Warm-up needed before posting Reels on fresh IG accounts?

[Evesy]

Hey all,

Quick question for those with experience running IG (farms).

I’ve got an iPhone farm with ~40 devices and I’m generating fresh accounts using my own creator setup. I’m running everything through 5G US mobile proxies. I want to grow all accounts by posting one Reel every day or max every two days, I don't want to be spamming but just building and profiting from a legitimate organic audience that sees the Reels/content.

What I’m trying to figure out:

Do I need to properly warm up these accounts first (e.g. 3–4 days, 5–10 minutes per day — scrolling, liking, maybe a few follows), or can I just start posting Reels from day 7 (I'm always letting the account age a bit during the first week)?

Also, if warming is needed, can it be something like once every few days, or does it really have to be daily actions? With 40 phones this obviously impacts scalability a lot if every account needs a daily 5–10 minute warm-up routine.

I understand that the first few Reels often sit around that ~200 view range, but I don’t want to stay stuck there long-term. I’m trying to figure out what actually helps accounts break out of that phase and start getting real organic reach.

Would be useful to hear what’s working for you right now, especially at scale.

Thanks heaps in advance to you all.

 

[MerinMaster]

yes warm up helps even for reels. few days of normal use makes account look real. daily small actions better than random gaps.

 

[Yoram]

Warming up will definitely help you build a sustainable phone farm in my opinion

 

[Evesy]

yes warm up helps even for reels. few days of normal use makes account look real. daily small actions better than random gaps.

Warming up will definitely help you build a sustainable phone farm in my opinion

Totally agree! However I’m wondering how much it will impact if you for example just do a 3 day warmup and after just post and don’t daily use the account as a “regular” user.

Worth a test for sure. Wondering however what others their experience is on it.

 

[Yoram]

Probably a good thing to mimic real user experience. So, yes. Looking on some related niche accounts, comment or like or even send out some DMs that make your account look legitimate. Stay away from any boosted metrics and goodluck

 

[Proxellor]

yeah definitely need to warm them up first tbh. if you just make a fresh account and instantly start blasting reels the algorithm flags you as a bot almost immediately. just spend like 3 to 5 days doing normal human stuff on it first like scrolling the feed, watching other reels and dropping a few likes before you actually upload anything.

 

[Delecch]

Everyone saying "yes warm up" is right, but here are the actual numbers that matter for a 5G mobile proxy setup at your scale:

For fresh accounts on mobile proxies, a 5–7 day warm-up is the sweet spot before the first Reel. The daily action ladder I've seen work consistently:

Days 1–2: Passive only. Open app, scroll feed 10–15 minutes, watch 8–12 Reels fully (completion rate matters), follow 2–3 accounts in the niche. No posting, no comments, no DMs. The goal is to build a watch history IG can use to classify the account.

Days 3–4: Add light engagement. 5–8 likes per day, 1–2 comments (genuine, not "great post"). Follow another 3–5 accounts. View 2–3 Stories. Still no posting.

Days 5–6: Post 1 Story (photo or boomerang, nothing complex). Check if it gets any impressions from non-followers — if it does, the account is indexing normally. Add a bio and profile photo if you haven't yet.

Day 7+: First Reel. Keep it under 30 seconds for the first one. The first 24-hour window is the algorithm's scoring window — it decides whether to push the Reel to non-followers or kill it. Don't post a second Reel until you see how the first performs (at least 18–24 hours gap).

On the 5G proxy side specifically: 5G mobile proxies are strong for account creation and early warm-up because they look exactly like a real user on a cell network. Just make sure the proxy IP stays consistent per account — if you're rotating IPs on the same account during warm-up, IG will see location jumps and that alone can stall trust building.

 

[nikmarketing]

What would a human do ? I think the first thing everyone does is to follow some friends (5-10 accounts per day) and of course they follow you back. Watch some of their content, comment and keep on scrolling your feed.
If you set up is good you shouldn’t have issues posting right away

 

[spygr]

I've never done any warm up on IG and never had problems so sometimes im really doubtful!

 

[ReactiveOffers]

I'd recommend to warm it up because it gives additional trust to accounts.

 

[Evesy]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I’m running some tests and to be very honest not seeing any difference yet between warm and cold accounts, both perform well.

Will keep testing and let you guys know.

 

[ToyBox Marketing]

Warmup is very vital when it comes doing the actions on the account. Even if you are just posting reels; warmup is extremely important.

 

[Evesy]

Carousels are still the highest-save content format on Instagram in 2026, and saves are arguably the most weighted engagement signal right now.
The structure that consistently works for me:
1. Slide 1: Bold claim or question (this is your hook)
2. Slides 2-8: Deliver actual value, one point per slide
3. Second-to-last slide: Summary or "save this for later"
4. Last slide: CTA + your handle
Key insight most people miss: the SWIPE RATE between slides matters. Instagram tracks how many people swipe past slide 1. If your swipe-through rate is low, the algorithm assumes the content isn't engaging and kills reach.
Trick: make slide 2 a natural continuation of slide 1 — like cutting a sentence in half. People can't NOT swipe.

Thanks for wasting AI resources for this completely non relevant answer.

 

[top1facebook]

Yes. Warm up is very important

 

[Tissot Agency]

I wouldn’t recommend relying on bots for growth. They usually bring low-quality engagement and can negatively affect account performance over time.

 

[Evesy]

I wouldn’t recommend relying on bots for growth. They usually bring low-quality engagement and can negatively affect account performance over time.

If you're using proper setups, the app you automate doesn't even notice it. I highly doubt this if done correctly that it has any impact as we see good results with automation.

 

[Pare Zomate]

Yes, a little bit of startup time is helpful, but it doesn't need to be excessive or perfect every day. Also, getting past the 200+ view mark often depends more on the ability to retain viewers than on account age. If a few Reels maintain good view times, the reach will start to expand regardless of how perfect the startup process was.

 

[Starblazer]

Many people create accounts to post reels. The platform encourages such people over those who just abandon accounts. So, it's okay to skip warmup. But warming up fresh accounts helps when you trigger algorithm due to suspicious activity.

 

[truong hoang]

Gradual activity is really important when working with accounts. Even for something like posting Reels, starting slowly and building normal usage patterns helps a lot.

 

[Willie Lindsay]

From what I’ve seen, a bit of warm-up still helps, especially in the first few days so accounts don’t look too fresh. In my experience, you don’t need to overdo it daily, just keep some natural activity and then start posting consistently.