Instagram Photo Sizes, Cropped to the Pixel
Crop and resize a photo to the exact Instagram size for a square, portrait, landscape or story post. Sizes checked on 28 October 2026. Runs in your browser.
How to resize a photo for Instagram
- Choose the photo. The cropper opens at Instagram portrait, 1080 × 1350 px, with the Instagram sizes listed under Social presets.
- Pick square, portrait, tall portrait, landscape or story if you want another shape.
- Drag the frame over the part of the photo you want in the post; the export size stays fixed.
- Press Download crop. The file name ends in the ratio, so you can tell the versions apart in your gallery.
The sizes I checked on 28 October 2026
Instagram sizes change more often than the articles about them, so before I set up this page I read Instagram's own help page on photo resolution. On 28 October 2026 it said that Instagram uploads photos at up to 1080 pixels wide, keeps a width between 320 and 1080 pixels as it is, and keeps the shape when it lies between 1.91:1 and 3:4. At 1080 pixels wide that means a height from 566 to 1440 pixels. A wider or taller photo is cropped to fit.
That gives the feed sizes on this page: 1080 × 1080 for a square, 1080 × 1350 for the classic 4:5 portrait, 1080 × 1440 for the taller 3:4 portrait the help page now names as its limit, and 1080 × 566 for landscape. For stories the help pages give no pixel size. Meta's ads guide for Instagram Stories asks for 9:16 and suggests 1440 × 2560. I use 1080 × 1920: the same shape at the 1080-pixel width Instagram keeps for photos.
Every size, run on two of my photos
| Size | Lake Jasna, 960 × 1200 px | Red bicycle, 1200 × 800 px |
|---|---|---|
| Square, 1080 × 1080 | crop 960 × 960, 172.0 KB | crop 800 × 800, 283.2 KB |
| Portrait 4:5, 1080 × 1350 | crop 960 × 1200, 203.7 KB | crop 640 × 800, 309.8 KB |
| Tall portrait 3:4, 1080 × 1440 | crop 900 × 1200, 211.1 KB | crop 600 × 800, 316.8 KB |
| Landscape, 1080 × 566 | crop 960 × 503, 103.5 KB | crop 1200 × 628, 186.0 KB |
| Story, 1080 × 1920 | crop 675 × 1200, 244.1 KB | crop 450 × 800, 349.6 KB |
Every file came out at exactly the size in the first column, as a JPEG at the cropper's 82% quality. The crop column shows how many pixels of my photo went into it. Both photos are the web copies from my articles, so most crops had to be enlarged: the bicycle story grew from 450 pixels wide to 1080, about 2.4 times. Enlarging adds no detail. This page leaves Prevent upscaling off so that you get the exact size you came for; tick it and the lake portrait stays at 960 × 1200 px (187.9 KB) and the bicycle story at 450 × 800 px (114.8 KB), both inside what Instagram keeps as uploaded.
Which size for which post
For a single photo in the feed I pick portrait. A 4:5 or 3:4 post fills more of the phone screen than a square, and a vertical photo of a lake or a person rarely loses anything at that shape. Square still suits product shots and anything with a subject in the middle. Landscape at 1080 × 566 is the thinnest strip the feed accepts; a wide view of mountains works, a group photo usually looks small.
A carousel takes its shape from the first picture, so crop all of them to the same size before you post. A story is a different screen: 9:16 fills it from edge to edge, and the app puts your name at the top and the reply box at the bottom, so keep faces and text away from those strips.
Resizing without cropping
If the photo is already between 1.91:1 and 3:4, Instagram takes it whole, and all you may want is the width. A 3:2 camera photo is inside that range. I ran my red bicycle through the Image Resizer at a longest side of 1080 pixels and JPEG 82%: it came out at 1080 × 720 px and 231.1 KB, the full picture with nothing cut off. A photo outside the range, such as a 9:16 phone screenshot, has to be cropped for the feed or posted as a story.
Tips for Instagram photos
- Start from the largest copy you have. A photo straight from the phone or camera is far above 1080 pixels and needs no enlarging.
- Crop every picture of a carousel to the same size, or Instagram crops the rest to match the first.
- Leave the top and bottom of a story free of text and faces.
- Tick Prevent upscaling for a small photo; Instagram keeps a width from 320 to 1080 pixels as it is.
- Keep your full-size original. The 1080-pixel copy is for posting, not for printing later.
Privacy
Your image never leaves your device. Opening, cropping and saving all happen in your browser, so nothing is uploaded or stored, and you do not need an account. The saved file does not keep the original EXIF, GPS or XMP data.
Frequently asked questions
What size is an Instagram post in 2026?
Instagram keeps photos up to 1080 pixels wide. On 28 October 2026 its help page allowed heights from 566 to 1440 pixels at that width, so 1080 × 1080, 1080 × 1350 and 1080 × 1440 are the sizes to aim for.
What aspect ratio does Instagram use for posts?
Any ratio from 1.91:1, a wide landscape, to 3:4, a tall portrait. The common choices are 1:1 square, 4:5 portrait and 3:4 portrait. A photo outside that range is cropped by Instagram when you post it.
How do I resize an image for Instagram without cropping?
If its shape is between 1.91:1 and 3:4, only change the width. My 1200 × 800 px bicycle photo became 1080 × 720 px in the Image Resizer, whole. Wider or taller pictures need a crop or a border.
What size should an Instagram story be?
A 9:16 picture fills the story screen. I export 1080 × 1920 pixels; Meta's ads guide suggests 1440 × 2560 for story ads, the same shape. Keep text and faces away from the top and bottom edges, where the app draws its own controls.
What picture size does Instagram use?
It stores feed photos at up to 1080 pixels wide. A wider photo is scaled down to 1080, one between 320 and 1080 pixels wide stays as it is, and one narrower than 320 pixels is enlarged to 320.
Related tools and guides
- Image Cropper: Crop images to exact ratios or popular preset sizes.
- Crop a Photo into a Circle: Cut a round profile picture or avatar out of any photo. Save it as a PNG or WebP with see-through corners, or as a JPG on the colour you choose.
- Image Resizer: Resize images by pixels, percentage or longest side.
- Image Compressor: Reduce JPEG, PNG and WebP file sizes while keeping quality high.
- Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2026: Days, Hours and Data: Once the photo is the right size: the days and hours when posts reach the most people.
- Lake Jasna, Slovenia: My Photography and Visitor Guide: The lake from the table, photographed in every season.