You spent an hour on a post. The colours are right, the text is sharp, the product looks great. Then you upload it and Instagram chops off the bottom line of text, or the photo comes out soft and blurry. Nothing is wrong with the design. The Instagram post size was wrong.
This guide puts every Instagram size in one place: feed posts, carousels, Stories, Reels, Reel covers, profile pictures and ads. Every number below comes from Instagram's own Help Centre or Meta's Business Help Centre, checked on 14 October 2026, with a link to the source so you can check it yourself. Where Instagram doesn't publish a number, we say so instead of guessing.
Instagram sizes at a glance
Here's the short version. Read it as "format: aspect ratio, size in pixels".
- Feed post, square: 1:1, 1080 × 1080 px
- Feed post, portrait: 4:5 at 1080 × 1350 px, or the tallest allowed, 3:4 at 1080 × 1440 px
- Feed post, landscape: up to 1.91:1, 1080 × 566 px
- Carousel: the same ratios as feed posts, up to 20 photos and videos in one post; keep every slide the same ratio
- Story: 9:16, 1080 × 1920 px (Meta's recommended resolution for Story ads)
- Reel: anything from 1.91:1 to 9:16 uploads; 9:16 (1080 × 1920 px) fills the screen; minimum 720 px and 30 frames per second
- Reel cover photo: 420 × 654 px (a 1:1.55 ratio), JPG or PNG
- Profile picture: shown as a circle; Instagram doesn't publish a recommended pixel size
- Ads: 1:1 and 4:5 for Instagram Feed, 9:16 for Stories and Reels
Two rules sit behind almost all of these. Instagram shares photos at a width of up to 1080 pixels, and it accepts aspect ratios between 1.91:1 (wide) and 3:4 (tall) for feed photos. Anything outside that range gets cropped. Both rules come from Instagram's page on image resolution of photos you share.
Why 1080 pixels is the number that matters
Instagram's Help Centre is clear on this. When you share a photo, Instagram uploads it "at the best quality resolution possible (up to a width of 1080 pixels)". If your photo is wider than that, Instagram sizes it down to 1080. If it's narrower than 320 pixels, Instagram enlarges it to 320, which is where blurry posts come from.
Photos between 320 and 1080 pixels wide keep their original resolution, as long as the aspect ratio sits between 1.91:1 and 3:4. In pixels, that's a width of 1080 with a height anywhere between 566 and 1440.
So the safe habit is simple: design every feed image 1080 pixels wide. Going bigger doesn't hurt (Instagram scales it down), but it doesn't add sharpness either. Going smaller is what costs you.
Feed post sizes: square, portrait and landscape
The aspect ratio is the shape of the image: width compared with height. The pixel sizes in this section all start from Instagram's 1080-pixel width.
Square (1:1)
1080 × 1080 pixels. The classic Instagram shape. It's a safe default for product shots, quote graphics and anything you'll also reuse on other networks.
Portrait (4:5 and 3:4)
4:5 is 1080 × 1350 pixels. 3:4 is 1080 × 1440 pixels, the tallest shape Instagram's Help Centre lists for photos. Taller images take up more of the phone screen as people scroll, which is why most brands design feed posts in portrait.
If you design for 3:4, check how the post looks in the feed and on your grid before you commit a whole series to it. If you want one shape that works for organic posts and ads alike, 4:5 is the one Meta supports across feed placements (more on ads below).
Landscape (1.91:1)
1080 × 566 pixels at the widest. Landscape posts look small in a vertical feed, so keep them for photos that really need the width: a shopfront, a group photo, a panorama.
If your image is wider than 1.91:1, Instagram crops it to fit. The same happens to anything taller than 3:4.
How the profile grid crops your posts
Your profile grid doesn't show the whole post. It shows a cropped preview, and the full image only appears when someone taps it.
