Instagram size guide

Instagram Story & Reel Size: 9:16 Dimensions and Safe Areas

Start with a 1080×1920 vertical file, then protect important elements from interface overlays and preview the result.

Prepared and source-checked 2026-09-27

Recommended working size

Use 1080×1920 at 9:16 for a practical Story or Reel working file. Meta’s first-party Reels guidance confirms 9:16 vertical creative and recommends protecting key creative inside the safe zone; the 1080×1920 pixel recommendation comes from a current secondary guide.

Safe-area discipline

Meta does not provide one universal organic safe-zone pixel measurement on the cited page. Keep critical text, faces, logos, and calls to action away from the top and bottom interface regions, then preview inside Instagram before publishing. Do not treat third-party overlay measurements as platform rules.

Export checklist

Use a vertical master, preserve readable captions, check cover cropping separately, and test the final upload with the current app UI.

Sources and limits

Meta Reels — first-party 9:16 and safe-zone principle
Hootsuite 2026 size guide — current secondary Instagram pixel recommendations