Getting your
Instagram on.
It is one sign-in and it takes about a minute — but Instagram has a couple of rules of its own, and they are easier to meet before you start than to discover halfway through. Here they are, with the taps.
Three things,
then you're done.
“What kind of Instagram account do I need?”
A Business account — not Creator, not personal. Instagram only lets an app post Stories from a Business account, and Stories are half of what we make for you. Switching is free, takes about a minute, and your posts, followers and username all stay exactly as they are.
How to check, or switch
- 1
Instagram app → your profile → the ☰ menu, top right
Settings and activityThe three lines in the corner of your own profile page.
- 2
Down the settings list, under “For professionals”
Account type and toolsIt is a long list — this one is near the bottom.
- 3
The last screen
Switch to professional account → BusinessInstagram offers Creator here too. It has to be Business, or Instagram will not let anything post Stories for you.
“What am I agreeing to?”
Instagram shows you a list and asks you to approve it. There are two things on ours, both needed, and leaving them ticked is all there is to do. If posting is unticked the connection looks fine and then nothing ever goes out, so we check for it and tell you rather than let you find out on a Friday.
See your profile
Your username and profile picture, so we know which account we are posting to.
Without it we cannot tell you which account is connected.
Post what you have approved
Publish the posts and Stories you have said yes to — and only those.
This is the one that does the work. If it is unticked, nothing can go out.
Access and manage insights
How your posts did once they are out — reach, likes and saves, shown back to you on your own screen.
The only one you can decline and still be fine. Everything else works; you just won't see how posts performed.
What we never ask for
- Your password — we never see it, and never could
- Your direct messages
- Your comments
- Your followers' details
“Instagram wants a password I never set.”
Your Instagram was probably set up through Facebook, which means the two share one login and Instagram may never have had a password of its own. It is not broken and you have not lost anything — you just need to give it one. Nothing on this page is something we ever see.
- 1
Instagram app → Settings and activity, at the very top
Accounts Center - 2
Inside Accounts Center
Password and security - 3
Pick your Instagram account from the list
Change passwordNever had one? Use “Forgot password?” on the sign-in screen instead — Instagram emails you a link to set one.
The rest of it.
- “Do I need a Facebook account or Page?”
- No. Neither. You sign in with Instagram and that is the whole of it — there is no Facebook Page to create, link or manage. Most guides online still say otherwise, because they describe an older way of connecting to Instagram that we deliberately do not use.
- “Will you ever ask for my Instagram password?”
- Never. You sign in on Instagram's own page, on instagram.com, and Instagram tells us you said yes. We receive permission to post — never the password itself. There is nowhere in this product to type one, and nothing to store.
- “Instagram is asking for a password I don't have.”
- That prompt is Instagram's own, and it usually means your Instagram was set up through Facebook and has never had a separate password of its own. Setting one takes a minute — the three taps are further down this page.
- “Can I connect more than one Instagram account?”
- One Instagram account per ShelfSocial account. If you run two shops, each has its own Instagram and so each needs its own subscription — write to us first and we will sort you out rather than let you pay twice for something we could handle better.
- “What happens after I connect? Does it start posting?”
- No. Connecting gives us permission to post; it does not publish anything. Every post is made, shown to you, and waits for you to approve it. Nothing goes out that you have not said yes to, and you can take anything off the calendar before it does.
- “Why did my connection stop working?”
- Instagram's permission expires if it goes unused for a long stretch, and it also ends if the account's password changes or you remove us from Instagram's own list of connected apps. When that happens your account screen says so and reconnecting is the same one button as the first time — nothing you have made is affected.
- “How do I disconnect?”
- From your account screen, any time. We stop being able to post immediately. Anything already published stays on Instagram — it is your account and your post — and everything made inside ShelfSocial stays in your library.
Still stuck? support@shelfsocial.ai. A real person, and it helps if you say which of the steps above you got to.
Your shelf is
already stocked.
14 days free, 40 credits, nothing to install. Photograph the bottle nearest the till and see what comes back.
$49 a month, one plan · 14 days free first, a card when you make your first post and nothing taken until day 14 · one Instagram account per store