How to Add Text to Reels on Instagram

1. Add Text in Instagram App

The Instagram app offers a native way to add pop-up text to your Reel videos. That is, the text disappears at a particular time and a new text pops up. Do note that you can add text to the final video only. You cannot add text to individual clips while creating them. But you can add text to different clips after you have created the full Reel video. Here’s how to go about it.

  1. Launch the Instagram app and add clips to your Reel.
  2. Tap on the Preview button to go to the video editing screen where you get options like the ability to add doodle, add audio and stickers, and download Reel. Here you need to tap on the Aa icon at the top to add text to your Reel.
  3. The blinking text bar will appear on the screen. Type your first text. That is, if you want to add multiple texts at different times, you will have to enter each text separately. So, enter the first text and hit the Done button. You can also edit the text as shown in the next section.
  4. Similarly, repeat the procedure to add other texts. That is, tap again on the same Aa icon to add more text to your video.
  5. When you add multiple texts to the video, you will notice that each text appears as a separate block at the bottom of the video. Tap on the text block that you want to edit to create a pop-up effect. Once you select the text layer at the bottom, a white box will appear around your video preview. Drag the box from either end to adjust the start and end time. Tap again on the text block to deselect it. Similarly, select other text blocks and adjust their start and end time. You can either add all text blocks before editing their timing individually or add one by one and adjust each one accordingly. Finally, publish your Reel.

How to Edit Text in Reels

Once you have added text to your video, you can edit it in multiple ways. To change the text style, tap on the text present at the top of the video. You will see the regular text editing options that allow you to change the color, style, background color, and alignment.

Change Text Font and Style

Enter the text editing mode by tapping on the text. You will find various font styles at the bottom of the video. Tap on them to preview the text.

Change Text Color

Tap on the color palette icon at the top to select a different color for your text. Use the color picker icon on the color palette screen to choose a color from your video.

Animate Text

You can also animate text in Reels by using the Animate option. To do so, tap on the Animate icon.

Move and Resize Text

Drag the text to change its position. Similarly, use the pinch in and out gesture on the text to resize it. Using the same gesture, you can also rotate it. Similarly, edit other texts in a similar manner.

2. Add Text to Reels Using Third-Party Apps

If the above method doesn’t work in the future or you don’t like it for some reason, you can take the help of third-party video editing apps. These apps offer better text effects, animations, font styles, and are much easier to use. Let’s check the steps using the VN video editor app:

  1. Install the VN Video editor app on your Android phone or iPhone. VN Video Editor: Android | iPhone
  2. Download your Instagram Reel to your phone’s gallery so that you can add it to the VN app.
  3. Open the VN app and tap on the add (+) icon at the bottom. Select New Project and load the video that you downloaded in step 2.
  4. Tap on the text layer and select the Text option. Choose text style from the available options.
  5. You will see that a text layer gets added to your video. Tap on it and hit the Edit button. Type your text in the available box.
  6. Tap on various tabs and change the text font, color, size, and position as per your need.
  7. Adjust the visibility or the time of the text using the edges of the text layers. The left side indicates the start time and the right end refers to the end time. You can also drag the text layer to change its timing. Similarly, add other text layers and adjust their style and timing to create pop-up text effects for your Reel videos. Some other apps that you can use to add text to IG Reels at different times are: InShot: Android | iPhone Vita: Android | iPhone

Create Amazing Instagram Reels

Instagram offers cool features to edit Reel videos directly in the app. But if those options don’t satisfy your requirements, you can always rely on Reel editing apps. These apps not only let you add text to Reels but can come in handy to add transitions, effects, filters, and much more. You can even create video collages and add them on Reels.