March 7, 2025
Find the ideal Instagram post size with this ultimate guide. Learn the best dimensions for posts, Stories, and Reels to avoid cropping, blurriness, and low-quality uploads.
Ever uploaded a photo to Instagram only to have it cropped weirdly or lose quality? Using the recommended sizes and aspect ratios, whether it’s in square, portrait, landscape, or full-screen vertical, can help make sure your content appears how you want it to.
This guide breaks down the best sizes for every type of post so you can create scroll-stopping visuals every time.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Let’s start by discussing why post sizes matter.
Using the right Instagram post size keeps your content sharp, avoids awkward cropping, and helps your posts stand out in a crowded feed. But beyond aesthetics, size plays a role in engagement, visibility, and even how Instagram’s algorithm treats your content.
A well-sized post looks clean and polished and helps to grab attention. When your content looks good, people are more likely to like, comment, and share it — telling Instagram it’s worth pushing out to even more users.
Since Instagram is a mobile-first platform, if your content isn’t optimized for smaller phone screens, it can appear too tiny, cut off, or be less engaging.
Yes, Instagram does resize images automatically, but it’s not always in a way that benefits your content. It’s best to upload images that already match Instagram’s recommended dimensions and aspect ratios to avoid weird resizing.
Think of aspect ratio as the shape of your content. Knowing the right ratios helps you keep your content framed exactly how you want, and in a way that will most appeal to your viewers since it works well with Instagram’s format.
A 1:1 ratio keeps things square, while 9:16 makes it tall and vertical. If your image doesn’t match Instagram’s format, it could get cropped in a way that cuts off key parts.
For example, uploading a wide image (like 16:9) will force Instagram to shrink it (the frame is 1.91:1), meaning parts of your photo may disappear.
Knowing these numbers also comes in handy when using editing software like Canva, Photoshop, or Final Cut Pro since you’ll often see them when exporting photos and videos.
When it comes to Instagram, there are standard sizes for every post type — usually represented by the number of pixels (px) for the height and width. Each size has its place and can be useful depending on your content strategy.
Let’s take a closer look at the recommended sizes:
Now, we’ll go into detail about each type of post and its best dimensions to help you develop a tailored content strategy for your business.
For square posts, the standard size is 1080 x 1080 px at a 1:1 aspect ratio.
Square used to be Instagram’s original format, making it a safe and versatile option. It’s good for balanced layouts, keeping everything centered and visually appealing.
This format works well for:
One big advantage of square posts is that they’re easy to repurpose across other platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn without resizing. They also tend to look consistent in grid view, keeping your Instagram profile neat.
Note: Today, Instagram’s grid layout is changing — the platform has rolled out the new grid view at a 4:5 aspect ratio rather than square, bringing the platform’s look more in line with today’s common vertical format.
For portrait posts, the standard size is 1080 x 1350 px at a 4:5 aspect ratio.
Portrait posts take up more space in the Instagram feed, which means there’s a good chance that viewers’ eyes will gravitate more towards them and spend more time looking. This can translate to more engagement, especially if you have an interesting visual that hooks users in.
This format is especially useful for:
Don’t forget to make sure to center important elements so nothing gets cropped in the feed preview!
For landscape posts, the standard size is 1080 x 566 px at 1.91:1 aspect ratio.
Landscape posts are ideal for wide shots, but they take up less vertical space in the feed, making them easier to scroll past (which may translate into less engagement). There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, though. It just means that you’ll need to make sure your post is interesting enough, so people don’t zoom past.
Use this format for:
The best size for Stories & Reels is full-screen vertical format. That means you want it to be 1080 x 1920 px at a 9:16 aspect ratio.
If you want to grab attention fast, Instagram Stories and Reels are the way to go. They take up the whole screen, making them hard to ignore. But if your video or image isn’t the right size, it might look blurry, get cut off, or have awkward black bars.
Ever notice how Stories and Reels seem to get more views? That’s because Instagram’s mostly vertical since, well, it’s designed for mobile. Unlike feed posts that people may scroll past, full-screen videos hold attention longer.
Vertical works best for high-production value and eye-catching videos, behind-the-scenes clips, and interactive content that keeps users’ eyes glued to the screen.
Stories and Reels are fun and typically get people to interact. Stickers, polls, question-based posts, images, and swipe-up links make them super engaging, leading to more likes, shares, and clicks. If you’re promoting something, this is one of the best ways to get people to take action quickly.
Instagram Live videos use a 9:16 aspect ratio (1080 x 1920 px) similar to Stories and Reels.
Many creators use these streams to share announcements, share their experiences, or even just hang out with their followers. Some creators may even invite guests onto their Live to create a mini talk show or a more fun experience for their viewers.
Considering going live? Here’s what you need to know:
Even if you’re using the right Instagram post size, bad uploads can still lead to blurry, pixelated, or low-quality posts. Luckily, there are ways to keep your posts looking sharp:
There are a few things you can do to keep your videos looking their best. Try:
Instagram automatically compresses posts to reduce file sizes. Here’s how to work around it:
Creating high-quality posts is easier with the right tools. Here are some great options:
You can upload high-resolution images, but there’s not much point in uploading in 4K since Instagram will compress them down to 1080 px width for feed posts.
In some ways, yes. For example, portrait posts (4:5) tend to perform better because they take up more screen space, which means viewers may spend more time looking at them.
Yes, but they’ll appear smaller in the feed. Landscape posts (1.91:1, 1080 x 566 px) work, but they don’t take up as much screen space, which can impact engagement.
Knowing what kind of posts perform best is a good way to succeed on Instagram, but it’s only a part of the battle. The other part is getting enough eyes on your content — and sometimes that means making ads on Instagram. This is where Bestever.ai can help.
We make designing your ads as easy as one-click photo editing — and share which ads are working for your audience (or your competitors if you’re new) to help you make winning campaigns.
Here’s how we can help:
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