TikTok photo mode: how to post a photo carousel

A photo post on TikTok is a swipeable carousel with a sound behind it. TikTok's help centre gives these steps:

1. In the TikTok app, tap the Add post + button at the bottom.
2. Tap Photo, then tap Upload and select photos from your phone.
3. Tap Next. Swipe between photos to edit each one: add a filter, sound, text or stickers, or crop it.
4. Tap Next again to edit the cover, add a description and hashtags, tag people, add a location or link, and set privacy.
5. Tap Post, or Drafts to save it for later.

• Photo posts follow the same privacy rule as videos: a new post keeps your previous post's privacy setting, so check it before you tap Post.

Source: TikTok Support: Making a post, checked 14 October 2026

Up to 35 photos per post. TikTok's editing tools give the same number for mixed posts: you can bring up to 35 items, photos and videos together, into one editing session, add up to 8 overlays, and add one sound.

Thirty-five is a ceiling, not a target. A carousel works when each photo earns the next swipe. If you really have more to show, split the set into two posts, a part one and a part two.

Sources: TikTok Support: Making a post, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Editing TikTok videos and photos, checked 14 October 2026

You can add a sound while editing the photos. From the editing screen:

1. Tap Sound at the bottom.
2. Tap Add sound, or Replace if there is already one.
3. Pick a suggested sound or search for one. It is added to the post straight away.
4. Tap the sound clip to adjust it.

• Business accounts can only use music licensed for commercial use, from the Commercial Music Library.
• A post has one sound, so choose a track that suits every photo in the set.

Sources: TikTok Support: Editing TikTok videos and photos, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Sounds, checked 14 October 2026

Separately from carousels, TikTok lets you take a live photo with its own camera and post it to the feed. TikTok's steps:

1. Tap Add post +.
2. Tap the Record button to take a photo.
3. Add a filter, sound, text, stickers or effects.
4. Tap the post settings at the bottom to choose who can see it.
5. Tap Your Story, or the Done tick to post it to the feed.

Source: TikTok Support: Making a post, checked 14 October 2026

TikTok's help centre gives the 35-photo cap but no file or text limits for photo posts in the app. TikTok's developer documentation does publish limits for photo posts sent by apps that post on your behalf, such as scheduling tools:

• Treat the description like a video caption: say what the carousel is about first, then add 2 to 3 relevant hashtags, which is what TikTok's Creator Academy suggests for videos.

Sources: TikTok Support: Making a post, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok for Developers: Photo Post API reference, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok for Developers: Content Posting API media transfer guide, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Creator Academy: Elements of a TikTok video, checked 14 October 2026

Photo posts are quick to make, which is why they suit a small business. A few habits help:

• Make the first photo the hook. It is often the cover, so put the promise of the post on it in a few words.
• One idea per photo. Step one, step two; before, after; product one, product two.
• Put short text on the images, since many people swipe without opening the description.
• End with a photo that says what to do next: visit, book, comment with a question.
• Use the description to say what the post is about in words people would search for.
• Keep the photos the same shape so the swipe feels smooth, and keep text away from the edges.
• Aim for a set people can get through in one sitting. Most carousels need nowhere near 35 photos.

Photo posts are also an easy way to reuse what you already have: photos from a past event, product shots from your website, or a list from a blog post turned into one tip per photo.

• A recipe or how-to, one step per photo.
• A product range, with the price or name on each photo.
• Before and after photos of a job.
• Answers to common customer questions, one per photo.
• Event photos, with a final photo saying when the next one is.

Zolyp, which publishes this guide, is an AI social media manager: it plans, writes, designs and schedules posts for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads, and you approve the week before anything goes out. It publishes TikTok photo posts as well as videos, with their own title of up to 90 characters and a caption of up to 2,200. It checks each photo against TikTok's rules first: at least 360 px on the shortest side and up to 20 MB each.