Instagram story size in pixels
| Use | Pixels | Ratio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Story (photo or video) | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | Fills the phone screen |
| Reel cover | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | The grid shows the middle 1080 × 1440 |
| Highlight cover | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 | Shown as a small circle |
| Smallest that stays sharp | 600 × 1067 | 9:16 | Below this Instagram enlarges it |
Stories, Reels and TikTok all use the same 1080 × 1920 canvas, but each app draws different buttons over it. The TikTok overlays are on the TikTok video size page.
Instagram story dimensions and safe zones
A story is always shown as a 9:16 frame. The parts the app covers are what catch people out:
- Top ~250 px: your profile picture, name and the progress bar.
- Bottom ~340 px: the reply bar, the send button and, when you add them, link and mention stickers.
Instagram doesn't publish these numbers. They were measured from the app and shift slightly between phones, so the tool marks them as approximate and you should leave a little extra room. That leaves roughly 1080 × 1330 in the middle for anything that has to be read.
How to post a horizontal photo to your story without cropping
A landscape photo is the wrong shape for a 9:16 story, and Instagram zooms in to fill the screen, cutting off both sides. To keep the whole photo:
- Drop the photo into the tool with the Story preset selected.
- Choose Fit whole image. The photo shrinks to fit the width.
- Pick a fill for the space above and below: a blurred copy of the photo (the most natural), white, black or your own color.
- Download the 1080 × 1920 file and post it. Instagram has nothing left to crop.
The same works for square posts you want to reshare as a story.
How to resize a photo for an Instagram story
- Drop one photo, or several to resize them all at once.
- Keep the Story preset, or switch to Reel cover or Highlight cover.
- Drag and zoom until faces and text sit between the two shaded bars.
- Download a JPG. Everything happens in your browser, so the photo is never uploaded.
Why your story looks blurry
- The photo was smaller than 1080 px wide, so Instagram enlarged it. Use the original, not a screenshot or a photo saved from a chat.
- Instagram zoomed in on a wide photo. Filling a 9:16 screen from a landscape picture can mean enlarging it 3×. Fit the photo instead.
- Upload quality is set low. Turn on "Upload at highest quality" under Settings and activity › Data usage and media quality.
Why your story is cropped or zoomed
Instagram crops anything that isn't 9:16 to fill the screen, which is why sideways photos lose their edges and tall screenshots lose their top and bottom on some phones. Export at exactly 1080 × 1920 and the story is shown as you made it.
Reel covers and highlight covers
A Reel cover is the full 1080 × 1920 frame, but your profile grid shows only its middle 1080 × 1440 as a 3:4 tile, so keep the title in the middle. Highlight covers appear as small circles under your bio. Upload a 1080 × 1080 square with the icon or word centered; the circle preview shows what survives.
Sizes verified in October 2026. Feed posts are on the Instagram post size page, and every platform is on the social media image sizes cheat sheet.
