Instagram post size in 2026

Every Instagram image size for 2026

Sources: Instagram Help Centre, read in September 2026. A dash means the platform publishes no figure, and we would rather leave it blank than guess.

What is the best Instagram post size in 2026?

1080 × 1440 pixels. That’s a 3:4 portrait, and it’s the tallest shape Instagram takes.

Tall wins on a phone. A 3:4 post fills more of the screen than a square, so it holds the thumb a moment longer as people scroll.

Instagram’s own rule is simple. Photos should be 1080 pixels wide, at any shape from 1.91:1 (landscape) to 3:4 (portrait). Anything outside that range gets cropped. A photo narrower than 320 pixels is enlarged, and one wider than 1080 is shrunk, so there’s nothing to gain from uploading bigger.

Is Instagram 3:4 or 4:5 now?

Both work. Instagram’s help page now gives 3:4 as the tallest shape it takes; until 2025 the limit was 4:5, which is why most templates are still 1080 × 1350.

So which is better? 3:4 gives you about 7% more height on the screen. And since January 2025 the profile grid shows tall rectangles instead of squares, so a tall post loses less when it’s cut down for the grid.

Instagram doesn’t publish the exact shape of a grid tile. Post, then look at your profile on your phone before you share the link.

Is Instagram 16:9 or 4:3?

For feed posts, neither is the best fit.

A 16:9 landscape (1.78:1) sits inside Instagram’s range, so it posts uncropped, but it shows as a thin strip on a phone. A 4:3 landscape posts uncropped too. Flip it to 3:4 and you have the best portrait shape there is.

16:9 comes into its own on its side. Stories and Reels are 9:16, the same shape stood upright: 1080 × 1920 fills a phone screen.

Is Instagram 4×5 or 5×7?

4×5. A 4×5 inch print is the same shape as a 4:5 post, so a scan or photo of one posts without a crop.

A 5×7 is taller than 3:4, which is as tall as Instagram goes. It will lose a little from the top and bottom. Crop it yourself first, so you choose what goes.

Instagram post size in inches and centimetres

Pixels have no size on paper. A 1080 × 1440 image is only a set number of dots, and the inches depend on how densely you print them.

Printed at 300 dots per inch, the usual standard for photos, 1080 × 1440 comes out at 3.6 × 4.8 inches, or about 9.1 × 12.2 cm. For a design program, set the canvas to 1080 × 1440 pixels and forget the inches.

Instagram Story and Reel sizes

A Story is 1080 × 1920, at 9:16. Meta accepts photos from 600 × 1067 up, as JPG or PNG, up to 30MB.

Reels take any shape from 1.91:1 to 9:16, at a minimum resolution of 720 pixels and 30 frames a second. Vertical 9:16 fills the screen. The cover image for your Reels tab is 420 × 654.

Carousels have one extra rule. Every photo in one takes the same shape, and you can add up to 20. Crop them all to the same size before you start.

How to resize a picture for Instagram without cropping the wrong part

Instagram’s own crop starts from the middle and is fiddly on a phone. The middle is rarely where the point of the photo is.

Use the cropper at the top of this page instead. Pick the format, add your picture, drag it until the right part is in the frame and download it at the exact size. It runs in your browser, so the photo never leaves your phone or computer.

Start from the biggest version you have. A small photo enlarged to 1080 pixels wide goes soft, and no app can put back detail that was never there.