Every Instagram format and size

What is the right Instagram format in 2026?

The most useful Instagram feed format is portrait 4:5, which is 1080 × 1350 pixels. For Reels, Stories and Reel covers it is 9:16, which is 1080 × 1920 pixels. The tool above shows every format with a to-scale preview and lets you test your own image without uploading it anywhere.

These are the sizes Meta recommends, and Instagram's help centre describes the photo rule: a photo keeps its original resolution when its width is between 320 and 1080 pixels and its ratio is between 1.91:1 (landscape) and 4:5 (portrait). Outside that range Instagram crops the image. Checked in November 2026.

Sizes to remember, format by format

A square post is 1080 × 1080 pixels (1:1). The classic format, easy to compose, but it uses less screen space than portrait.

A portrait post is 1080 × 1350 pixels (4:5), the tallest format accepted in the feed. It is our default for an image or carousel.

A landscape post is 1080 × 566 pixels (about 1.91:1), the lower limit of the feed.

A carousel follows the same ratios. The first slide sets the ratio for all others, so prepare every slide in the same format, ideally 4:5.

Reels, Stories and Reel covers use 9:16, 1080 × 1920 pixels. Keep important text away from the top and bottom edges, and centre the key content on covers because the profile grid crops them.

A profile photo is uploaded as a square (320 × 320 pixels is enough) and displayed as a circle, so centre the face or logo.

How to use the tool

Browse the cards: each shows the format to scale, its size and a tip. To check an image, pick a file in the test area. It is read locally in your browser, never sent to a server, and no Instagram login is asked. Each card then tells you whether your image fits, will be cropped or get bars, or is too small and may look blurry.

Tips

Export at the recommended width rather than letting Instagram resize, and keep a small safety margin on the sides. Build one version per ratio rather than auto-cropping.

A good format does not replace a qualified audience. Propulse is a French Instagram growth platform, active since 2017 and used by over 3,500 businesses, that attracts qualified followers from target accounts and turns them into customers. No result is guaranteed.