Instagram post size 2026: every dimension in one place
Every Instagram size for 2026: 3:4 for the app, 4:5 for scheduled posts, plus carousels, Stories, Reels, covers, and what the 3:4 profile grid crops.
William Lindberg, Customer Success
The best Instagram post size in 2026 is 1080 × 1440 px, a 3:4 portrait, when you post in the Instagram app. If you schedule posts with a tool, use 1080 × 1350 px (4:5), because Instagram's publishing API doesn't accept 3:4. Both fill most of the screen in the feed, and 3:4 matches the profile grid exactly.
Below: every size in one table, what changed in 2025, what gets cropped, and how to pick. All sizes are current as of October 2026.
Instagram size cheat sheet
| Format | Size in pixels | Ratio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed post, portrait 3:4 | 1080 × 1440 | 3:4 | Best size when you post in the app. Matches the profile grid, so nothing gets cropped there. Scheduling tools can't publish it. |
| Feed post, portrait 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 | Best size for scheduled posts: the tallest the API accepts. Loses about 34 px on each side in the grid. |
| Feed post, square | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 | Shows in full in the feed. Loses 135 px on each side in the grid. |
| Feed post, landscape | 1080 × 566 | 1.91:1 | Smallest in the feed. Heavily cropped in the grid. |
| Carousel | Same as your first slide | 3:4 (app only), 4:5, 1:1 or 1.91:1 | Up to 20 slides in the app, 10 through scheduling tools. Keep every slide the same size. |
| Story | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | Keep text away from the top and bottom edges. |
| Reel | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | Captions and buttons cover the bottom of the frame. |
| Reel cover | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | The grid shows only the middle 1080 × 1440. |
| Profile photo | Square, 320 × 320 or larger | 1:1 | Shows as a small circle. 320 px is the commonly cited size; Instagram doesn't publish one. Keep the face or logo centered. |
Width is the number to remember. Instagram shows feed photos at up to 1080 px wide, so a 4000 px phone photo gets scaled down anyway. Export at 1080 px wide and you decide how it looks, not the app.
What changed in 2025
Two changes in 2025 made 3:4 the size to aim for in the app.
January 2025: the profile grid went from squares to tall rectangles. Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced it, saying most of what people upload is vertical and cropping it to a square was a bummer (Social Media Today, 19 January 2025). The grid tiles are now 3:4.
May 2025: native 3:4 uploads. On 29 May 2025, Mosseri posted on Threads that Instagram now supports 3:4 photos, "the format that almost every phone camera defaults to", and that a 3:4 image will "appear just exactly as you shot it". It works for single photos and carousels (9to5Mac, 29 May 2025). Before that, 4:5 was the tallest feed photo you could post.
One smaller update followed. In March 2026 Instagram rolled out thumbnail editing, so you can change how a post is framed in your grid without changing the post itself (Social Media Today, 1 March 2026). Open the post, tap the three dots, and look for the option to adjust the preview.
What gets cropped: feed vs profile grid
A post can look perfect in the feed and still get trimmed on your profile. The feed shows your whole image. The grid shows a 3:4 slice from the middle.
Here's what each size loses in the grid, on a photo 1080 px wide.
| Your post | In the feed | In the profile grid |
|---|---|---|
| 3:4, 1080 × 1440 | Full image, biggest size | Full image, no crop |
| 4:5, 1080 × 1350 | Full image | About 34 px trimmed from each side |
| 1:1, 1080 × 1080 | Full image | 135 px trimmed from each side |
| 1.91:1, 1080 × 566 | Full image, short | Only the middle 40% or so of the width shows |
So 4:5 posts barely change. Square posts lose a quarter of their width. Landscape posts shrink to a narrow strip from the center, which rarely looks good on a profile.
If you put text, logos, or faces near the edges, check the grid after posting. Thumbnail editing fixes the framing for a single post. It won't fix a design that only works as a square.
Carousel size
A carousel can mix photos and videos, up to 20 slides when you post in the app. Instagram expanded the limit from 10 to 20 in August 2024 (Social Media Today, 8 August 2024). Through Instagram's publishing API, which scheduling tools use, the limit is 10 (Meta developer docs).
The ratio rule is the part that trips people up. Instagram's Help Center says the orientation you pick (square, portrait or landscape) applies to every photo in the post, and you can't pick a different one per photo. In practice, the first slide sets the frame and the rest get cropped to match. Instagram has tested carousels with mixed sizes, but you can't count on that option being there.
The safe rule: make every slide the same size. Use 4:5 if you schedule the carousel, or 3:4 if you post it in the app. Either fills the grid tile nicely, because the grid shows only the first slide.
Stories and Reels: size and safe zones
Stories and Reels are both 1080 × 1920 px, a full 9:16 phone screen. The size is easy. The safe zone is where most mistakes happen, because Instagram lays its own buttons and text on top of your video.
What sits on top:
- Top: your profile picture, username, and the progress bar (Stories), or the Reels header.
- Bottom: the reply bar on Stories. On Reels, the caption and audio name, plus the like, comment, share, and save buttons down the right side.
