How to Add Voiceover to Instagram Reels [Full Guide]
Localize your video to reach a global audience!
Adding a voiceover to Instagram Reels and Stories is done entirely within the Instagram app with no third-party tools needed. You can record your own voice, use a prerecorded audio clip, add sound effects, or use Instagram's built-in text-to-speech feature to generate an AI voice.
The voiceover feature is only available on the mobile app (iOS and Android). There is no option to add or edit voiceovers through Instagram's desktop interface.
Note: Instagram updates its editing interface regularly, so some button names and positions may look slightly different from what's described here. The overall workflow remains consistent, but if a specific option isn't where you expect it, look for a microphone icon or an audio button in the editing toolbar.
How to Add a Voiceover to Instagram Reels in 4 ways
Instagram provides several native options to add voice overs to reels.
However, the voice over feature is only available on the mobile app, so you need to download the app on the App Store for iPhone users or Play Store for Android users before applying the methods below.
1. Record a live voice over
The significant benefit of this option is that you can record more than one voiceover clip for a single reel. You only need to adjust the slide bar to denote the start and end points.
Follow the detailed steps below to record a live voice over for your reel:
Launch Instagram and sign into your account.
Tap the ‘+’ button in the top right corner and select ‘Reel’.
Record a video for your reel or upload one from your device. Then tap the ‘Voiceover’ option at the bottom.
From here, press and hold the record button to record audio over the video and release the button when you are through. When you’re finished recording all voiceover clips, click ‘Done’.
After that, you can use the trim feature to adjust the voiceover and preview it. Finally, click the blue arrow in the top right corner to post your video.
2. Add a prerecorded voiceover to the reel
Another option for adding Instagram voiceover is to use music or one of the recorded audio. Below are the steps to follow:
Launch Instagram and click the ‘+’ sign in the top right corner.
Tap the ‘Reel’ option and record your video or upload one from your device.
Next, tap the ‘Add audio’ button at the bottom of the page.
From here, tap the ‘Saved’ button and select the music you want to use. If you have not saved any music or audio files on Instagram, scroll down and tap the 'Save' icon beside the file you want to use.
Finally, use the slider bar to adjust the start and end points of the voiceover and click the ‘Done’ button to share your video.
3. Add funny voice overs
If you want to add more creativity to your reels and amuse your audience, you can use the funny sound effects on Instagram to create the voice over. Follow the steps below to get it done:
Open Instagram and record or upload a reel.
Select the ‘Add audio’ option > ‘Sound Effects’.
There are a variety of available sound effects, including Applause, Airhone, and Crickets. You could tap the effects and add them on the fly as you are watching the video.
Once you've added effects to your video, click ‘Done’ to post your reels on Instagram.
4. Use an AI-generated voice over
If you don’t want to go through the stress of recording a voice over or uploading one from your device, you can take advantage of the Instagram text-to-speech feature.
This method only requires adding text to your reel and selecting one of Instagram’s AI-generated voices to create a voice over. Below is how to do it:
Launch Instagram and create a reel as you would normally do.
Click the ‘Aa’ option at the top right and type in your text; you may also customize the text styles.
Now, tap the text you want to add AI voice to and select Text-to-Speech at the bottom.
Preview the list of voice options and tap to select the voice you want to use.
[Bonus] Automatically dub voice over to reach a wider audience
If you are a content creator with audiences worldwide, a quick way to increase engagement with your Instagram reels is to have voiceovers in different languages. Doing this manually is time-intensive and costly, as you might need to hire voice actors for the other languages.
Fortunately, you can do this with little to no effort with Notta Showcase. This AI dubbing tool uses advanced speech recognition and machine learning practices to swiftly translate your videos into 15 languages, including English, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
What’s more, its advanced voice cloning feature allows you to replicate your voice in different languages while preserving your voice style. This can make it seem to your followers that you speak their native languages, thus creating a special connection with.
To dub and translate your Instagram videos using Notta Showcase, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Upload your video
Once you log in, click ‘Upload Files’ in the upper left, and upload any video you want to translate. Notta Showcase supports various formats like MP4, MOV, and WMV.
You can directly upload a video from your device or paste a link from Google Drive, YouTube, or Dropbox.
