How to Pick a Winner for an Instagram Giveaway

1. 1

   Copy the giveaway post link

   In the Instagram app, tap ··· on the post and choose Copy link. Feed posts, carousels and Reels all work, as long as the account is public.

2. 2

   Paste it into a comment picker and set your rules

   Paste the link into the free Instagram comment picker, check that the right post loaded, and apply the same entry rules you published.

3. 3

   Draw and record it

   Draw the winner and backups, screen-recording from start to finish, then announce the result with the recording.

• By hand. Scrolling and choosing a name is quick but not random, and nobody can check it. It is the method most likely to start an argument in your comments.
• Numbered list and a random number. Copying comments into a numbered list and drawing a number is fair, but slow and error-prone past a few dozen entries, and duplicates and rule-breakers have to be removed by hand.
• Picker wheel. A spinning wheel looks good on video, but you still have to type or paste every name, and a wheel with hundreds of names on it is unreadable.
• Comment picker. A tool that reads the comments from the post link, applies your entry rules and draws at random. It is the fastest of the four and the only one that checks the rules for you.

1. 1

   Load the post

   Paste the post or Reel link into the picker and press Load the post. A preview of the post appears, so you can confirm it is the right one before anything is drawn.

2. 2

   Set the entry rules

   Require a hashtag or keyword, a minimum number of tagged friends, one entry per account, and whether your own comments are excluded. Every rule is optional; with none set, every comment is an entry.

3. 3

   Choose winners and backups

   Draw up to five winners at once and add backup picks for anyone who does not reply or turns out not to qualify.

4. 4

   Draw the winner

   The picker reads the comments, applies the rules and draws at random in your browser. The winner locks into a card on screen, with a receipt of the draw underneath.

5. 5

   Save the result

   Screenshot or screen-record the result for your Stories, save the Stories image, or create a result link you can post so anyone can see the draw.

Apply the rules before the draw, not after. Disqualifying a winner after they are announced looks like changing the result; filtering first means every name in the draw was already valid.

The picker can check what is visible in a comment: the hashtag or keyword, the number of distinct @mentions, whether the same account commented more than once, and whether the comment came from your own account. It cannot check likes, follows or Story shares. If those are in your rules, check the winner's profile by hand and use a backup if they do not qualify.

Look at the winner's profile before announcing too. An empty account created the week of the giveaway may be automated, and most rules let you disqualify those entries.

Set the number of winners before you draw rather than drawing several times. In InstaCommentPickers, winners and backups come from one continuous shuffle of the eligible entries, so the first backup is simply the next name that would have won. That order is worth announcing: it settles who is next before anyone has to ask.

• Screen-record the draw, from pasting the link to the winner appearing, and post the clip with your announcement.
• Keep the receipt. It shows the nonce and seed of the draw; with the post link and your rules, anyone can recompute the seed and get the same winner. The About page explains how.
• Post a result link if you want a page your audience can open and check for themselves.
• Announce publicly and tag the winner, so entrants can see a real account won.

Give the winner a clear deadline in your rules, such as a few days. If it passes, move to the first backup, message them the same way, and say publicly that the prize has passed on. Because the backups were drawn at the same time as the winner, there is no need for a second draw.