The Instagram Reel size to use is 1080 × 1920 pixels at 9:16, a full-screen vertical frame. Instagram accepts any aspect ratio from 1.91:1 to 9:16, with a minimum of 720 pixels and 30 frames per second. A Reel can run up to 20 minutes, but Reels over 3 minutes won't be recommended to new audiences. The cover photo should be 420 × 654 pixels.
Size guides disagree mostly because they mix three rule sets: the Instagram app, Meta's ads guide and the developer API that scheduling tools publish through. Each has its own length and file size limits, so every number below says which one it belongs to.
My pick for an ordinary Reel is a 1080 × 1920 MP4 at 30 fps, kept under 3 minutes when reach matters. That frame fills a phone screen with nothing cropped or padded, and it clears every minimum with room to spare.
Instagram Reel size at a glance
The ratio range, minimums and cover size come from Instagram's Reel size and aspect ratio help page. The length rules come from its help page on recording a reel.
| Setting | What to use | Instagram's rule |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 1080 × 1920 px | At least 720 px |
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 vertical | Anything from 1.91:1 to 9:16 |
| Frame rate | 30 fps, or 60 if you shot at 60 | At least 30 fps |
| Length | Under 3 minutes for reach | Up to 20 minutes in the app |
| Cover photo | 420 × 654 px, or 1080 × 1682 at full width | Can't be edited after upload |
| File type | MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio | MP4 or MOV for API and ad uploads |
Every size here is width × height. 1080 × 1920 and 1920 × 1080 contain the same pixels in a different order, and only the first one is a vertical Reel. A 720-pixel minimum works out to 720 × 1280 in a 9:16 frame.
Aspect ratios: horizontal and square clips
9:16 is the only shape that fills the screen. The accepted range runs from 1.91:1, a little wider than 16:9 widescreen, to 9:16, so horizontal and square clips upload too. They just don't fill the frame. Meta's developer specification for Reels recommends 9:16 to avoid cropping or blank space, which is what every other shape gets.
Here's how much of a 1080 × 1920 screen each shape covers at full width:
| Clip shape | Size at 1080 px wide | Share of the screen height |
|---|---|---|
| 9:16 vertical | 1080 × 1920 | All of it |
| 4:5 portrait | 1080 × 1350 | About 70% |
| 1:1 square | 1080 × 1080 | About 56% |
| 16:9 horizontal | 1080 × 608 | About 32% |
A horizontal clip posted as a Reel ends up as a strip across the middle of the phone. If the subject sits near the center, crop the footage to 9:16 before you post instead of leaving the bands. Our guide on changing the aspect ratio in CapCut covers the crop, and CapCut's Auto Reframe can follow a moving subject while it does it.
How long can an Instagram Reel be?
Up to 20 minutes, recorded as one clip or several that add up to 20 minutes. The catch sits on the same help page: Reels over 3 minutes won't be recommended to new audiences. A longer Reel still reaches people who follow you, but it gives up the discovery most creators post Reels for.
Treat 3 minutes as the working limit when you want new viewers, and keep longer cuts for an audience that already knows you.
You'll see other lengths quoted, and each comes from a different route:
- 15 minutes is the cap in Meta's Instagram Reels ads guide and for Reels published through Instagram's API, which is how scheduling tools post.
- 3 seconds is the API minimum, so a scheduler can refuse a very short clip.
- 3 minutes still shows up in some guides as the maximum. In the app it's now the point where recommendations to new audiences stop, not a length limit.
File size, codec and frame rate
Instagram doesn't publish a file size limit for Reels uploaded in the app. The two figures that do exist belong to other routes:
| Route | File size | Length | Frame rate | Other limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| API publishing (scheduling tools) | 300 MB | 3 s to 15 min | 23 to 60 fps | MP4 or MOV, H.264 or HEVC, up to 1920 px wide, 25 Mbps max |
| Reels ads | 4 GB | Up to 15 min | Fixed frame rate | 9:16, H.264, stereo AAC at 128 kbps or more, 1440 × 2560 |
The 4 GB figure that many size guides give as the Reel limit is the ads number. If you post through a scheduling tool, the 300 MB API cap is the one to watch. At 10 Mbps, 300 MB holds about four minutes of video, and at the 25 Mbps maximum it's closer to a minute and a half. Our video bitrate calculator works out the bitrate that fits a clip into a size limit.
For frame rate, the help page sets 30 fps as the minimum, and the developer spec accepts 23 to 60. Export at 30 fps, or keep 60 when the footage was shot at 60. Use H.264 video with AAC audio in an MP4 file; both specifications list that combination, and every editor can export it.
