Instagram has launched a "Replace Audio" tool that lets users change the music on already-published feed posts and carousels without deleting and reposting them. Previously, swapping a track meant re-uploading content from scratch, which wiped out any likes, comments, shares and reach the post had already built up; the new tool preserves that engagement, giving creators and brands a way to keep content musically fresh or on-trend without sacrificing performance history. Meta, Instagram's parent company, frames the update as part of a broader push to give creators more control over their content.

To use the feature, users open the post they want to edit, tap the two-line menu icon in the top-right corner, select "Edit," then choose the option to swap the audio. The change can help posts stay aligned with trending sounds or simply reflect a creator's evolving music tastes. The launch follows Instagram scrapping an AI photo-editing feature it admitted had "missed the mark," and comes after criticism of "Instants," a May feature that confused users and led some to accidentally share images with their entire Friends list.