Instagram Reel size: 1080 × 1920 px
Meta's own publishing spec asks for a 9 × 16 frame at 1080 × 1920 pixels, running 3 to 90 seconds. Everything else on this page follows from those four numbers.
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The numbers, and where each one came from
| Spec | Value | Where this comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 9 × 16Stated as a ratio, not a pixel count — the pixel count follows from it. | OfficialMeta for Developers |
| Recommended resolution | 1080 × 1920 pxMeta's word is “recommended”, so a larger 9:16 frame is accepted and downscaled rather than rejected. | OfficialMeta for Developers |
| Minimum resolution | 540 × 960 pxBelow this the upload is refused outright, not merely softened. | OfficialMeta for Developers |
| Duration | 3 to 90 secondsA three-second floor is why a one-second loop silently fails to post. | OfficialMeta for Developers |
| Frame rate | 24 to 60 fpsFixed frame rate, progressive scan; a variable-frame-rate screen recording is the usual offender. | OfficialMeta for Developers |
| Video codec | H.264 or H.265 in .mp4VP9 and AV1 are listed as also supported; .mp4 is the recommended container. | OfficialMeta for Developers |
| Audio | AAC LC, 48 kHz, stereo, 128 kbps+ | OfficialMeta for Developers |
| Still frame for a cover | 1080 × 1920 pxA cover is authored at the Reel's own frame size, so the same crop works for both. | DerivedshotMod |
Last verified 2026-09-05 · 5 sources
- Reels publishing — recommended video specification (9 x 16, 1080 × 1920, 3–90 s, 24–60 fps, H.264/H.265, AAC LC 48 kHz) — Meta for Developers
- Instagram Platform content publishing — carousels are limited to 10 items and every slide is cropped to the first slide's ratio — Meta for Developers
- Derived arithmetically from the ratio and width in the cited Meta specification — no independent claim is made — shotMod
- Behaviour of the shipped in-browser export path, measured on the shotMod build dated 2026-09-05 — the tool doing it is the one mounted above — shotMod
- Community consensus, not an Instagram document — Instagram publishes no current page stating this value, and help.instagram.com serves article bodies only to JavaScript, so no Help Center article can honestly be cited for it (checked 2026-09-05) — shotMod
What this actually means
A Reel is the one Instagram surface where the size question has a documented answer. Meta's Reels publishing specification states the ratio as 9 × 16, names 1080 × 1920 pixels as the recommended resolution, sets a hard floor of 540 × 960, and bounds the clip at three to ninety seconds. That is unusual: most of what people call “Instagram sizes” is community folklore, and this page marks those cases plainly rather than pretending otherwise.
The practical consequence is that you almost never need to hit 1080 × 1920 exactly — you need to hit 9:16 exactly. A 1440 × 2560 export is the same rectangle and gets resampled down on ingest; a 1080 × 1350 export is a different rectangle and gets letterboxed or cropped by a machine that has no idea which part of your frame carries the subject. Ratio is the thing that has to be right before you upload, and pixels are the thing that only has to be big enough.
What goes wrong
The failure people actually hit is the three-second floor, not the resolution. A satisfying two-second loop exported from a video editor is a legal MP4 at a legal ratio that Instagram simply will not accept as a Reel, and the app rarely explains which of the two problems it has. If a clip refuses to post and the frame looks right, check the duration before you touch anything else — and remember that trimming to “about three seconds” in a timeline can land at 2.97.
Frame rate is the other thing worth checking, and specifically whether yours is fixed. Screen recordings from phones and most game-capture tools write a variable-rate track, and Meta's spec asks for a fixed rate between 24 and 60 fps with progressive scan. A variable-rate file often uploads, then plays with audio drift that gets worse the longer the Reel runs — a defect that looks like an encoding bug on Instagram's side and is actually in your source file. Re-encode at a constant rate before you blame the app.
How to do it here, in three steps
- The resizer above already has 9:16 · 1080 × 1920 selected — you do not have to find it.
- Drop in the photo or the exported still you want as your frame; it stays on your device.
- Choose Crop to fill the 9:16 rectangle, or Bars to keep the whole image, then export.
Questions, answered
What size is an Instagram Reel in pixels?
Meta's Reels publishing specification recommends 1080 × 1920 pixels at a 9 × 16 aspect ratio, with 540 × 960 as the minimum it will accept. Anything larger at the same ratio is accepted and downscaled, so 1080 × 1920 is a target rather than a limit.
How long can an Instagram Reel be?
The published range is three to ninety seconds. The floor catches people far more often than the ceiling: a two-second loop is a valid video file that Instagram will not publish as a Reel, and the rejection message rarely says so.
Does a Reel have to be exactly 1080 × 1920?
No — it has to be exactly 9:16. Meta calls 1080 × 1920 “recommended”, so a 1440 × 2560 or 2160 × 3840 export is the same rectangle and is simply resampled on ingest. What breaks a Reel is the wrong ratio, not a bigger one.
Can I resize a photo to Reel size without an app?
Yes. The resizer on this page is already set to 1080 × 1920 and runs entirely in your browser — the image is decoded, cropped and re-encoded on your own device, and nothing is uploaded to shotMod or anywhere else.
Everything on this page runs on your own device. Nothing you add is uploaded, and there is no account to create.