Instagram now lets you put someone else's post on your profile grid

Ever been tagged in a great Instagram photo and wished it could appear on your own profile without having to post it again?

Instagram now has a solution.

The social network is rolling out a new feature that lets users add posts they're tagged in directly to their main profile grid.

That means a photo or video posted by a friend can appear alongside your own posts — provided you've been tagged in it.

It's a relatively small change, but it could solve a familiar Instagram problem.

Imagine coming home from a holiday, concert, party or night out and discovering that a friend has already posted — and tagged you in — the best photo from the day.

Instead of downloading it and posting the same picture again, you can now add the tagged post to your grid.

How to add a tagged post to your Instagram grid

Instagram gives users several ways to do it.

When someone tags you, you can add the post to your grid through the DM notification you receive. You can also do it directly from the original post or through the Tagged section of your profile.

The original post isn't moved or duplicated.

It remains on the account that published it, while also appearing on your profile grid.

And if you later decide it doesn't fit your profile, you can remove it from the grid without removing it from your Tagged tab.

Useful for creators, too

The feature isn't just aimed at friends sharing holiday and party photos.

Instagram says it could also make collaborations easier for creators.

For example, if several creators are tagged in a campaign or collaborative post, they can each showcase it on their profile without republishing the content or using Instagram's existing “Invite collaborators” feature.

That could also help brands working with multiple influencers on the same campaign.

Instagram gives you more control over your profile

The update follows a series of changes giving Instagram users greater control over how their profiles and content look.

Earlier this year, Instagram introduced the ability to reorder the posts on your profile grid, meaning users no longer have to keep everything arranged purely by publication date.

It also recently introduced First Draft, which automatically assembles an initial edit of a Reel by trimming clips and removing pauses, as well as a Replace Audio feature that lets users change the music on existing posts.

The latest change is simpler.

But for anyone who's looked at a friend's Instagram post and thought, 'I wish I'd posted that', it could be one of the more useful additions.