How to resize images for Instagram
Instagram has specific recommended dimensions for feed posts, stories, and reels. This guide covers the exact sizes to use, why they matter, and how to resize and crop your photos so they look sharp and display correctly on the platform.
Why Instagram image size matters
Uploading images that are too small can make them look blurry when Instagram enlarges them. Images that are too large get compressed by Instagram and may still lose quality. Using the right dimensions from the start—and a sensible resolution (e.g. 1080px on the longest side for feed)—keeps your photos looking crisp. Our free resize image and crop image tools run in your browser so you can prepare photos without uploading to any server. No signup, no watermarks.
Instagram feed dimensions (2026)
Square (1:1): 1080×1080 px is the standard. Safe for feed and profile grid. Use our crop tool with 1:1 ratio, then resize to 1080×1080 if needed.
Portrait (4:5): 1080×1350 px is ideal for vertical photos and uses more of the feed. Great for fashion, portraits, and product shots.
Landscape (1.91:1): 1080×566 px works for wide shots. Use when the image suits a horizontal format.
In all cases, aim for at least 1080px on the longest side. Instagram will accept larger files but will compress them; 1080px is the display size, so going much higher doesn’t improve what users see.
Instagram Stories and Reels
Stories and Reels use a 9:16 vertical format. Recommended size: 1080×1920 px. If your photo is horizontal or square, crop it to 9:16 first with our crop image tool (choose a custom ratio or 9:16 if available), then resize to 1080×1920. This avoids letterboxing or cropping by Instagram.
Step-by-step: resize and crop for Instagram
- Decide the format: square (1:1), portrait (4:5), or story/reel (9:16).
- Use our crop tool to set the aspect ratio. Crop to the part of the image you want to keep.
- Use our resize tool to set width and height (e.g. 1080×1080 for square, 1080×1350 for 4:5, 1080×1920 for stories).
- Optionally use our compress image tool to reduce file size while keeping quality (e.g. under 1 MB for faster uploads).
- Download and upload to Instagram.
Tips for best quality
Shoot or export at a higher resolution than 1080px, then downscale to 1080 for the longest side. That way you’re not upscaling. Use JPG for photos to keep file size reasonable; Instagram will convert to JPG anyway. Avoid over-compressing before upload—let Instagram handle final compression, but keep your file under a few MB so uploads are quick.
Summary
Resize feed images to 1080px on the longest side (1080×1080 square, 1080×1350 portrait, 1080×566 landscape). Use 1080×1920 for stories and reels. Crop first to the right aspect ratio, then resize. Use our free resize image and crop image tools in your browser—no signup, no upload of your photos to our servers. For more platform sizes, see our crop photos for social media guide.