When Instagram first allowed portrait and landscape posts, it showed them on the grid as centre-cropped squares, as its announcement of landscape and portrait formats explained. The grid layout has changed over the years, and Instagram's Help Centre doesn't publish a fixed size for the grid thumbnail. So don't design to a guessed grid number. Design for the crop instead:
- Keep the headline and the face or product in the middle of the image
- Leave the top and bottom edges for background, not text
- After posting, look at your grid and tap the post to compare preview and full image
- If you plan a grid pattern (a three-post banner, say), test it with one post first
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Try Skyfliq free →Carousel post size (and mixing ratios)
A carousel is one post with several photos or videos that people swipe through. Instagram lets you share up to 20 photos and videos as a single post, and the slides use the same feed sizes as single photos: 1080 pixels wide, between 1.91:1 and 3:4.
The rule that saves the most headaches: use one aspect ratio for every slide. Meta's own advice for carousel ads is to keep the ratios of your images consistent, such as all 1:1 or all 4:5, "to prevent automated adjustments" (best practices for aspect ratios). Mixed shapes make the swipe feel jumpy and can crop slides you didn't plan to crop.
A few practical points:
- 4:5 (1080 × 1350) is the most common carousel shape for organic posts
- Design all slides on one canvas so margins and text sizes match
- If a design runs across two slides (a "seamless" carousel), split it into exact 1080-pixel-wide pieces
- Tools that post through Instagram's API can have a lower slide limit than the app. In Skyfliq, for example, a scheduled carousel holds 2 to 10 images or videos
If you're still working out what goes on each slide, our Instagram carousel strategy guide covers hooks, structure and saves.
Instagram Story size and safe zones
Stories are full-screen and vertical, so the size to design for is 9:16. Meta's design requirements for Instagram Stories ads recommend 9:16 with a resolution of 1080 × 1920 pixels, and a minimum of 600 × 1067. The same page says images show for five seconds by default.
That page is written for ads, but the frame is the same one your organic Stories fill. If you upload something that isn't 9:16, Instagram fits it into the vertical frame, usually with a background around it.
Video length is the other thing to know. Instagram's page on sharing a photo or video to your story says a video up to 60 seconds appears as one clip, and longer videos are split into several clips.
Story safe zones
The top and bottom of a Story are covered by your profile name, the progress bar, the reply box and stickers. Meta's Safe Zone guidance says to keep the top, bottom and side edges of 9:16 ads free of key text and logos. For boosted Stories with an action button, Instagram's help page on boosting a story is more specific: leave roughly 14% at the top and 20% at the bottom free.
On a 1080 × 1920 canvas, 14% is about 270 pixels at the top and 20% is about 385 pixels at the bottom. Keep your text inside the middle band and nothing important gets covered. For what to actually post in that frame, see our Instagram Stories strategy.
Instagram Reel size, length and cover image
Instagram's page on Reel size and aspect ratios lists the rules:
- You can upload a Reel with any aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 9:16
- Reels should have a minimum frame rate of 30 FPS and a minimum resolution of 720 pixels
- The recommended cover photo size is 420 × 654 pixels (a 1:1.55 ratio), in PNG or JPG
- You can't currently edit the cover photo after you upload the Reel
Instagram doesn't list a recommended pixel size for the video itself beyond that 720-pixel minimum. In practice, a 9:16 video at 1080 × 1920 fills the phone screen, and it's the frame most phones and editing apps already use.
Length: you can record and edit Reels up to 20 minutes long. But Instagram's Help Centre adds a note that matters more for growth: Reels over 3 minutes won't be recommended to new audiences. If you want non-followers to find a Reel, keep it at 3 minutes or less.
There's also a setting that affects quality. Instagram's Reel size page says you can choose to always upload at the highest quality under Your app and media, then Media quality. Uploads take longer, but your video isn't squeezed as hard.
If you plan to boost a Reel later, Instagram's boosting rules require it to be 90 seconds or less and in full-screen 9:16 vertical format. Shooting in 9:16 from the start keeps that option open. For hooks, length and ideas, our Instagram Reels strategy goes deeper.
