You've built an audience on Instagram, but the rest of you lives somewhere else: your work on LinkedIn, your hot takes on X, your day-to-day on Threads. The obvious move is to point Instagram followers at those profiles. The not-so-obvious part is that Instagram makes you fight for every link.
This guide covers both ways to do it: the native options Instagram gives you, and the cleaner setup that puts all your social links behind one branded URL, and tells you how much traffic it actually pulls and where from.
What Instagram lets you do natively
Since 2023, every account can add up to five links in its bio (Social Media Today). That's the slot you use for an outside profile like LinkedIn or X. You paste the full profile URL as one of those five.
There are also two special cases Instagram handles its own way:
- Other Instagram accounts link through an
@mention, not a URL. - Threads has a native badge, because the two apps are connected.
We'll do each below, then look at why most people who post seriously end up routing everything through a single bio link page instead.
How to add a LinkedIn link to your Instagram bio
LinkedIn is the most common one people ask about, and it's the simplest. It's just a URL.
- Open LinkedIn, go to your profile, and copy your profile URL (it looks like
linkedin.com/in/yourname). - In Instagram, tap Edit Profile, then Links.
- Tap Add external link, paste the LinkedIn URL, give it a title like "LinkedIn," and save.
- Tap Done.
Your LinkedIn now shows up as a clickable link under your name.
Use your custom LinkedIn URL, not the long one with numbers and tracking on the end. Go to your LinkedIn profile, Edit public profile & URL, and set a clean linkedin.com/in/yourname. It reads like a real profile, not a forwarded link.
How to put an X (Twitter) link in your Instagram bio
Same idea as LinkedIn. X is a plain URL, so it goes in one of your five link slots.
- Copy your X profile URL:
x.com/yourhandle(the oldtwitter.com/yourhandlestill redirects). - In Instagram, tap Edit Profile → Links → Add external link.
- Paste the URL, title it "X" or "Twitter," and save.
One thing to know: pasting @yourhandle into your bio text does not create a link to X. Instagram reads @ as an Instagram account, so it'll either link to a same-named Instagram profile or do nothing. To link to X, use the full x.com/... URL in the Links section.
How to put a Threads link in your Instagram bio
Threads is the easy one, because Meta owns both. If you have a Threads account tied to your Instagram, a Threads badge appears on your profile automatically, and tapping it opens your Threads. You can toggle it under Edit Profile.
Want it as a normal link instead of the badge? Your Threads URL is threads.net/@yourhandle, and you can add that as one of your five links the same way as LinkedIn or X.
How to link another Instagram account in your bio
This one trips people up, because it doesn't use the Links section at all. To link a second Instagram account (a brand page, a side project, your personal vs. business profile), you mention it in your bio text:
- Tap Edit Profile → Bio.
- Type
@followed by the exact username, like@yourotheraccount. - Save.
Instagram turns the @mention into a clickable link to that profile. This only works for Instagram accounts, which is exactly why LinkedIn, X, and Threads need the URL approach above.
Where the native way runs out
Five links and a couple of @mentions is fine if that's all you have. It stops being fine the moment you're serious about it:
- Five is the ceiling. Add LinkedIn, X, Threads, your website, and your shop and you're already full, with no room for a newsletter, a second product, or a featured post.
- No branding. They show as a plain stack of buttons. No icons, no layout, no profile colours.
- No tracking. Instagram tells you people tapped somewhere, and stops there. It won't tell you how many landed on your page, where they came from, or which post sent them.
A bio link page fixes all three at once. You point one of your Instagram links at a small page that holds every social link, as icons or buttons, designed to match your feed, with real numbers on the traffic it pulls. It's the same workaround the Instagram bio link guide walks through, applied to your social profiles specifically.
The cleaner way: all your socials behind one link
Instead of cramming LinkedIn, X, and Threads into three of your five slots, you give Instagram a single URL, linx.ly/yourname, that opens a page with every social profile on it, as a tidy row of recognisable icons.
Here's the setup:
Step 1: Build the page
Sign up for Linxly, start your 7-day free trial, and create a bio link page. Name it after your handle so the URL matches.
Step 2: Add your social icons
In the design panel, add a social icon for each platform and paste its URL: LinkedIn, X, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, whatever you're on. They render as a clean icon row, the way people expect to see socials, instead of five text buttons.
Step 3: Add anything that wouldn't fit in five links
Because you're no longer capped, drop in the rest: a link button to your website, a video card with your latest upload, a product card for what you're selling, a text card with a note. Two or three sharp cards plus your social row is plenty, and a wall of links gets fewer taps, not more.
Step 4: Match it to your profile
Set the background, button style, profile photo, and colours to your Instagram look. A branded page gets more taps than a generic one, and on a paid plan you can take the Linxly logo off entirely.
Step 5: Publish and add it to Instagram
Publish, copy your linx.ly/yourname URL, then in Instagram tap Edit Profile, paste it into the Website or Links field, and tap Done. For the full builder walkthrough, the step-by-step guide to adding multiple links to your Instagram bio goes deeper.
Now every social link lives behind one URL. Add a new platform, swap your X for Bluesky, reorder the icons. You edit the page, and your Instagram bio never has to change.
See where your bio link traffic comes from
This is the part the native bio can't do, and it's the reason to bother.
Linxly counts every click on your bio link and breaks it down for you: the device people are on, their browser, their country, and the referrer that sent them, so you can tell Instagram traffic from the rest. It also splits QR-code scans from regular clicks, which is handy if your link lives on something printed too. Instead of "people tapped something," you learn "most of last week's clicks came from Instagram on mobile, and the spike from Brazil lined up with the reel that went around." That tells you which posts and platforms actually send people to you.
Put all your social links behind one Instagram bio link
Start 7 day free trial. Cancel anytime.
Get startedFrequently Asked Questions
How do I add a LinkedIn link to my Instagram bio?
Copy your LinkedIn profile URL (linkedin.com/in/yourname), then in Instagram go to Edit Profile → Links → Add external link, paste it, give it a title, and save. It becomes a clickable link under your name. To put LinkedIn alongside all your other socials, point one bio link at a bio link page and add a LinkedIn icon there instead.
How do I put a Twitter (X) link in my Instagram bio?
Add it as a URL (x.com/yourhandle) in Edit Profile → Links, not as @handle in your bio text. Instagram reads @ as an Instagram account, so only the full URL links to X.
How do I add a Threads link to my Instagram bio?
If your Threads is connected to Instagram, a Threads badge appears on your profile automatically, and you can toggle it under Edit Profile. To add it as a normal link instead, use threads.net/@yourhandle in the Links section.
How do I link another Instagram account in my bio?
Type @ plus the username in your bio text (not the Links field) under Edit Profile. Instagram turns the @mention into a clickable link to that account. This works only for Instagram accounts; other platforms need their full URL.
How many social links can I add to my Instagram bio?
Instagram caps native bio links at five (Social Media Today). To go past five, or to show them as branded icons with click tracking, point one link at a bio link page that holds as many social profiles as you want. The guide to adding multiple links covers the setup.
Can I track clicks on my Instagram bio link?
Instagram's native bio only shows a profile-tap count. A bio link tool like Linxly counts every click on your bio link and breaks it down by device, browser, country, and referrer, and even separates QR-code scans from clicks, so you can see how much traffic Instagram actually sends you.