Instagram Post Size Guide 2026: Feed, Reels and Stories

The best Instagram post size for most feed posts in 2026 is 1080 × 1350 pixels, a 4:5 portrait. Reels and Stories use 1080 × 1920 pixels at 9:16. Square posts still work at 1080 × 1080, and landscape posts should be 1080 × 566 (1.91:1).

Those numbers answer the question if you post by hand from the app. If you schedule posts with a tool, a second set of rules applies: Instagram's publishing API accepts a narrower range of files than the app, which is why an image that uploads fine from your phone can fail when it is scheduled. This guide covers both, so the artwork you export once works in the feed, on the profile grid and in your content calendar. For a practical walkthrough, see our guide on how to post on Instagram from desktop.

Instagram sizes at a glance

• Feed portrait: 1080 × 1350 px, 4:5. The default for product photos and graphics.
• Feed square: 1080 × 1080 px, 1:1.
• Feed landscape: 1080 × 566 px, 1.91:1.
• Carousel: every slide follows the ratio of the first one, so design all slides at the same size.
• Reels: 1080 × 1920 px, 9:16.
• Stories: 1080 × 1920 px, 9:16.
• Profile photo: 320 × 320 px, shown as a circle.
• Profile grid preview: a 3:4 crop of each post.

Instagram feed post size

Design feed posts 1080 pixels wide. It is the width every major size guide recommends and the width of Instagram's recommended Reels frame, so one export setting covers your whole account. Instagram's publishing API accepts images between 320 and 1440 pixels wide and rescales anything outside that range, so going wider than 1080 adds file weight without adding visible detail on a phone.

What changes between feed formats is the height:

• 4:5 portrait (1080 × 1350) takes up the most vertical space in the feed that Instagram allows for a photo, which gives a product shot more room on a phone screen before the viewer scrolls past.
• 1:1 square (1080 × 1080) is useful when you want a consistent look across a catalogue of product images that were shot square for your store.
• 1.91:1 landscape (1080 × 566) appears much smaller on a phone. Keep it for images that genuinely need width, such as a banner-style announcement or a wide lifestyle shot.

Why 4:5 is still the safe default when the grid shows 3:4

Instagram's profile grid now previews posts as 3:4 rectangles instead of squares, a change Buffer's 2026 size guide also documents. Some creators have responded by designing every post at 3:4 (1080 × 1440) to match the grid exactly.

Whatever the app allows for manual uploads at the moment, a 3:4 image is taller than the 4:5 maximum that Instagram's publishing API enforces. That means a scheduling tool cannot publish it as a feed photo without cropping it first. A 4:5 design with the important content kept away from the top and bottom edges works in the feed, survives the 3:4 grid crop, and can be scheduled. For a store, that last part matters: it is the difference between planning a week of posts in one sitting and remembering to post each one by hand.

Instagram carousel size

A carousel holds up to 10 images or videos. Meta's developer documentation notes that carousel images are cropped based on the first image, so if slide one is square, every slide is shown square. Pick the ratio before you design, keep every slide at that size, and put the most important slide first, because it is also the one that appears on your grid.

For product carousels, 4:5 slides give each item the most room. If you are showing one wide image split across slides, design it as a single canvas that is an exact multiple of 1080 pixels wide, then slice it, so the seams line up when someone swipes.

Instagram Reels size

Reels should be 1080 × 1920 pixels at 9:16, filmed vertically. Horizontal video uploaded as a Reel is letterboxed with bars above and below, which wastes most of the screen.

• Keep text in the middle of the frame. The caption, audio label and account name sit over the bottom of a Reel, and the like, comment and share buttons sit down the right-hand side. Product names, prices and on-screen captions placed in those areas get covered.
• Choose a cover that works as a 3:4 crop. The Reel plays at 9:16, but on your profile grid its cover is cropped to 3:4, so centre the subject of the cover frame.
• Export as MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio. It is the combination every upload path accepts.

Instagram Story size

Stories are also 1080 × 1920 pixels at 9:16. The top of the screen carries your profile name and the progress bar, and the bottom carries the reply field, so keep links, stickers and any text people need to read in the central area. Photos that are not 9:16 are placed on a background, which rarely looks intentional; crop product photos to 9:16 before posting them as Stories.

Instagram profile photo size

Upload a square image of at least 320 × 320 pixels; Buffer's size guide lists the same figure. Instagram displays it as a circle, so a logo that fills the square edge to edge gets its corners cut off. Leave a margin around the mark and check it at a small size, because the profile photo appears tiny next to comments and in Stories.

Sizes and file rules for scheduled Instagram posts

When you post from the app, Instagram converts and crops most files for you. Scheduling tools publish through Instagram's Content Publishing API instead, and the API checks the file before it accepts it. These are the requirements listed in Meta's developer documentation for the Instagram media endpoint:

• Image format: JPEG only. PNG, HEIC and WebP files are not accepted.
• Image file size: up to 8 MB, in the sRGB colour space.
• Image aspect ratio: between 4:5 and 1.91:1. Anything taller than 4:5 has to be cropped.
• Image width: 320 to 1440 pixels; files outside that range are rescaled.
• Reels and video: MOV or MP4, H.264 or HEVC video, AAC audio, 23 to 60 frames per second, between 3 seconds and 15 minutes, up to 300 MB, and no more than 1920 pixels wide. 9:16 is the recommended ratio.
• Story video: the same container and codecs, up to 60 seconds and 100 MB.
• Carousels: up to 10 items.
• Captions: up to 2,200 characters, with no more than 30 hashtags and 20 @mentions.
• Alt text: up to 1,000 characters for images.

Byvano publishes to Instagram through this API and passes your file to Instagram as it is, so the same rules apply to posts scheduled in Byvano. Export images as JPEG and crop tall artwork to 4:5 before you add it to the calendar. Byvano schedules single photos, videos, Reels and Stories to Instagram Business and Creator accounts; carousels are not supported in its composer, so build those in the Instagram app. The Instagram scheduler page shows how posts move from draft to published.

A quick export checklist before you schedule

1. Set the canvas to 1080 × 1350 for feed images or 1080 × 1920 for Reels and Stories.
2. Keep headlines, prices and logos inside the central area of the frame.
3. Export images as JPEG in sRGB, and check the file is under 8 MB.
4. Export video as MP4 with H.264 and AAC, and trim it to the length the format allows.
5. Write alt text that describes the product, not just the brand name.
6. Preview the post as a 3:4 grid tile before you publish or schedule it.

Common Instagram sizing mistakes

• Uploading a 16:9 video as a Reel. It plays letterboxed. Re-edit it vertically or crop to 9:16.
• Designing to the edges. The grid crop, the Reels buttons and the Story interface all cover the edges of the frame.
• Scheduling PNG graphics. Design tools often default to PNG for graphics with text. Switch the export to JPEG before scheduling.
• Mixing ratios inside a carousel. Later slides are cropped to match the first, which can cut off text or products.
• Using iPhone HEIC photos directly. Convert them to JPEG first, or set the camera to capture in the most compatible format.

Putting the sizes to work

Getting the dimensions right is the part of Instagram that is fully within your control, and it is what lets you prepare content in batches rather than one post at a time. Once your files export correctly, the next decisions are when to post and how to measure what worked. Our walkthrough on scheduling Instagram Reels, posts and Stories and measuring them covers the workflow, and what is possible when scheduling Instagram Stories explains the Story-specific limits. If you manage Facebook as well, a social media scheduler keeps both accounts in one calendar.