ve deleted the numerous tips needed to navigate this well-intentioned but poorly implemented feature. Onward…
Can I disconnect a personal and business account on the same email address?
Here’s what one reader, Deanna, had to say. Please let us know in a comment if you try this and it no longer works in 2021.
I have a personal Instagram account and created a business account linked to it using my iPhone under the same email/password combo.
I can only access the business account through the personal account on my iPhone. On my Mac, I can log into my personal account, but it does not allow access to my business account.
I would like to be able to log into my business account on my Mac. Is there a way to create separate login information (username and password) for my business account now that it’s already established and linked to my personal account?
Another reader left this option on October 7, 2020. This worked for him, though I can’t vouch for it – and as social media always changes, we can’t rely on this to be available in the future.
According to Linoy:
You should log out from it and then try to reset your password. You’ll get an email to reset it, after you pick a new one a reset the password for this account, you’ll be able to access both accounts – just with username and different passwords, even if it’s under the same email.
Note that your accounts that had previously shared a password will be unlinked – BUT you can relink them with the new password. According to Deanna:
When I went back to my phone, because I had changed my business account password, I was notified that the business page was unable to be accessed. I unlinked the business account from my personal account and then relinked them following the prompts and using the new business account username/password. They linked up just fine.
Hope this helps.
What about push notifications on multiple Instagram accounts?
If you’ve added multiple Instagram accounts, you may get push notifications from any account that has them turned on. This depends on when you last logged in and the number of devices that are logged in to an account.
How do I remove an Instagram account I’ve added?
To remove an Instagram accounts you’ve added, you need to go to your profile.
Tap the three lines in the corner and then click settings.
Scroll right to the bottom and select ‘log out’.
It will give you the option to select the account you want to log out of. Select this and you will be logged out.
For more details and troubleshooting tips, read How to Remove an Instagram Account.
How to permanently delete an Instagram account
There’s another option to removing an account, and that’s deleting it.
Deleting an Instagram account must be done via a browser. You can’t delete your account from within the Instagram app on your mobile device.
Permanently deleting your Instagram account cannot be undone!
When you delete your account, your profile, photos, videos, comments, likes and followers will be permanently removed in 30 days.
If you’d prefer to take a social media break, you can temporarily disable your account instead.
Because this is a big step, I recommend you read through this article on how to delete an Instagram account. It’ll cover when you should disable instead of delete, precautions before deleting, and more.
Posting from scheduling tools
When you use an approved scheduling tool like Tailwind or Later, it is important to be logged into the right account on your app for some types of posts.
For example, Stories and carousel posts still need to be posted manually. So, when you click a notification from the scheduling app to post, you need to be logged into the right Instagram account on the app first.
Check this before you tap on the scheduler app notification!
Wrapping Up
We covered all this:
- How to create another IG account that’s linked.
- How to link existing accounts.
- Resolving problems with linked accounts.
- Push notifications on multiple accounts.
- How to unlink an account you’ve added.
- Posting to linked accounts from scheduling tools.
Missed something? Need the details? Look for the purple banners above.
This is a long-awaited feature that I use daily.
Have you tried Instagram account switching yet?
Once you’ve set up your accounts, be sure to check out how to grow your Instagram followers 11 ways!
Coralie says
Help please! I cannot find the answer to this problem on instagram help centre.
I created a second instagram account in 2019 using the same phone # associated with my initial one. I never linked them and never actually posted anything to that 2nd account. I just wanted to reserve the name for when I was ready to use it.
I tried logging into that 2nd account today and it says my password is incorrect. which i find odd as I wrote it down and never changed it.
However, when i select forgot password i get a message that a link was sent to my phone number. The link I receive opens me up to my original instagram account!!!! not the one I am having issues logging into. I can see that second account exists on instagram when I search it, it even shows my name as well.
p.s. i dont think i associated any email address to the second account. i signed up with a user name, password and phone number. Instagram says no user, if i try the email that it would have been, so that is not an option to reset password either.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Louise Myers says
I mentioned this in the article. Unfortunately if you set up additional accounts under the same phone number, password resets will go to the first account set up with that number.
As far as not being able to log in with the correct pw, it’s possible IG inactivates accounts that haven’t been used. This happened to me with a FB page.
The only thing I can suggest is to try to find a way to report your account as hacked. I can’t be sure that it would help, and it could even have negative consequences for your original account if it wasn’t hacked and still has your same number. The safest thing to do is start a new account.
