Instagram Cutouts: How to Make Your Own Stickers

Cutouts is Instagram's built-in background remover for stickers. Pick a photo of your dog, your coffee cup or your product, and Instagram lifts the subject off the background so you can drop it onto any story or reel. It's quick and fun, but there are two deletion rules that can wipe out your posts if you don't know them.

How to make a sticker with Instagram Cutouts

1. Start a new story or reel.
2. Tap the sticker icon at the top.
3. Tap Cutouts.
4. Choose a photo or video with a clear subject.
5. Instagram generates the sticker automatically. If it picked the wrong thing, tap Select manually in the bottom left and choose the object yourself.
6. Use the sticker straight away, or save it for later.

Instagram says you can only pick one object at a time. If you want your dog and your cat as separate stickers, make two cutouts.

Getting a clean cutout

• Pick a clear subject. Instagram asks for a photo or video with a clear subject. One object against a plain background cuts out best.
• Good light helps. Strong edges make it easier to separate the subject from the background.
• Avoid clutter. A product on a busy shelf is harder to isolate than the same product on a table.
• Use Select manually. If the automatic pick is off, choosing the object yourself usually fixes it.

Where your Cutouts stickers are saved

Instagram keeps your stickers at the top of the sticker tray so you can use them again. Next time you make a story or reel, open Stickers and look in Your stickers. That makes Cutouts handy for anything you use over and over, like a logo shape, a mascot or a product you post about often.

Making a sticker from someone else's post

You can also create a cutout from photos you see on Instagram, but only when the person who shared it has a public account and allows it. Go to the photo, tap the menu in the top right and tap Create a cutout sticker.

Here's the first rule to remember: Instagram says if you made a sticker from someone else's post and that post is deleted, your content using that sticker will also be deleted. You're borrowing their image, so your story or reel depends on theirs staying up.

Stop people making stickers from your photos

The same feature works the other way round. If your account is public and you allow reuse of your content, other people may be able to make stickers from your posts. Instagram says you can turn this off in your account settings, or for individual posts through the menu in the top right of the post.

Situation	What Instagram says happens
You made a sticker from someone else's post, and they delete it	Your content using that sticker is deleted too
You delete a sticker you created	Any reels or stories made with it are deleted too
Your account is public and reuse is on	Others may create stickers from your posts
You turn reuse off	People can't make cutouts from your posts

How to delete a Cutouts sticker

1. Start a new story or reel.
2. Tap Stickers.
3. In Your stickers, tap and hold the sticker you made.
4. Tap Delete.

This is the second rule, and it's the one that hurts. Instagram says any reels or stories you've created with that sticker will also be deleted. If a reel with a cutout is performing well, leave the sticker alone. A tidy sticker tray isn't worth losing a reel.

Why is Cutouts missing?

• Update Instagram. Instagram says to update the app if you're not seeing certain stickers.
• Some stickers aren't available to everyone, so the option may not have reached your account yet.
• Cutouts is a mobile feature, so look for it in the phone or tablet app rather than on a computer.

Ideas for using Cutouts in your business

For small businesses, Cutouts is a quick way to make stories feel designed without opening another app. Cut out a product and place it over a plain colour for a clean announcement. Cut out your own photo and add it to a tip or a quote. Save your most-used product stickers so they're always one tap away. Just remember the delete rule before you clear out old stickers.

If you're building a more polished feed, our guide to Instagram feed planners helps you map posts in advance. And if a sticker ends up in a reel you want to tweak, here's what you can change after posting.

Cutouts vs removing a background in another app

You could cut out a photo in a separate editing app and upload it, but Cutouts keeps everything inside Instagram. There's no exporting, no extra app and no file to manage, and your sticker is saved in the tray for next time. The trade-off is control: a dedicated editor lets you refine edges by hand, while Cutouts relies on Instagram's automatic pick plus Select manually. For quick stories, Cutouts wins. For a polished ad image, a dedicated editor may still be worth it.

My verdict

Cutouts is one of Instagram's handiest creative tools: pick a clear photo, let Instagram lift the subject, and reuse it from your sticker tray. Just remember the two deletion rules. Deleting your sticker deletes the content that used it, and stickers made from other people's posts vanish if the original goes.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use Cutouts on Instagram?

In a story or reel, tap the sticker icon, tap Cutouts, choose a photo with a clear subject, and Instagram creates the sticker. Tap Select manually if you want to choose the object yourself.

Where are my Instagram Cutouts saved?

Instagram saves them at the top of the sticker tray, under Your stickers, so you can use them again.

What happens if I delete a Cutouts sticker?

Instagram says any reels or stories you created with that sticker are deleted too.

Can people make stickers from my Instagram photos?

If your account is public and you allow reuse, yes. You can turn this off in your settings or for individual posts.