Instagram Post Size Guide 2026: Post, Story, and Reels Dimensions
Quick answer
The correct Instagram post size for 2026 is 1080 × 1080 pixels for square posts, 1080 × 1350 pixels for portrait posts, and 1080 × 1920 pixels for Stories and Reels, which is a 1:1, 4:5, or 9:16 aspect ratio depending on the format you choose. Getting these dimensions right the first time saves you from blurry uploads, unwanted cropping, and an inconsistent-looking grid.
1080 × 1350
Portrait · 4:5
Height at 1080px wide
Quick Reference: Instagram Dimensions Cheat Sheet
Before we go format by format, here is the fastest way to check your Instagram post size across every placement:
| Post Type | Recommended Pixels | Aspect Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Square Feed Post | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 |
| Portrait Feed Post | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 |
| Landscape Feed Post | 1080 × 566 | 1.91:1 |
| Story / Reel | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Carousel | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 |
| Profile Picture | 320 × 320 | 1:1 |
These are the standard sizes Instagram itself recommends, and it's the quickest way to compare the current Instagram post size against older specs from 2024 or 2025. Bookmark it if you regularly switch between square, vertical, and horizontal content.
How Instagram Compresses and Displays Your Images
Before choosing a pixel size, it helps to understand why dimensions matter so much here. Instagram compresses every upload to save server space, and any image that doesn't match a supported aspect ratio gets stretched, squeezed, or cropped without warning. That's why so many creators search for the exact image size for an Instagram post instead of uploading photos straight off a phone or camera. Matching the recommended pixel dimensions from the start preserves sharpness and stops the compression algorithm from degrading your resolution any further.
Why 1080px is the number that matters
Every recommended feed size in this guide is 1080 pixels wide. That's the width Instagram displays at, so anything narrower gets upscaled and softened, and anything much wider gets downsampled anyway. Fix the width at 1080 and the only decision left is how tall the image should be.
Instagram Feed Post Sizes
Feed posts support three main aspect ratios, and the one you pick directly affects how much of your image gets cropped in the grid, how large it appears on someone's screen, and how much scroll-stopping space it occupies.
Square · 1:1
1080 × 1080 px
Safest default for mixed photo and graphic feeds
Portrait · 4:5
1080 × 1350 px
Largest feed footprint, best for engagement and carousels
Landscape · 1.91:1
1080 × 566 px
Only when the composition genuinely needs the width
Square (1:1): 1080 × 1080 px
The square format is still the most universal Instagram post size: it displays in full, uncropped, in both the feed and the profile grid. It's the safest default when you're posting a mix of photos and graphics, and it remains the easiest template size to design around in Canva, Photoshop, or Procreate.
Portrait (4:5): 1080 × 1350 px
The vertical format now dominates the feed because it occupies more screen space, which makes it the best option for stopping the scroll. It's also the recommended size for carousel posts, since it gives your content the largest possible footprint on both mobile and desktop.
Landscape (1.91:1): 1080 × 566 px
Horizontal photos are the least common format on Instagram, because they take up the least vertical screen space compared to a tall, portrait-oriented post. Use this ratio only when the composition genuinely requires it, such as panoramic shots or video thumbnails repurposed from YouTube or Facebook.
Size decides how much of the screen you win. What happens inside that frame decides whether anyone stays: what is a social media hook breaks down what belongs in the first frame of a post.
The New 3:4 Grid Change and What It Means
In 2026, Instagram began testing a shift from the classic 4:5 crop preview toward a 3:4 grid ratio on some profile pages. This changes how thumbnails are cropped in the grid view, not the upload pixel size itself. Your 1080 × 1350 files still upload correctly, but the top and bottom edges may be trimmed a little more in the grid thumbnail than before. That distinction has caused real confusion among creators who assumed the official upload size had changed entirely.
How to stay safe under either crop
Keep key subjects centred and avoid placing text or faces near the top or bottom edge of vertical photos. If your content relies on precise framing, like quote graphics or infographics, preview both the 4:5 and 3:4 crops before publishing to confirm nothing important gets cut.
