The short version: Canva and Adobe Express have the best free Instagram carousel templates in 2026, and Google Slides works for simple text slides. Instagram lets you share up to 20 photos and videos in one carousel, but the shape you pick applies to every slide, so choose your template size before you design.
Carousels are one of the most useful formats on Instagram for a business. You can teach a quick lesson, show a before and after or walk someone through a process, and people swipe because they want to see the next slide. A good template does the heavy lifting on layout, so you can put your time into what each slide says.
Three places to get carousel templates
In no particular order, each one best for a different job:
- Canva: best for the biggest range of carousel designs, from tips to day-in-the-life posts.
- Adobe Express: best for carousels that mix stock images, brand fonts and photos.
- Google Slides: best for plain, text-led slides you export as images.
Carousel template sources side by side
| Source | Best for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Canva | Tips and how-to carousels | Templates you can edit, download and share |
| Adobe Express | Mixed media carousels | Says it has thousands of templates to start from |
| Google Slides | Text-led slides | Set a custom slide size first, then export each slide |
Whichever you use, design every slide at the same size. That's the rule that saves you from awkward crops later.
What Instagram allows in a carousel
Instagram's help centre says you can select up to 20 photos and videos and share them as a single post. You can drag them into a different order, apply one filter to everything or edit each item on its own, and add one caption and one location for the whole post. You can tag someone in each individual photo.
On your profile, people see the first photo or video with an icon in the top corner, and they swipe to see the rest. That makes your first slide the one that does the persuading. After you post, you can still reorder the content, remove photos or videos and edit the caption, location and tags.
The rules that trip people up
The first is orientation. Instagram says the orientation you choose, square, portrait or horizontal, applies to every photo and video in the post, and you can't choose a different one for each slide. If your template mixes shapes, Instagram crops them all to match, which is why so many carousels lose text at the edges.
The second is video. Instagram says videos inside a carousel aren't treated as reels, so they won't show in the Reels tab or get reels features. And its help page on adding music to a multi-photo post says music can't be added to carousels that contain videos. If music matters, keep the carousel to photos or post the video as a reel instead.
Carousel ideas that work for a business
Templates are easiest to use when you already know what the carousel is for. A few formats work for almost any business. A step-by-step guide takes one process, such as how to book, how to use a product or how to prepare for an appointment, and gives each step its own slide. A mistakes carousel shows the common errors your customers make and how to fix them. A before and after uses the first slide for the problem and the last for the result.
You can also turn a blog post or newsletter into a carousel. Pull out the main points, put one on each slide and finish with a slide that points to the full article. It's one of the quickest ways to reuse content you've already written, and it gives people a reason to visit your profile or website.
Whatever format you choose, write all the slide text first, before you open the template. It's much easier to fit your words into a design than to squeeze ideas into boxes that were built for someone else's content.
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How to make a carousel from a template
- Choose square or portrait for the whole post and stick to it.
- Open a carousel template in Canva or Adobe Express at that size.
- Write the first slide as a hook that makes people want to swipe.
- Put one idea on each slide, with large text you can read on a phone.
- End with a slide that tells people what to do next, such as save or share.
- Export each slide, upload them in order and check the preview before posting.
Getting more from your carousels
Templates make carousels quicker, but the content still does the work. If you'd like AI to draft the slides for you, here's where to create Instagram carousels with AI for free. For the exact limits, my guide to the Instagram carousel limit goes deeper, and the Instagram post size guide covers every format.
From running social media for brands for a long time, the carousels that get saved are the practical ones: checklists, mistakes to avoid and step-by-step guides. Make each slide useful on its own and people will come back to it. Check your insights after a week too, and notice which slide people stop on, so your next carousel starts where the last one lost them.
My verdict: pick a Canva or Adobe Express carousel template, lock in one shape for every slide, and keep videos out if you want music. Then put most of your time into that first slide.
Run a free carousel template tool that belongs on this list? See how to get it featured.
Frequently asked questions
How many slides can an Instagram carousel have?
Instagram says you can share up to 20 photos and videos in a single post.
Where can I get free Instagram carousel templates?
Canva and Adobe Express both offer free carousel templates, and Google Slides works for simple text slides.
Can each carousel slide have a different shape?
No. Instagram says the orientation you choose applies to every photo and video in the post.
Do videos in a carousel count as Reels?
No. Instagram says videos in carousels aren't considered reels and won't show in the Reels tab.
Can I add music to a carousel with videos?
No. Instagram's help says music can't be added to carousels that contain videos.
