Threads posts can now be shared directly to your Instagram Story without leaving the app

TechCrunch · Feb 20, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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8:55 AM PST · February 20, 2026 Threads already has over 400 million monthly users, but Meta wants to push that number even higher. With the launch of a new Threads feature this week, the company is making it easier for Threads users to share posts on the app to their Instagram Stories — a move that could capitalize on Instagram’s larger user base to bring more people to Meta’s X competitor. The company announced on Thursday a new feature that lets you share a Threads post to your Instagram Story without having to leave the Threads app, instead previewing how the post would look on your Story directly within the Threads app. The app previously allowed you to share anyone’s Threads post to your Instagram Story similar to how you would reshare someone’s Instagram post to your Story. It also already offered tools for sharing posts to your Instagram Feed or DMs. Meta’s text-first, Twitter-like app Threads first launched in July 2023 and benefited from its ties with Instagram to rapidly grow its initial user base. To sign up, users had to authenticate with their Instagram credentials, which allowed Threads to populate with account details, like username, bio, and photo, as well as verification status and followers. With one tap, users could immediately follow the accounts they already followed on Instagram — and those not on Threads would get a notification that someone had added them. In the months and years following its launch, Meta has heavily leaned on its other, bigger social platforms to continue to grow Threads, including by displaying popular Threads posts on Facebook and adding a similar carousel of Threads posts to Instagram users. The company also made it easy for users to cross-post from Instagram and Facebook to Threads, which also helped boost adoption. These moves have paid off. Data from market intelligence provider Similarweb last month indicated that Threads is now seeing more daily usage than Elon Musk’s X on mobile devices. (X still dominates on the web, however.) Threads’ numbers overall have been steadily growing as well, doubling usage from 200 million monthly active users in August 2024 to 400 million monthly users as of August 2025. The company announced in October that Threads reached 150 million daily active users, as well. Topics Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. You can contact or verify outreach from Sarah by emailing sarahp@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at sarahperez.01 on Signal. View Bio