The Complete Guide to Instagram Story Specs

When it comes to Instagram Stories, the magic numbers are 1080px by 1920px. This gives you the perfect 9:16 aspect ratio that Instagram loves.

Sticking to these dimensions is the secret to getting that slick, professional look where your content fills the entire screen. No weird black bars, no awkward cropping—just a seamless, full-screen experience for your viewers.

Your Quick Guide to Instagram Story Specs

Getting the technical specs right is the first step to creating Stories that look amazing and perform well. While the 1080 x 1920 pixel dimension is the golden rule, other details like file size and format are just as important. Nailing these specs helps you avoid common headaches like pixelated images or frustrating upload failures.

This visual shows the three most important specs you need to remember for any Instagram Story.

As you can see, the vertical height is much larger than the width, which really drives home the mobile-first, vertical nature of Stories. To make things even easier, I've put together a quick reference table that breaks down all the key details for images, videos, and ads.

Think of this as your go-to checklist before you hit "post."

Quick Reference Instagram Story Specifications

This table summarizes the most important technical specs you'll need for your Instagram Story content, whether you're posting a simple image, a video, or running an ad.

Keep this table handy, and you'll always be sure your content meets all of Instagram’s key guidelines. It’s a simple way to guarantee your Stories look their best every time.

Understanding Dimensions and Aspect Ratio

The first step to a killer Instagram Story is nailing the dimensions. If you want your content to look professional and fill the entire screen, you need to get this right. The sweet spot is a resolution of 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels tall.

This size gives you the classic 9:16 aspect ratio, which is the gold standard for vertical video and images on mobile. It's designed to match the way we all naturally hold our phones. When your content fits perfectly, it feels seamless and keeps your viewers immersed.

Why It’s a Big Deal

If you don't stick to these specs, Instagram has to step in and fix it for you—and the results are rarely pretty. Uploading a standard horizontal photo (like a 16:9) will cause the app to automatically crop and zoom in.

This usually leads to a few common problems:

• Awkward Cropping: Important parts of your photo or video, like text or people's heads, get awkwardly cut off.
• Black Bars: Instagram might add black bars to the top and bottom to fill the empty space, which just looks sloppy.
• Blurry Visuals: When the app zooms in on a smaller image to make it fit, it often loses quality and looks pixelated.

Basically, getting the dimensions wrong signals to your audience that the content wasn't really made for them. It’s a small technical detail that has a massive impact on how your brand is perceived.

How It Affects the Viewer

Stories are a huge part of the Instagram experience. People expect polished, full-screen content, and failing to deliver can make them quickly tap away to the next Story. Creating a crisp, perfectly fitted visual is no longer a "nice-to-have"—it's a fundamental requirement for holding attention.

If terms like aspect ratio and resolution are new to you, brushing up on some basic graphic design terminology can be a real game-changer. But if you remember one thing, make it this: 1080 x 1920 pixels is your key to creating Instagram Stories that look like they belong.

Technical Specs for Image and Video Stories

Getting the dimensions right is only half the battle. To really make your Stories shine, you need to pay attention to the technical details of your files. This is especially true for images, where the wrong format or size can lead to nasty compression artifacts, leaving your beautiful visuals looking blurry and pixelated.

For image Stories, you’ll want to stick with JPG or PNG file formats. Instagram is pretty generous with its 30MB maximum file size, so you shouldn't have to worry about overly compressing your images and sacrificing quality.

Video Requirements and Duration

When it comes to video, things get a little more granular. You’ve got formats, file sizes, and video length to consider. Nailing these specs is crucial for a smooth upload and a crisp, clean playback experience for your followers.

The best video formats to use are MP4 and MOV, but I almost always recommend MP4 because of its universal compatibility across devices.

Here’s a look at the core video specs you need to know:

• Maximum File Size: Keep your video file under 4GB.
• Frame Rate: For smooth, natural motion, aim for a minimum of 30 frames per second (FPS).
• Video Duration: A single video Story can now be up to 60 seconds long. If you upload a video that's longer than that, Instagram will automatically chop it up into 60-second chunks for you.

A quick tip: Even though your video can run for a full 60 seconds without interruption, don't forget to use interactive elements to keep people watching. Things like polls and stickers are great, and you can learn how to add captions to Instagram Story to grab attention, especially from people watching with the sound off.

To help you get your export settings just right, here's a table with my go-to recommendations for video.

Recommended Video Story Settings

This table breaks down the optimal settings to use when exporting your video. Following these guidelines will give you the best possible quality on the platform.

Most of the best video editing software for social media will have built-in presets for Instagram that handle all of this for you. Using them is a surefire way to take the guesswork out of the process and make sure your content is perfectly optimized every time.

Designing for the Instagram Story Safe Zone

Getting the dimensions right is half the battle. But even a perfectly sized 1080 x 1920 pixel Story can fall flat if key parts of your design are hidden by Instagram’s own interface. This is where understanding the Instagram Story safe zone comes in.

Think of it this way: your full screen is the canvas, but the most important elements need to stay within an invisible frame to be seen. Instagram overlays your profile information at the top and the reply bar at the bottom, and anything you place there will get covered up.

These UI elements create "no-go" areas you need to avoid. It’s a super common mistake to see a great design ruined because a crucial piece of text is stuck behind an icon.