Step 2: Start translation
Choose the source and target language from our list of supported languages and click the ‘Translate’ button to start the process.
Step 3: Review and export your video
Finally, review the dubbed voice over to ensure it matches the video’s visuals and then export the video to your device.
That's it! You translate an Instagram video to multiple others languages with a few clicks and engage your audience.
Uploading Audio to a Story
If you've recorded narration using your phone's voice memo app or any other recorder, you can add it to a Story by saving the audio file and uploading it via the audio options in the Story editor.
Keep Stories narration brief. A Story is typically 15 seconds or less, so your voiceover needs to be tight and focused on one message.
Adjusting Audio Levels
When you add a voiceover on top of background music or original video audio, you may need to balance the levels so your voice is clearly audible.
In the reel editor, look for an audio level or mixer option (often represented by a slider or speaker icon). This lets you raise the volume of your voiceover and lower the background music independently, so your narration doesn't get drowned out.
A simple rule: if your voiceover is providing important information, it should sit clearly above any background music in the mix.
Tips for Better Voiceover Quality
The technical steps are straightforward, but audio quality makes a significant difference in how professional a reel sounds.
Record in a quiet environment. Background noise traffic, air conditioning, echoing rooms is harder to fix in post than it is to avoid. Find a small, soft-furnished space if possible (a wardrobe or a carpeted room works well) to reduce room reverb.
Speak close to the microphone. Holding the phone 15 to 25 cm from your mouth gives a cleaner signal than recording from further away. Avoid holding it so close that breath sounds distort the audio.
Do a test recording first. Record 10 seconds, play it back, and check the levels before recording the full voiceover. It's faster to fix the setup before recording than to redo an entire session.
Keep pacing steady. Speaking slightly slower than your natural conversational pace tends to work better in narrated videos, particularly for tutorials or instructional content. Viewers need a moment to process both the visual and the audio simultaneously.
Troubleshooting: Instagram Voiceover Not Working
If the voiceover feature isn't appearing or isn't recording properly, work through these fixes in order:
Check your language settings. Instagram's text-to-speech feature and some audio options are not available in all languages or regions. If you're using a language that isn't fully supported, certain features may be hidden or disabled.
Update the Instagram app. Voiceover features are tied to specific app versions. Go to the App Store (iPhone) or Play Store (Android) and check for any pending updates. Many audio feature issues are fixed in routine updates.
Restart the app. Close Instagram fully and reopen it. This clears temporary states that sometimes prevent features from appearing correctly.
Clear the app cache. On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Instagram > Storage > Clear Cache. On iPhone, the equivalent is to offload and reinstall the app.
Reinstall Instagram. If none of the above resolves it, uninstall and reinstall the app. This resets all app data and usually resolves persistent feature issues.
FAQs about Instagram voiceover
How can I fix the Instagram voice over not working issue?
If the Instagram voice over is not working on your reels, you can try the following solutions:
Check if your language is supported
Restart your phone
Update the Instagram app from your app store
Clear the Instagram app data and cache in Settings
Uninstall and reinstall the app from your device’s app store
Can you add two voiceovers to one Instagram reel?
Yes. You can record multiple voiceover segments in a single session by repositioning the slider bar between recordings. Each segment starts where you place the slider, so you can narrate different sections of the reel independently.
Does the voiceover feature work on Instagram desktop?
No. The voiceover feature is only available in the Instagram mobile app on iOS and Android. There is no equivalent option in Instagram's browser interface.
Can I add a voiceover to an already-posted reel?
No. Instagram does not allow you to edit the audio on a reel after it has been published. If you want to change or add a voiceover, you'll need to edit the video before posting, or delete the reel and repost it with the updated audio.
How do I remove a voiceover I've already recorded?
While still in the reel editor, go to the voiceover section and you should see an option to delete individual audio clips. Tap the clip you want to remove and select delete. If you've already exited the editor, you cannot remove it from a posted reel.
Is Instagram's text-to-speech voiceover feature free?
Yes. The text-to-speech feature is built into the Instagram app and available to all users at no cost. It offers a limited selection of voice styles compared to dedicated AI voice tools, but for most short-form content it is more than sufficient.