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Start free →Profile picture size
Here's one Instagram doesn't put a number on. Its help page on adding or changing your profile picture explains how to upload one, but not a recommended pixel size. Many blogs quote a figure; we couldn't find it on an official Instagram or Meta page, so we won't repeat it.
What you can rely on:
- Your profile picture is shown as a small circle, so the corners of a square image get cut off
- Upload a square image and keep the logo or face in the centre, with space around it
- Use a simple, high-contrast logo; fine text is unreadable at that size
- Your profile picture is public to everyone, on or off Instagram, as the same help page notes
Instagram ad sizes
Ads follow Meta's ads specs rather than the organic rules. Meta's page on aspect ratios supported by placements and its best practices for aspect ratios give these recommendations:
- Instagram Feed: both 1:1 and 4:5 are supported for images and videos. Meta's two pages differ on which to pick: the best-practices page recommends 1:1 for single-image ads in Instagram Feed, while the placements table marks 4:5 as recommended for images and 9:16 for videos
- Instagram Stories and Reels: 9:16, for both images and videos
- Carousel ads: 1:1 or 4:5 images, kept consistent across cards; square 1:1 for videos in a carousel
- Instagram Explore home: 4:5 recommended for images, 9:16 for videos
For Story ads specifically, Meta's design requirements add file limits: photos up to 30 MB in JPG or PNG, and videos up to 4 GB in MP4 or MOV. Stories ads also accept all feed dimensions, from 1.91:1 to 4:5, but 9:16 is what fills the screen.
The safest workflow for ads: make a 9:16 version and a 1:1 or 4:5 version of every creative, keep text inside the safe zone, and check every placement preview in Ads Manager before you publish. Meta can pad, crop or expand your media automatically when a ratio is missing, and its help page recommends reviewing those automatic crops before you publish.
How to export without blur or cropping
Most "Instagram ruined my photo" problems come from export settings, not Instagram. A checklist that fixes nearly all of them:
- Set the canvas to the exact size before you design: 1080 × 1350 for a portrait post, 1080 × 1920 for a Story or Reel
- Export at 1080 pixels wide. Bigger files get scaled down anyway
- Save photos and graphics as JPG or PNG. PNG keeps text and logos crisper
- Don't upload screenshots of screenshots. Each round loses detail
- Turn on the highest-quality upload setting for Reels if your connection allows it
- Upload over Wi-Fi or a strong connection; Instagram's carousel help page notes that posts with several videos take longer to upload
- Keep important text away from all four edges, then check the post, the grid and a Story preview on an actual phone
Free design tools (Canva, Adobe Express and others) all have Instagram presets, but check the preset's pixel size against this list. Presets aren't always updated when Instagram changes.
If you post on several networks, check what each one needs before you resize. A 4:5 graphic that works in Instagram's feed might need a separate version elsewhere. Our guide to video marketing on social media covers how to plan one shoot for several formats.
Schedule posts in the right size, every time
Once your sizes are sorted, the next win is getting posts out on time without doing it from your phone at 9pm. Skyfliq's scheduler, Launch Pad, lets you schedule Instagram feed posts, Reels, carousels and Stories, and shows a per-network preview so you can see how the image and caption will look before anything goes live. Our guide on how to schedule social media posts walks through scheduling Instagram posts step by step, and our guide to the best time to post on Instagram in India shows how to choose the slots.
The short version
Design at 1080 pixels wide. Use 4:5 (1080 × 1350) for feed posts and carousels, 9:16 (1080 × 1920) for Stories and Reels, and 420 × 654 for Reel covers. Keep one ratio across a carousel, keep text away from the edges, and keep Reels under 3 minutes if you want new people to see them. When in doubt, check the official Help Centre pages linked above. Instagram changes things, and those pages change with it.
Related guides: Instagram Carousel Strategy · Instagram Stories Strategy · Instagram Reels Strategy · Instagram Bio Ideas