Instagram Carousel Post Size
In a carousel, every slide should use the same dimension, otherwise you get mismatched cropping and jarring transitions as people swipe. The ideal size is 1080 × 1350 pixels (4:5), matching the standard portrait post ratio, since it gives each slide maximum visibility.
Mixing square and vertical slides in the same carousel is one of the most common format mistakes creators make, and it usually ends with Instagram auto-cropping later slides to match the frame of the first one. Design the full carousel on a single canvas size from the start and the problem never appears.
Slide one carries the whole carousel
The first slide sets the crop for every slide after it, and it's also the only slide most people see. Treat it as the hook, not the cover. Six psychological techniques for writing hooks covers what makes that first slide earn the swipe.
Instagram Stories Size
The standard Instagram Story size is 1080 × 1920 pixels, a full-screen 9:16 vertical ratio that fills the entire mobile display. Keep essential text, stickers, and calls-to-action clear of the top 250px and the bottom 250px, where Instagram's own interface (the profile bar and the reply field) sits over your content.
1080 × 1920 px · 9:16
The canvas is the full 1920px, but only the middle ~1420px is reliably yours. Anything outside it risks sitting under the profile bar at the top or the reply field at the bottom.
Once your Stories are sized correctly, the next question is whether people are watching them through. Instagram Story navigation insights show exactly which slide loses them.
Instagram Reels Size
Reels use the same 1080 × 1920 pixel, 9:16 format as Stories, so your video fills the entire screen without black bars or letterboxing. The Reels cover thumbnail should also be cropped in a portrait-safe zone, either 9:16 or 1:1, so it reads correctly both in the main feed and in the profile grid, where it appears as a small static preview.
Correct dimensions only get the Reel played. Holding the viewer past the first few seconds is a separate problem: transitional hooks make videos harder to skip at the exact points where people usually drop off.
Instagram Profile Photo Size
Your profile picture displays at 320 × 320 pixels, but upload a square image of at least 1080 × 1080 so it stays sharp on high-resolution screens. Since the photo is cropped into a circle, keep your subject or logo centred and leave padding around the edges so nothing important gets clipped by the circular mask.
Instagram Ad Sizes
Ad creatives follow the same core aspect ratio logic as organic posts, but with stricter file and format requirements for approval, since a single ad runs across multiple placements at once.
Square Ad (1:1)
1080 × 1080 pxThe most versatile ad format across Feed and Explore placements, and generally the safest starting point when you're split-testing several creatives at once.
Landscape Ad (1.91:1)
1080 × 566 pxBest suited to link-click and website traffic campaigns, where a wide, cinematic frame supports the message rather than fighting it.
Vertical Ad (4:5)
1080 × 1350 pxThe largest on-screen ad format and typically the top performer for engagement-focused campaigns, since it takes up the most feed space.
Common Sizing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Almost every sizing problem on Instagram traces back to one of four habits:
Uploading a camera photo without resizing it.
Phones and cameras shoot in 4:3 or 3:2, neither of which Instagram supports, so the platform applies its own crop, and that crop is what cuts off heads, logos, and key text.
Exporting graphics at too low a resolution.
Instagram compresses every upload. Start below 1080px wide and the compression has nothing to work with, so the final image lands blurry or visibly pixelated.
Mixing square and vertical slides in one carousel.
Instagram matches later slides to the frame of the first one, which means everything after slide 1 gets auto-cropped.
Placing text at the very top or bottom of a Story.
The profile bar and reply field sit over those areas. Anything you put there competes with Instagram's own interface.
The fix, in four habits
- Resize to an exact supported dimension (1080 × 1080 or 1080 × 1350) before uploading, not after.
- Save a reusable 1080 × 1350 template in Canva, Photoshop, or Illustrator so the sizing decision is made once.
- Design the whole carousel on a single canvas size from slide one.
- Keep faces, logos, and text centred, away from the outer edges of vertical photos.
Setting up a reusable template at 1080 × 1080 or 1080 × 1350 in your design tool of choice saves real time if you post several pieces of content a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best size for an Instagram post is 1080 × 1350 pixels (4:5). It's the largest portrait format the feed displays without cropping, so it gives you the most visual real estate on screen.
You have the right size. Now write the opening.
Generate a Reel hook for your topic in seconds, or pull a proven opening from the Hookest library.
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