Instagram Story Dimensions (Plus Reels and Feed Post Sizes)

Instagram sizes at a glance

A note on "1080": Instagram displays most content around 1080 pixels wide. Meta's publishing documentation accepts feed images between 320 and 1440 pixels wide, so exporting at 1440 wide in the same ratio is fine, but it won't look dramatically sharper after compression.

Instagram Story dimensions

Stories fill a phone screen vertically.

• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Size: 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Video length: each Story clip can be up to 60 seconds; Instagram splits longer videos into back-to-back Stories
• How long they stay up: 24 hours, then they move to your archive (unless saved to Highlights)

If you upload a 4:5 photo or a landscape video, Instagram lets you pinch to resize it and fills the rest with a color background. That's fine for reshares, but full-screen 9:16 designs look more intentional.

Story safe zones

Instagram places your profile photo, name and progress bar at the top, and the reply bar, stickers or call-to-action elements at the bottom. Meta's specs for vertical Story ads say to leave roughly 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% on each side free of text, logos and key elements. That's a sensible rule for organic Stories too.

Organic Stories have less bottom overlay than ads, so the 35% guide is conservative. If a Story has no link sticker or reply prompt, you can use more of the lower area, but keep essential text higher up.

Instagram Reels dimensions

• Aspect ratio: 9:16 recommended
• Size: 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Length in the app: Instagram raised the Reels limit to 3 minutes in January 2025. Some accounts have reported longer recording options since, so check what your Reels camera allows.
• Uploaded through Meta's API (used by scheduling tools): 3 seconds to 15 minutes, MP4 or MOV, up to 300 MB, 23 to 60 frames per second

Reels safe zones

Reels overlay your username, caption, audio label and action buttons (like, comment, share) on the lower portion and right edge. Use the same approach as Stories: keep text and faces out of the bottom third and away from the right edge. Captions you add as on-screen text should sit in the middle of the frame.

Reel cover images

• Size: 1080 x 1920 (9:16). Meta's API documentation also recommends 9:16 for covers.
• Profile grid: your cover appears as a 3:4 crop, trimming the top and bottom.
• Tip: place the title and subject inside a central 1080 x 1440 area. When choosing a cover before sharing, you can adjust how it crops on your grid.

Instagram feed post dimensions

Why 3:4 and 4:5 both matter now

Two changes in 2025 reshaped feed sizing:

1. January 2025: the profile grid switched from square thumbnails to taller 3:4 rectangles.
2. May 2025: Instagram added native support for 3:4 photos in single posts and carousels, so they appear as shot instead of being cropped to 4:5.

In the feed, Instagram shows your post at the ratio you uploaded. On your profile grid, every post shows as a 3:4 thumbnail.

Carousels

All slides in a carousel display at the same ratio, set by your first selection. If you mix ratios, Instagram crops the rest to match. Design every slide at one size, usually 1080 x 1350 or 1080 x 1440. Keep swipe-to-read text away from the edges so the grid thumbnail of slide one still reads.

File limits and formats

These figures come from Meta's content publishing documentation for the Instagram API. The app's own uploader is generally more flexible, but staying within them avoids errors in scheduling tools.

How to resize existing content for Instagram

You often need one asset in several formats. Work from the largest, least-cropped version.

1. Shoot or design vertically when you know the content will become a Story or Reel. Cropping a landscape video to 9:16 throws away most of the frame.
2. Crop 9:16 down to 3:4 or 4:5 for feed versions. The central part of a vertical frame usually crops well if the subject is centered.
3. Extend rather than stretch. If a photo is too short for a Story, place it on a colored or blurred background instead of stretching it.
4. Re-set text for each size. Text placed safely on a 9:16 Story can end up cut off on a 4:5 post. Reposition it rather than simply cropping.
5. Check thumbnails. After choosing the feed version, look at how the 3:4 grid preview frames it.

Design tools such as Canva and Adobe Express offer resize features (some on paid plans), and most video editors let you change project ratio. Our Instagram templates guide covers setting up reusable canvases at these sizes.

Common dimension mistakes

• Uploading 16:9 video to Reels. It plays letterboxed and looks small. Reframe to 9:16.
• Mixing ratios in a carousel. Slides get cropped to the first slide's ratio.
• Putting a Reel title at the very top of the cover. The grid crop removes it.
• Tiny text in Stories. It becomes hard to read on smaller phones and after compression.
• Relying on old square-grid advice. Guides written before 2025 assume 1:1 thumbnails, which no longer apply.

How to avoid blurry or cropped uploads

• Export at the exact ratio you plan to post, rather than letting Instagram crop.
• Use sRGB color and JPEG for photos.
• Turn on Upload at highest quality in Instagram's media quality settings.
• Keep on-screen text large. Small text becomes unreadable after compression on a phone.
• Check the grid preview before sharing a Reel or carousel.

For shooting tips that make the most of these sizes, see how to take great Instagram photos. To save time, build reusable layouts at these dimensions with our Instagram templates guide, and keep captions within limits using the Instagram character counter. For more Story ideas, try our Story hacks. When a Reel or photo is ready to post, pick five focused tags from our Reels hashtag sets or photography hashtags.