Rebecca says
Ugh, I’m having a similar problem and it is so frustrating!
Jfy says
I was able to follow someone from my another account, by long press the follow button, and select the account that I want to follow. But now this feature is gone. Does anyone know what’s going on?
Morris Bagnall says
Hi Louise, I set up an Insta account a while ago and more recent added a second account. The second account is my professional account and has its own login and email address. It is linked of course with my original personal account.
When I look on followers on name account I have 77 but only 15 on professional even though I know the cast majority of followers are coming through my professional. If I temporarily disable the personal will my followers still see my professional account and still be able to see any new posts?
Thank you.
Louise Myers says
Your followers on one account won’t see posts from the other. I’m not sure what you mean that the followers are coming through your professional. If you think people are searching you by name and finding your personal account at the top, perhaps they’re following that one – because it’s at the top! If you don’t need a personal account, maybe you just try to encourage the 15 people to follow you over there. Then use the original one as your pro account and close the new one. Or find some other way to make people know which one you want them to follow.
Mohd szn says
I had connected 2 ig accounts with a single account with tha help of Complete sign up feature while creating account it means same email and nmbr for all three accounts , now problem is i want to login my second account and its sending resett link to email (which i lost) but i have my nmbr and i want rest email on my nmbr so what can i do for fix
A says
I have two accounts under one email,
One of the accounts says the password was compromised but when I try to
Change password using the email, it only sends a link for the original account
When I type in the compromised user name it says no users found
Thankyou
Louise Myers says
If you have 2 accounts on one email address, emails will be sent to the original account. IDK a solution since the other user name may have been hacked. Try this page for possible solutions: https://help.instagram.com/149494825257596
MS says
This happened to me too and this help page doesn’t have a solution. The steps doesn’t result in giving an email option to communicate and the phone number has been changed. Am stuck. Any ideas?
Louise Myers says
The help page was for hacked accounts. Not sure if that’s your issue. As far as I know there’s no way to communicate with IG by email or anything else.
a j says
I’ve been trying to remove ig accounts from the login menu that appears when you tap on the bottom right icon to “switch accounts”. most instructions have advised I log out of the account I wish to remove, but even when I do, it still appears as an option to switch to when I am in that “switch accounts” menu
Louise Myers says
Go to the section “Removed Instagram Account is still showing” on this page:
How to Remove an Instagram Account
Hope those tips help.
Donald says
The instructions for adding a new account do not match what I see on my instagram. For instance you say ~6. | DON’T fill in the log in screen. At the bottom of the page, tap Sign up.
On my instagram it says ~Log into existing account or create new account~ and then if you click create new account it asks to create a username – there is nothing that says “sign up.” So I can’t get beyond step 5. of your instructions.
Louise Myers says
You’re right, this appears to have changed since August, and it seems this new method will avoid some of the problems we’ve experienced in the past. So just choose to link an existing account or add a new one. It seems this article will need a total rewrite since this small change affects a lot of what I’ve written here.
Jerry Peek says
Hi. The section “Posting from scheduling tools” says “When you use an approved scheduling tool like Tailwind or Later … Stories and carousel posts still need to be posted manually.”
Louise Myers says
Thanks for the heads up, I need to update that section since they do now. Unfortunately I can’t recommend tools that aren’t approved by Instagram.
I “peeked” at your site and see that you’re a Tucsonan! I 💜 Tucson.
Wendy Lynne Rimmelspacher says
I set up two accounts with the same username and password. The second set up is my business account. I cannot seem to figure out how to separate these two. I want to link my business IG to my Squarespace webpage. It will only link to the personal account. I was going to delete my personal account, but I think I would lose my business account as well. Thoughts?
Louise Myers says
Unfortunately I don’t know how to help. It shouldn’t be possible to “set up two accounts with the same username and password.”
In addition, linking an IG account to another account isn’t the same as linking it to a webpage. The web URL goes in the bio and shouldn’t be affected by whether the IG account is linked to another account.
I would try to unlink the accounts before deleting one, however your setup sounds most unusual so I’m not sure you can.
Mary Anne says
How do you unlink the accounts from each other ?
Does it automatically link and relate to each other ?
I have two accounts under one email but I don’t want them to be linked to each other, I want them to be stand alone accounts with no relation to each other
Louise Myers says
Two accounts on the same email or phone number will be automatically linked. This is why I don’t recommend that setup.
If you can change one to a different email or phone, do that, then try the steps above to unlink them.