Upload at the highest quality
The app has a setting that makes it always upload Reels at the highest quality. Instagram notes that higher-quality uploads can take longer. To turn it on:
- Tap Profile or your profile picture in the bottom right.
- Tap Menu in the top right.
- Under Your app and media, tap Media quality.
- Turn on Upload at highest quality.
I'd switch it on and post over Wi-Fi. There's little point exporting a clean 1080 × 1920 file and then letting the upload settle for less.
Cover photo size and the profile grid
The cover is the still image people see before the Reel plays. Instagram recommends 420 × 654 pixels, a 1:1.55 ratio. Designed at full width, the same shape is 1080 × 1682.
You can pick a frame from the clip or upload a separate image. On a computer, after you click Next, use the slider under Cover photo to choose a frame, or click Select from computer to add your own file. Choose carefully: Instagram's help says you can't edit the cover after the Reel is uploaded.
On your profile, the grid shows posts as vertical rectangles instead of the old squares. PetaPixel reported the switch to rectangular profile grids when it reached all users, and Kapwing measured the new tiles at 3:4 in its guide to the Instagram grid size, with each post centered in that shape. On a 1080 × 1920 cover the tile is the middle 1080 × 1440, so 240 pixels come off the top and the bottom.
Design the cover once so it survives every crop:
- Make it 1080 × 1920, the same frame as the Reel.
- Keep the title, face or product in the middle 1440 pixels of height. That band survives both the 420 × 654 cover shape and the 3:4 grid tile.
- Use few, large words. A grid tile is small on a phone, and a long headline won't read at that size.
Kapwing also describes an Adjust Preview option in a photo post's three-dot menu for repositioning the grid thumbnail. For a Reel, plan the cover around the center rather than counting on a fix later.
Safe zones: keep text clear of the buttons
The Reels viewer lays the caption, username, audio label and action buttons over the bottom and right side of the video. Instagram's help center doesn't publish safe-zone margins for ordinary Reels. The only numbers Meta publishes are in its Reels ads guide, which asks you to keep at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side free of text, logos and other key elements.
On a 1080 × 1920 frame that works out to:
| Edge | Ads guide margin | Pixels on 1080 × 1920 |
|---|---|---|
| Top | 14% | 269 px |
| Bottom | 35% | 672 px |
| Left and right | 6% each | 65 px |
That leaves a clear area of about 950 × 979 pixels in the upper middle of the frame. It's the strictest published version, built for ads that also carry a call-to-action button. Use it for anything that has to be read, like a hook line, a price or a step number, and let less important visuals run closer to the edges.
Our CapCut for Instagram Reels guide uses a lighter working overlay for organic posts, and the safe zone checker lets you test a frame against TikTok, Reels and Shorts layouts in your browser.
Set up the Reel in CapCut
Start the project on a 9:16 canvas and export at 1080p, and CapCut writes a 1080 × 1920 file. Our best CapCut export settings guide lists resolution, frame rate and bitrate for Reels, TikTok and Shorts side by side. The Reels guide linked above walks through captions, the cover and a final posting check.
If the same video goes to YouTube, the YouTube video size guide covers the wide and Shorts versions, and our social video hub gathers the TikTok, Reels and Shorts workflows in one place.
Instagram Reel size questions
Is 1080 × 1350 OK for a Reel?
Yes. 1080 × 1350 is 4:5, inside the 1.91:1 to 9:16 range, so it uploads. In the full-screen Reels viewer it covers about 70% of the screen height and leaves empty space above and below. Export 1080 × 1920 when you can.
Can I post a horizontal video as a Reel?
Yes, as long as it's no wider than 1.91:1, which includes standard 16:9 video. It plays as a strip across the middle of the screen, about a third of its height. Cropping to 9:16 fills the screen.
What size should a Reel cover be?
420 × 654 pixels, a 1:1.55 ratio. Design it at 1080 × 1920 with the important parts in the middle 1440 pixels, because the profile grid shows a 3:4 crop of it and you can't change the cover once the Reel is up.
Why does Instagram crop my Reel on my profile?
The profile grid shows every post as a vertical rectangle, measured at 3:4 and centered on the image. A 1080 × 1920 Reel loses about 240 pixels from the top and the bottom in that view. The Reel itself still plays full screen.
Is there a file size limit for Instagram Reels?
Instagram doesn't publish one for uploads in the app. Reels posted through the API, which scheduling tools use, are capped at 300 MB, and Reels ads at 4 GB.