Instagram image sizes — every format, in one cheat sheet
Square posts, reels, stories, carousels, profile photos. Bookmark-worthy reference, updated for 2026.
Instagram changes its layout constantly, but the underlying image dimensions stay fairly stable. Here's every size you need in 2026, in one place.
Feed posts
| Type | Dimensions | Aspect ratio | | --------- | ----------- | ------------ | | Square | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 | | Portrait | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 | | Landscape | 1080 × 566 | 1.91:1 |
Best choice: Portrait (1080 × 1350) takes up the most screen real estate in the feed. Square is a safe default if you don't want to think about it.
Stories and Reels
| Type | Dimensions | Aspect ratio | | ---------- | ----------- | ------------ | | Story | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | | Reel cover | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
Keep text and important elements within the central safe zone (roughly 1080 × 1420). The top and bottom edges are overlaid with UI elements (username, buttons, captions).
Carousels
Carousel images follow the same dimensions as feed posts. The key rule: all slides in a carousel must use the same aspect ratio. Instagram crops the rest to match the first slide.
- If slide 1 is square, all slides are cropped to square
- If slide 1 is portrait, all slides are cropped to 4:5
Plan your carousel layout before creating the images.
Profile photo
| Type | Dimensions | | --------------- | ---------- | | Profile picture | 320 × 320 |
Instagram displays profile photos in a circle, so keep all important content within a centered circle. The corners will be clipped.
IGTV / Long video thumbnails
| Type | Dimensions | Aspect ratio | | ---------- | ---------- | ------------ | | IGTV cover | 420 × 654 | 1:1.55 |
IGTV is being phased out in favour of Reels, but the cover image size still applies for older content.
File format and quality
Instagram re-compresses every image you upload. To minimise quality loss:
- Upload at the exact dimensions listed above — don't upload a 4000px image and let Instagram downscale it
- Use JPEG at quality 85–90 for the upload — Instagram will re-compress, so start with slightly higher quality than you'd use for web
- Use sRGB colour profile — Instagram strips other profiles and the colours can shift
- Keep file size under 8 MB (Instagram's upload limit for photos)
The fastest workflow
- Open Social Media Image Resizer
- Drop your image
- Select the Instagram preset you need
- Download the resized image
- Upload to Instagram
No Photoshop, no memorising dimensions, no googling "Instagram story size 2026" again.
Bonus: Instagram Threads
Threads uses the same image sizes as the Instagram feed (1080px wide, 1:1 or 4:5 ratio). There are no Stories or Reels on Threads (yet).