Free Visual Instagram Feed Planner [ 2021 ]

(Have I mentioned my love and admiration for Google Sheets and Excel? No? Apologies, the last couple of months were positively pandemic. I will do better!)

In the past, I would spend hours scribbling Instagram feed layouts on paper and looking for inspirations on Pinterest to eventually put together a visually wholesome Instagram feed in Photoshop.

Luckily for me (and you), Google has a miraculous function in their Google Sheets product – it’s called “Image in cell”.

The sexiest words ever!

This simple trick makes it possible to insert images into cells and close the document, without worrying about the threat of unspeakable horrors of deformatted worksheets.

Go to Insert > Image > Image in cell to paste an image into the cell.

Now, that I have sufficiently fangirled over Google Sheets, let’s move on to this handy Instagram Feed Visual Planner.

What’s inside this Visual Instagram Feed Planner

This is obviously a Google Spreadsheet so there is no automated bulk upload. If you want that, I recommend getting a subscription for Later Instagram scheduling app. Now that I have managed your expectations, let’s see what you are getting with this template:

1. You will have an Instagram Feed tab (pink) – it features a standard 9-grid plan. If you plan much more posts in one go, just add additional rows.
2. There is an Instagram Feed Puzzle tab (dark blue) – here you can upload your images on the left and copy and paste them into an arranged feed on the right.
3. The last tab, Instagram Image Bank (pale blue), is a repository of images. Upload them here, cell by cell, and then use them up gradually.

How to visually plan Your Instagram feed with my Planner

1. Make sure that you are logged into your Google account
2. Click on the button below – you will see the Google Sheets planner in a new window.
3. Make a copy of the planner to your Google Drive by clicking on File > Make a copy. You will see a pop-up that allows you to rename the file and also set the destination folder on your Google Drive that will have the copied sheet.
4. A new window will open – that’s your editable Instagram Feed planner!
5. To plan your Instagram feed, upload images cell by cell to see how they fit in together. Note: your images should be already edited into a square format. meaning the same format you would use for posting on Instagram.