TikTok carousel: size, photo limit and how to post one

What is a TikTok carousel?

TikTok started as video only. Photo mode added posts made of still images that people swipe through sideways, in the same For You feed as videos. Creators call them TikTok carousels, photo carousels, photo posts or slideshows; they are the same thing.

A TikTok carousel has a few traits that set it apart from an Instagram carousel:

• It always has a sound. A song or other audio plays while people swipe through the photos.
• It is full-screen and vertical. Slides fill the phone screen like a video does.
• It allows more photos. Up to 35, compared with 20 on Instagram.
• It has a title as well as a caption. The title is short and sits above the description.

They work well for the same content carousels suit everywhere: lists, tips, rankings, before and after, recipes, outfits and trip recaps. On TikTok, opinion-led slides (“things I’d never buy again”) and quizzes do especially well because they invite comments.

TikTok carousel size and dimensions

The 35-photo limit is widely reported by guides such as Kapwing; the title and description lengths come from TikTok’s Content Posting API reference. TikTok’s in-app limits can change, so check if something will not upload.

You can post 4:5 or square images; TikTok shows them with space around them. That is fine when you are reusing Instagram slides, but native 9:16 slides look better and give you more room for text.

Safe zones on a TikTok carousel

TikTok puts a lot on top of the image: your username and caption at the bottom, the like, comment, share and save buttons on the right, and tabs and search at the top. Text placed there gets covered.

• Bottom: leave roughly the lowest 300 to 350 px of a 1920 px slide free of text.
• Right side: keep about 120 to 150 px clear for the button rail.
• Top: leave around 150 px for the app’s top bar.
• Text size: big. People see slides for a second or two before the sound or a swipe moves them on.

A simple rule: keep all important text inside the middle of the slide, roughly a 1080 × 1400 area starting about 150 px from the top.

How to post a carousel on TikTok

Photo posts are made in the TikTok app. The flow looks like this:

1. Open TikTok and tap + at the bottom.
2. Tap Upload (the gallery icon next to the record button).
3. Switch to the Photos tab and turn on select multiple if needed.
4. Tap your images in the order you want them. You can pick up to 35.
5. Tap Next. If TikTok offers a choice between photo and video, pick photo for a swipeable carousel; video turns your images into a slideshow clip.
6. Tap Sounds to add music, then add text, stickers or filters if you want them.
7. Tap Next, write a title and description, add hashtags, choose a cover and set who can view it.
8. Tap Post.

Adding music to a TikTok photo carousel

Sound is part of the format, and TikTok usually suggests a track when you open the editor. A few things to know:

• Pick audio that fits the pace. A calm track suits a slow photo dump; an upbeat one suits a fast list.
• Trending sounds can help your carousel show up alongside other posts using the same audio.
• Business accounts usually get the Commercial Music Library rather than every popular song, because of licensing.
• Adjust the volume in the editor if you add a voiceover or the track is loud.

TikTok carousel captions, titles and hashtags

TikTok gives photo posts two text fields:

• Title (up to 90 characters): a short, bold headline. Treat it like the cover line of the carousel.
• Description (up to 4,000 characters): the longer caption with context, keywords and hashtags.

TikTok search reads captions and on-slide text, so use the words people would search for, like “easy weeknight dinners” or “Lisbon 3 day itinerary”. A handful of relevant hashtags at the end is enough; they count toward the description length.

Remember that the text on the slides matters most. Many people never open the description, so the slides need to carry the idea on their own.

How many photos should a TikTok carousel have?

You can add up to 35, but that does not make 35 a good idea. Each slide should earn its place.

Put the strongest slide first and the payoff near the end. A last slide that asks a question (“Which one would you pick?”) gives people a reason to comment.

TikTok carousel vs Instagram carousel

Plenty of creators post the same carousel on both apps. That works, as long as you adjust for the differences.

The quickest way to reuse slides: design at 4:5 with generous top and bottom margins, then post the same images to both apps. They will not fill the TikTok screen, but nothing important gets covered. For the best fit on each, export a 9:16 version for TikTok and a 4:5 version for Instagram.

Make TikTok carousels faster

Postora’s studio makes TikTok carousels at 9:16, 4:5 or 1:1. Give it a topic, a link or your notes and it plans the slides, writes the text and designs them in a template, ready to export as PNG images for TikTok. VIP can also export MP4 video if you want a slideshow clip instead.

More in the TikTok carousel templates collection. Reusing slides from Instagram? Check the Instagram carousel size guide for how 4:5 and 9:16 compare.