What size should Instagram reels be?
1080 by 1920 pixels, a 9:16 vertical video that fills the phone screen.
Posting a video in the wrong size is the fastest way to make good content look bad — cropped heads, black bars, blurry text. Every surface on Instagram has its own ideal size. Here is the complete guide for 2026, so every video you post fills the screen properly.
Reels: 1080 × 1920
Reels are vertical video at 9:16 — 1080 pixels wide by 1920 tall. That is the full phone screen. Keep important text and faces inside the middle 80% of the frame, because the top and bottom edges are covered by Instagram's interface.
Feed videos: 1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1080
Feed videos work best as vertical 4:5 (1080 by 1350), which takes up the most space in the feed, or square 1:1 (1080 by 1080) for a classic look. Vertical 4:5 gets more screen space, so it usually earns more attention.
Stories: 1080 × 1920
Stories use the same 9:16 full-screen size as reels — 1080 by 1920. Leave a safe margin of about 250 pixels at the top and bottom for the profile bar and reply box, so nothing important gets covered.
Live: 1080 × 1920
Live videos are vertical too, at 1080 by 1920. The same framing rules apply — keep your face and key details centred, and check your lighting before you go live.
Export settings that keep quality
Export at 1080p or higher, 30 frames per second, with a bitrate of at least 10 Mbps. Avoid uploading a video that has already been compressed by another app — each round of compression softens the image further.
What about carousels?
Carousel posts use the same sizes as feed videos: 4:5 vertical (1080 by 1350) or square (1080 by 1080). The catch is that every slide in a carousel must share the same aspect ratio. Instagram crops the whole set to the shape of the first slide. So pick your size before you design, and make every slide match, or the edges of your later slides will be cut off. A quick check before posting: swipe through the full carousel in the preview and confirm no text is clipped on any slide. If a slide does get clipped, resize it and re-upload the set.
Want to save the media in this guide? Paste the link into the Instagram Video Downloader — free, no login.
Related questions
What is the best aspect ratio for feed videos?
4:5 vertical (1080 by 1350) takes up the most space in the feed and usually performs best.
Why does my video look blurry after upload?
Instagram compresses every upload. Exporting at 1080p with a high bitrate, and turning on high-quality uploads in settings, keeps it sharp.