The profile picker drop-down in Compose is ‘sticky’, meaning that whichever profiles you had selected for your previous post remain selected the next time you go to post. You can click the profile picker to switch between different profiles.

Why are my other X profiles grayed out in the Compose window?

Once an X profile is selected, any other X profiles in the group are grayed out until the current profile is deselected. This is a limitation from the network.

Page Mentions

Which profile types can I mention (also known as tagging)?

The following networks will support the option to @mention/tag a profile within a post via Sprout:

Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Bluesky
Instagram
Reddit (must use "u/[username]" for the mention)
Threads
Tiktok

If scheduling for multiple networks, how can I add different mentions?

If you need to apply mentions across multiple social networks, use the Customize post per network option in Compose. This will allow you to enter different handles for each network.

What happens if I schedule my post across multiple networks without applying the mentions to the specific network?

If multiple networks are selected in the profile picker for the same post, any mentions applied default to X only.

Can I mention or tag LinkedIn or Facebook Personal profiles in Compose?

You can mention LinkedIn personal profiles if they follow your Page. You can’t mention Facebook personal profiles, only business/company Pages. This is due to restrictions from the networks.

How do I apply mentions or tags in Compose for the different networks?

Type "@[profile handle/name]" for all networks but Reddit. Use or "u/[user handle] for Reddit
Type the name of the profile/user you are looking to mention
Select which profile you want to tag. Once the tag is applied, LinkedIn, X and Facebook show the tag as dark blue in the text box and bolded in the preview.

How many @mentions can I add to a post for each supported network?

Right now, only 3 networks have a defined limit:

Facebook: 10 mentions per post
X: 50 mentions per post
LinkedIn: 40 mentions per post

Otherwise the default is unlimited for Bluesky, Instagram, Reddit, Threads, or TikTok.

Instagram mentions: you must enter the complete name without any typos to tag correctly. Instagram shows the tag only within the preview.

Reddit Mentions: Reddit has different syntax for mentions (the u/ prefix.) Similar to Instagram, you will have to type the complete Reddit user handle without typos. You will not see the tag in your preview

TikTok Mentions: there's no Sprout preview and the handle must be a perfect match.

Adding Media

Why did I get an error after uploading my image?

Social media networks have strict requirements when publishing via third party apps (including Sprout). If you get an error, you can make changes in the desktop version of Sprout via the built-in image editor.

Is there a limit to the amount of profiles I can tag in an image or Reel for Instagram

You can apply up to 20 media tags on a post. This means you can apply up to 20 media tags on a single image post or Reel, or use up to 20 media tags total when scheduling a carousel post.

What is the difference between a media tag and an Instagram collaborator invite?

Tagging an Instagram profile in an image or Reel will send a notification to the tagged profile which may encourage that profile to share in their Story or engage with your content. This will differ from the Invite Collaborators option found within the Instagram Options in Compose. Inviting a profile to be a collaborator will allow the post to appear in the other profile's grid if they accept the invitation which unlocks and additional reach and discoverability with their followers. You can learn more about inviting collaborators on your Instagram posts here: How do I create Instagram collab posts?

I can see the profile exists natively but it was marked invalid in Sprout. How do I determine if the profile is private or restricted?

If you are logged into Instagram as a profile that actively follows the other profile, this can make it difficult to quickly spot if the profile is a private or age-restricted account. In this case, we would recommend copying the address for the profile (from the handle in Sprout) and opening this within a private browsing window such as Google Chrome's incognito. This would allow you to see the profile as an Instagram user who is not actively following the account and has not completed any age verifications.

How the post appears on the native network

Why does my Facebook post say “Published by Sprout Social”?

This is a requirement of the network. However, this text is only visible to admins of the Facebook Page. Regular users and visitors to the Page don’t see this text.

What is the difference between Target your Post and Limit your Post’s Audience when Targeting a post for Facebook?

Publishing a post with Target your Post applied pushes it to the Newsfeed of any users within the audience selected, but the post is visible to all users who view a page.

Publishing a post with Limit your Post's Audience applied only makes it accessible to users that fall within the selected audience.

Why did my post with Targeting not publish to my LinkedIn Profile?

LinkedIn has a requirement of at least 300 followers to enable targeting. This means that you must have at least 300 followers as part of the targeted segment for the post to publish successfully. If the audience is insufficient, you receive a warning after applying the targeting criteria.

Why does my Post not appear in my X Feed?

If a Post doesn’t show under the Posts section natively and is only visible under Posts & Replies, this is due to:

The Post starts with “@” or mentioning the user
The account is following the user mentioned in the Post

A useful workflow for Posts with an @mention at the beginning that you would like to see on the Posts section natively, is to place a period before the @ (for example: .@sproutsocial) in order for it to show in the main view.

Metadata + Link Previews

What is metadata?

Metadata is a preview of the link added to a post. It includes the link title, description and an image.

Which networks allow metadata to be edited?

You can only edit metadata for LinkedIn and Facebook. However:

Facebook requires that the domain is owned and verified through Business Manager, as outlined here.
For LinkedIn, the description is limited to 300 characters. This specifically refers to the link description, and not the text content in Compose.

Can I check how my link will post natively before I schedule it?

Yes, several networks have tools for this, you can use the following links:

Facebook: https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/sharing/
X: https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/post-inspector/

Drafts

How can I save my post as a Draft?

Drafts are accessible through the Compose window and using the This is a Draft toggle. There is a yellow indicator at the top of the Compose window once this is enabled

How do Drafts work?

You can read more about Drafts in this helpful article.

Scheduling

How far in advance can I schedule posts?

You can schedule posts up to 13 months in advance.

How many messages can I schedule in advance?

While on a Sprout trial, you can schedule up to 1,000 messages in advance.
Otherwise, you can schedule up to 10,000 messages in advance.

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Compose FAQs

Table of Contents

Profile Selection

Do I have to select profiles each time I open the Compose window?