Meta's ads guide for Stories and Reels asks advertisers to keep roughly 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% on each side free of text and logos (Meta Ads Guide). On a 1080 × 1920 frame that's about:
| Edge | Keep clear |
|---|---|
| Top | 269 px |
| Bottom | 672 px |
| Each side | 65 px |
Those margins are written for ads, which also carry a call-to-action button, so they're on the cautious side for a normal post. That makes them a good default. Put headlines and subtitles in the middle of the frame and you're covered on Stories and Reels.
Reel covers need one more check. In your profile grid, a Reel shows as a 3:4 tile cut from the middle of its cover. On a 1080 × 1920 cover, that's the center 1080 × 1440, so the top and bottom 240 px don't show. Keep the title of your cover inside that middle area.
File type and file size
A few habits keep photos sharp:
- Export at 1080 px wide. Uploading a giant file doesn't make it sharper. Instagram resizes it, and you lose control of how.
- Use JPEG for photos. It's the only image format Instagram's publishing API accepts, with a maximum of 8 MB per image (Meta developer docs). The app itself takes more formats, but a JPEG works everywhere.
- Video for Reels: MP4 or MOV. Meta lists 23 to 60 frames per second and H.264 or HEVC for Reels published through the API.
Instagram also compresses everything you upload. You can't turn that off, but starting from a clean 1080 px file gives the compression less to chew on.
Which size should you pick?
Pick by how you post and what you post:
- You post photos from your phone in the app: use 3:4 (1080 × 1440). Your phone camera already shoots 3:4, so there's no crop at all.
- You schedule posts with a tool: use 4:5 (1080 × 1350). Scheduling tools publish through Instagram's API. It only accepts feed and carousel images from 4:5 to 1.91:1, 320 to 1440 px wide (Meta developer docs). So no tool on the official API can publish a 3:4 image today. A 4:5 post loses only about 34 px a side in the grid.
- You design graphics, quotes, or slides: use 4:5 (or 3:4 if you post in the app). Keep text at least 60 px from the left and right edges so the grid crop never touches it.
- You care about a tidy profile grid: use 3:4 if you post in the app. It's the only size that shows in full on your profile.
- You have a wide landscape shot: post it as a carousel of square or portrait slides instead of a single 1.91:1 image. It'll look bigger in the feed and better in the grid.
- Stories and Reels: always 1080 × 1920, with text in the middle.
How to resize your images
You don't need design software for any of this. Three free tools in your browser cover most cases, and nothing gets uploaded to a server.
- Resize image for Instagram: crops or fits any photo to square (1080 × 1080), 4:5 portrait (1080 × 1350), landscape (1080 × 566), or Story and Reel (1080 × 1920). Choose crop to fill, or fit the whole photo on a blurred background. It doesn't have a 3:4 preset yet. If you post 3:4, export at 1080 × 1440 from your phone or editor.
- Instagram grid maker: splits one photo into a 3-wide mosaic of 3, 6, or 9 tiles. The tiles are square, and the grid is now 3:4, so Instagram trims a strip off each side of every tile. Keep important details away from the seams.
- Instagram carousel splitter: cuts a wide photo into 2 to 6 square slides that flow into each other when people swipe. Good for panoramas.
Scheduling posts at the right size
If you plan posts ahead, size them for the API, not the app: 4:5 for feed photos, 1080 × 1920 for Stories and Reels, and 10 slides or fewer per carousel. These limits come from Instagram's API, so they apply to every tool that publishes through it, Lemonpost included. If a photo has to go out at 3:4, post it in the Instagram app.
The Lemonpost Instagram scheduler checks each post against Instagram's rules before it sends, so you find a problem while you can still fix it, not when the post fails at 9 am. For the account setup and the rest of the API limits, see how to schedule Instagram posts.
FAQ
What is the best Instagram post size in 2026? 1080 × 1440 px, a 3:4 portrait, if you post in the app. It's the tallest feed size and shows in full in the profile grid. If you schedule with a tool, use 1080 × 1350 px (4:5), because Instagram's publishing API doesn't accept 3:4.
Is 1080 × 1350 still a good Instagram size? Yes. A 4:5 post shows in full in the feed and loses only about 34 px on each side in the 3:4 profile grid. It's also the tallest size that scheduling tools can publish.
What size is an Instagram Story? 1080 × 1920 px, a 9:16 vertical frame. Keep text and logos away from the top and bottom, where Instagram shows your username, the progress bar, and the reply bar.
What size is an Instagram carousel? Use one size for every slide: 1080 × 1350 (4:5) works everywhere, 1080 × 1440 (3:4) works only in the app, and 1080 × 1080 (1:1) works for squares. The first slide sets the frame for the whole carousel. You can add up to 20 slides in the app, or 10 through scheduling tools.
Why does Instagram crop my photos on my profile? The profile grid shows every post as a 3:4 tile, cut from the middle of your image. Square and landscape posts lose their sides. You can reframe a single post by opening it, tapping the three dots and adjusting the preview.
What size should a Reel cover be? 1080 × 1920 px. The profile grid shows only the middle 1080 × 1440 of it, so keep the title and faces in the center.
Does Instagram support 3:4 photos? Yes, in the app. Since 29 May 2025, a 3:4 photo (1080 × 1440 px) posts without cropping, as a single photo or in a carousel. Scheduling tools can't publish 3:4, because Instagram's API stops at 4:5.