• The Top Zone: This is where your profile picture and username live, along with the little bars showing Story progress.
• The Bottom Zone: This area is reserved for the "Send Message" field and any call-to-action links you add, like "See More."

Placing your main message, a call-to-action, or a critical logo in these spots basically guarantees it will be unreadable or impossible for someone to tap.

Staying Within the Lines

So, how do you keep your content safe? It's simple: leave some breathing room at the top and bottom.

A solid rule of thumb is to keep about 250 pixels of buffer space at the very top and another 250 pixels at the very bottom. This creates a central area where you know everything will be perfectly visible and interactive.

For instance, if you're promoting a sale and put the discount code at the absolute bottom of the screen, it’s going to get lost behind the reply bar. Nudge that code up into the safe zone, and suddenly everyone can see it. It's a small detail that makes a huge difference in how your Stories actually perform.

Getting Your Instagram Story Ad Specs Right

While you can be a bit more relaxed with your organic Stories, Instagram Story ads are a different ball game. To get your paid campaigns approved and running smoothly, you have to nail the technical specs. Think of them less as guidelines and more as hard-and-fast rules for making sure your content looks professional in the feed.

The foundational specs are the same as organic Stories: you're still working with a 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution and a 9:16 aspect ratio. The biggest departure, however, is how video duration is handled.

Key Ad-Specific Requirements

With organic Stories, a longer video gets automatically chopped into 15-second clips. Not so with ads. A single video ad can run for a continuous 60 seconds, giving you a much larger, uninterrupted canvas to tell your story and make your pitch.

Of course, a great ad needs more than just the right specs—it needs a solid script. If you're looking for inspiration, we have an advertisement script example that can help you get the words just right.

When you're ready to upload your creative to Meta Ads Manager, stick to these formats:

• Images: JPG and PNG files are your go-to, with a max file size of 30MB.
• Videos: Use MP4 or MOV formats, keeping your file size under 4GB.

Pro Tip: Always design your ad creative with the call-to-action (CTA) button in mind. Leave plenty of clear space at the bottom of the screen where the "Swipe Up" or link button appears. If you crowd that area with text or logos, you risk hiding your CTA and killing your click-through rate.

Getting these details right is more than just a technical exercise; it's about connecting with a massive audience. As of January 2025, Instagram ads could reach an incredible 1.74 billion users globally. You can dive deeper into these numbers with DataReportal's latest findings on Instagram's worldwide ad reach.

How to Fix Common Instagram Story Problems

Ever feel like you followed all the rules, but your Instagram Story still looks... off? It happens to the best of us. From blurry videos to oddly cropped text, a few common hiccups can really drag down your content. Let's walk through how to fix them.

A pixelated or blurry Story is probably the most frequent complaint. This is usually a sign that Instagram's compression algorithm had to work too hard on an already low-quality file. The fix is simple: start with the best possible source material. Always aim to export your final design at the recommended 1080 x 1920 pixels with a high bitrate.

Solving Cropping and Engagement Issues

Another classic mistake is seeing your text or stickers get blocked by Instagram's own interface elements. If your call-to-action is hiding behind the "Send message" bar, you've got a safe zone problem. To avoid this, keep all your critical elements away from the very top and bottom of the screen. A good rule of thumb is to leave a buffer of about 250 pixels on each end.

Beyond the technical side, some strategic mistakes can tank your Story's performance. The biggest one? Hiding the good stuff at the end of a long sequence. Viewers' attention spans are short, and the drop-off rate is steep—brands see a 12.99% dip after just the first slide, as detailed in these Instagram Stories statistics from Social Media Curve.

To beat the drop-off, make sure your first one or two slides are your most engaging. Hook them early, and they're more likely to stick around for the rest.

Got Questions About Story Specs? We’ve Got Answers.

Even after you’ve nailed the basics, a few specific questions always seem to pop up about Instagram Story specs. Let’s clear up some of the most common ones we hear.

JPG or PNG for Stories?

For almost all photos, JPG is your best bet. It hits that sweet spot between great quality and a small file size, which means your Stories will upload faster.

The only time you should really reach for a PNG is when you need a transparent background. Think logos, graphic overlays, or stickers. Just keep in mind that PNG files are usually larger, so only use them when necessary.

Can I Post a Horizontal Video?

Technically, yes, you can. But should you? Probably not. When you upload a horizontal video, Instagram automatically crops it to fit the vertical 9:16 frame.

This means the sides of your video will get chopped off, and your viewers will miss a huge chunk of the action. For the best result, always shoot and edit your videos vertically from the start.

Why Are My Stories Blurry and How Do I Fix It?

Blurry Stories are a super common frustration. It usually boils down to two things: uploading a low-resolution file or Instagram’s aggressive compression.

To combat this, always start with a high-quality image or video that is at least 1080px wide. When you give Instagram a properly sized file, its compression algorithm doesn't have to work as hard, which helps preserve quality. It also helps to understand the social media algorithm explained in a broader sense, as it sheds light on how platforms process and prioritize media.

What’s the Maximum Video Length for a Single Story?

Good news! As of 2024, a single, uninterrupted video Story can be up to 60 seconds long.

Instagram got rid of the old system that automatically chopped longer videos into 15-second clips, making the viewing experience much smoother.

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