Instagram Story size and specs
| Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Size | 1080 x 1920 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 9:16, vertical |
| Photo formats | JPG or PNG |
| Video formats | MP4 or MOV |
| Video length | Up to 60 seconds for each clip |
| How long it stays | 24 hours, unless you add it to a Highlight |
A picture that is smaller than 1080 pixels wide is enlarged and can look soft, and a picture that is larger is scaled down. Create the picture at 1080 x 1920 pixels so that Instagram does not have to change it.
Story safe zone
Instagram puts your account name, buttons and the reply bar on top of a Story. Text, faces and logos that sit under them are hard to read or are covered. A common rule is to keep the top 250 pixels and the bottom 250 to 340 pixels free of anything important. Meta's advertising guidance gives about 14% at the top and about 20% at the bottom. The exact areas change when the app changes, so treat them as a guide. The tool above can shade these areas on your picture.
How to fit a photo to an Instagram Story
- Choose your photo.
- Pick how it should fill the 1080 x 1920 frame: crop the edges, add solid bars, or add a blurred copy of the photo behind it.
- For a crop, drag the photo to choose the part that stays in the frame.
- Turn on Show the safe zone to check that nothing important is in the shaded areas.
- Download the picture as a JPG or PNG and upload it to your Story.
If your photo is not 9:16
- Fill (crop). The picture covers the whole frame and the edges are cut. Best for pictures that are already close to vertical.
- Fit with a blurred background. The whole photo stays visible, and the empty space is filled with a soft blurred copy. The usual choice for landscape photos and screenshots.
- Fit with solid bars. The whole photo stays visible with bars in the colour you choose. Good for a branded look.
Tips for sharp Stories
- Shoot vertically, at the highest quality your phone allows.
- Use large text with strong contrast, because Stories are seen on a small screen for a few seconds.
- Save photos as JPG at a high quality, or as PNG for text and graphics.
- Keep the same style across Stories so that they look like a series.
Related pages
See the Instagram post size, Reel size and highlight cover size. Convert any photo to every Instagram size with the Instagram resizer, and see all the sizes in the Instagram image sizes guide. To crop in a different shape, use the Instagram image cropper, and for a 9:16 shape in numbers, the 16:9 calculator turned on its side.