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Instagram Video Dimensions 2026 (9:16)

May 22, 2026 4 min read
Instagram Video Dimensions 2026 (9:16)

Instagram video dimensions in 2026 come down to one default and a few exceptions. The default is 1080x1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio, full vertical screen, and it now covers Reels, Stories, and the video that plays inside a portrait feed post. Feed video also still accepts square and landscape formats, but they're the exception, not the rule.

Instagram video dimensions by placement

PlacementAspect ratioResolution
Reels9:161080 x 1920
Stories9:161080 x 1920
Feed (portrait, recommended)4:51080 x 1350
Feed (square)1:11080 x 1080
Feed (landscape)1.91:11080 x 566

If you only remember one instagram video aspect ratio, make it 9:16. It's the format Instagram's own camera defaults to, the shape that fills a phone screen with no letterboxing, and the safest choice when you don't know in advance where a clip will end up.

Safe zones matter more than the raw resolution

A video sized correctly can still get its captions clipped or its subject cropped out of the frame. On a 1080x1920 Reel or Story, keep essential elements, faces, text, calls to action, inside roughly the center 1080x1420 area. The top and bottom strips are where Instagram's own UI sits: profile name and audio info up top, caption and engagement buttons at the bottom. Anything critical placed in those bands risks being covered on somebody's phone.

Getting instagram video resolution 2026-correct without guesswork

A few habits keep you out of trouble:

  1. Shoot vertical from the start. Converting horizontal footage after the fact always means cropping something out or adding bars.
  2. Export at 1080x1920, not lower. Instagram re-encodes every upload anyway, but starting from a soft or downscaled source makes that compression more visible.
  3. Preview before you publish. A caption that looks fine in your editor can still land inside the unsafe zone once Instagram's own overlay is added.
  4. Match the placement, not just the platform. A video built for Stories doesn't always sit right as a feed post; the safe zones and crop points aren't identical.

Why this keeps changing

Instagram has adjusted feed video specs more than once in the past two years as it's pushed creators toward taller, more immersive formats. The move toward reels-like proportions across placements means content built exclusively for one spot now travels better to others, but it also means a size guide from even a year ago can be quietly out of date. Treat any "final" number as accurate for now, not forever.

Fixing the sizing problem once, not every upload

Resizing the same video for five different placements, and five different platforms beyond Instagram, is the actual time sink. A social media image and video resizer handles the aspect ratio conversion in one pass instead of five.

Posted Once connects to your Instagram account and every other network you post to, so a clip sized once gets scheduled everywhere it needs to go from a single composer. Start scheduling free →

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