Instagram compresses and crops images that don’t match its expected dimensions, which is why a photo that looked perfect on your phone can come out cropped strangely or slightly blurry once it’s posted. Here are the exact sizes to use for every format on the platform.
Feed posts
- Square: 1080 × 1080 px (1:1 ratio)
- Portrait: 1080 × 1350 px (4:5 ratio) — takes up the most vertical space in the feed
- Landscape: 1080 × 566 px (1.91:1 ratio)
Portrait posts (4:5) are generally recommended because they occupy more screen space as people scroll, which tends to mean more attention on your content.
Stories and Reels
Both Stories and Reels use a full-screen vertical format: 1080 × 1920 px (9:16 ratio). Keep important text or faces within the center 1080 × 1420 px area, since the top and bottom are often covered by the profile name, captions, and interface buttons.
Carousel posts
Carousels (multi-image posts) use the same dimensions as regular feed posts — 1080 × 1080 for square, or 1080 × 1350 for portrait. The important rule is consistency: use the same aspect ratio for every image in the carousel, or later slides will get cropped to match the first one.
Profile picture
Instagram displays profile pictures at a small size, but you should upload at 320 × 320 px minimum for a crisp result across devices. Since profile pictures are cropped into a circle, keep your logo or face centered with some padding around the edges — anything near the corners will be cut off.
Why your image looks different after uploading
If you upload an image with the wrong aspect ratio, Instagram will either crop it to fit or add padding, and neither usually looks intentional. The fix is to resize your image to the exact target dimensions before uploading, rather than letting Instagram decide how to handle the mismatch.
Quick reference table
- Square post: 1080 × 1080
- Portrait post: 1080 × 1350
- Landscape post: 1080 × 566
- Story / Reel: 1080 × 1920
- Profile picture: 320 × 320 minimum
To hit these exact dimensions without cropping surprises, use a resizer with a built-in Instagram preset — our free image resizer includes one-click presets for square posts, Stories, and more, so you can go from your original photo to the correct dimensions in seconds.