Caption: meaning and how it works

A caption is the text that accompanies a post, reel or video.

Instagram captions can be 2,200 characters but only the first lines show before “more”. Check yours with the caption counter.

How it works in practice

A good caption adds context, a hook and a next step. On Instagram the first line is shown before “more”, so it carries most of the weight.

Example

Example: “Three free apps I use to edit reels. Save this for later.” gives a hook, a promise and a clear action.