What is the aspect ratio for Instagram Reels?

9:16, a vertical frame, at 1080 × 1920 pixels. Instagram accepts Reels from 1.91:1 to 9:16, but only 9:16 fills the screen.

Can I post a horizontal video as a Reel?

Yes, but it plays small, with empty space above and below. Convert it to 9:16 first: crop it to fill the frame, or fit the whole picture over a blurred copy of itself.

What size should a Reel cover be?

1080 × 1920 pixels, the same as the Reel. Keep the important part in the middle, because the profile grid shows a taller crop of about 3:4 and the feed shows 4:5.

Does Instagram support 4K Reels?

You can upload 4K, but Reels play at 1080 pixels wide, so Instagram scales it down and recompresses it. Exporting 1080 × 1920 gives the same result with a smaller upload.

Is the Reels size the same as TikTok and YouTube Shorts?

Yes. All three use a 9:16 frame at 1080 × 1920, so one export works on all of them. Only the safe zones differ a little, because each app puts its buttons in slightly different places.

Instagram Reels size, 2026.

Every number you need to post a Reel that fills the screen: frame size, cover, length and where the buttons sit.

By Divy Yadav, founder of Cutmallow. Facts checked 23 October 2026.

The short answer

The best Instagram Reels size is 1080 × 1920 pixels, a vertical 9:16 frame. Instagram accepts Reels from 1.91:1 (landscape) to 9:16, but anything wider than 9:16 plays with empty space around it in the Reels tab. Reels made in Instagram’s Reels editor can run up to 3 minutes and are still shown to new audiences. Export an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound at 30 frames per second, and keep captions and faces away from the bottom fifth of the frame, where Instagram draws the caption and buttons.

Instagram sizes for Reels and posts
Where it shows	Size in pixels	Aspect ratio
Reel (full screen)	1080 × 1920	9:16
Reel cover image	1080 × 1920	9:16 (shown cropped on the grid and in the feed)
Profile grid thumbnail	about 1080 × 1440	about 3:4 (taller rectangles since January 2025)
Story	1080 × 1920	9:16
Feed post, portrait	1080 × 1350	4:5
Feed post, square	1080 × 1080	1:1
Feed post, landscape	1080 × 566	1.91:1

Why 1080 × 1920 is the size to use

A phone screen held upright is roughly 9:16, and Reels play full screen. A 1080 × 1920 video fills that screen edge to edge with no bars, and 1080 pixels wide is the width Instagram plays Reels at. Uploading a larger file, such as 4K (2160 × 3840), does not make the Reel sharper: Instagram scales it down and recompresses it. A smaller file, like 720 × 1280, is scaled up and looks soft next to other Reels.

The shape matters more than the exact pixels. A 9:16 video at any resolution fills the screen; a 16:9 landscape video shown as a Reel sits in a thin band in the middle. If your clip is horizontal, turn it into 9:16 before you upload: either crop it to fill the frame, or fit the whole picture over a blurred copy of itself. The free Instagram video resizer does both on your device.

Reels safe zones: where Instagram covers your video

Instagram draws its own interface over every Reel: the account name, caption and audio line at the bottom, the like, comment and share buttons on the right, and the camera and tabs at the top. Anything under them is hard to read. These are the zones Cutmallow’s editor marks on a 1080 × 1920 frame. They are deliberately generous, because the exact layout shifts with phone size and app version:

Bottom: about 384 pixels (the lowest 20%). Keep captions and on-screen text above it.
Right edge: about 140 pixels wide (13%), from the middle of the frame down. Keep text and faces left of it.
Top: about 154 pixels (8%). Fine for background, not for a title.

That leaves a clear area roughly 940 × 1380 pixels in the middle of the frame. Captions placed a little below the center, about two thirds of the way down, read well and stay clear of everything.

How long can a Reel be?

Instagram raised the Reels length to 3 minutes in January 2025. Reels up to 3 minutes made in the Reels editor are eligible to be recommended to people who do not follow you. Instagram’s help center says longer videos can be recorded and posted, but videos over 3 minutes are not recommended to new audiences, so for reach, stay at 3 minutes or less.

Length is not the same as attention: most Reels that travel are 15 to 60 seconds, with the point made in the first two seconds. Cutting the pauses out of a talking-head take is the quickest way to shorten it without losing anything. The free silence remover does that in one tap.

Cover image, feed crop and profile grid

A Reel has one cover, but three places show it differently. The Reels tab shows the full 9:16 cover. The profile grid shows a taller rectangle cut from its middle (about 3:4 since Instagram replaced square thumbnails in January 2025), and the main feed shows a 4:5 crop. Make the cover 1080 × 1920 and keep the title and face in the middle 1080 × 1350 area, and it looks right in all three.

Export settings for Instagram

Format: MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound. It uploads everywhere and is processed fastest.
Frame rate: 30 frames per second is the safe default. 24 and 60 also work; keep the frame rate you filmed at.
Bitrate: about 8 to 12 Mbps for 1080 × 1920. Higher files are recompressed by Instagram anyway.
Sound: stereo AAC at 128 to 192 kbps, with the voice clean of hum. Background noise is the first thing viewers notice; the free background noise remover cleans it.

Cutmallow’s editor exports 1080 × 1920 H.264 MP4 at a frame rate matched to your clip, with no watermark, so the file it makes is ready to post. Your video never leaves your device.

Common mistakes

Posting a 16:9 video as a Reel: it plays as a thin strip. Convert it to 9:16 first.
Captions at the very bottom: Instagram’s own caption covers them. Raise them above the lowest 20%.
A cover with the title near the top or bottom: the grid crop cuts it off. Center it.
Exporting at 720p to save space: the Reel looks soft. Export 1080 × 1920 and compress only if you must.

Questions people ask

What is the aspect ratio for Instagram Reels?: 9:16, a vertical frame, at 1080 × 1920 pixels. Instagram accepts Reels from 1.91:1 to 9:16, but only 9:16 fills the screen.
Can I post a horizontal video as a Reel?: Yes, but it plays small, with empty space above and below. Convert it to 9:16 first: crop it to fill the frame, or fit the whole picture over a blurred copy of itself.
What size should a Reel cover be?: 1080 × 1920 pixels, the same as the Reel. Keep the important part in the middle, because the profile grid shows a taller crop of about 3:4 and the feed shows 4:5.
Does Instagram support 4K Reels?: You can upload 4K, but Reels play at 1080 pixels wide, so Instagram scales it down and recompresses it. Exporting 1080 × 1920 gives the same result with a smaller upload.
Is the Reels size the same as TikTok and YouTube Shorts?: Yes. All three use a 9:16 frame at 1080 × 1920, so one export works on all of them. Only the safe zones differ a little, because each app puts its buttons in slightly different places.

YouTube Shorts size: the Shorts numbers and length rule.
Resize video for Instagram: make any clip 9:16, 4:5 or 1:1.
Auto captions: add word-by-word captions in the safe zone.
All guides and all free tools.

Sources

Platform limits change. These were checked on 23 October 2026 against the pages above. Instagram, YouTube and the other products named here are trademarks of their owners; Cutmallow is not affiliated with them.