Instagram Reels Size: Dimensions, Safe Zone and How Reels Crop in Feed (2026)

An Instagram Reel is 9:16 at 1080 x 1920 pixels; for Reels ads, Meta recommends 1440 x 2560. The size is the easy part. Instagram shows that one file three ways, full screen under its buttons, as a 4:5 preview in the feed and as a 3:4 tile on your profile, and only the band from y 285 to y 1248 survives all three. That band is where your hook, offer and logo belong.

Instagram Reel dimensions and length

Swipe sideways to see every column

	Organic Reel	Instagram Reels ad	Facebook Reels ad
Size	1080 x 1920	1440 x 2560	1440 x 2560
Aspect ratio	9:16 (accepts 1.91:1 to 9:16)	9:16	9:16
Max length	20 min	15 min	No maximum
Max file size	Not published	4 GB	4 GB

Use 1440 x 2560 when the file will run as an ad, because that's what Meta's Ads Guide asks for on both apps. For organic Reels, 1080 x 1920 is plenty: Instagram's own floor is 720 px at 30 fps, and its Edits team recommends exporting at 2K rather than 4K because viewers won't see the difference. Stories use the same canvas; their limits are in our Instagram Story size guide.

Only have the ad in 1:1 or 4:5? The free Meta Ad Resizer extends it to 9:16 for Reels, so Meta doesn't pad or crop it for you.

Resize an ad free

One file, three crops

The table gets the file uploaded. It doesn't tell you how much of that file people actually see, and that depends on where they meet the Reel.

Stella & Chewy's 9:16 ad: a corgi beside a bag of Meal Mixers, a headline at mid-height and red benefit badges near the bottom — Crops drawn to scale on Stella & Chewy's 9:16 ad, started May 21, 2025, 506 days running as of October 9, 2026 (Ad Library). The feed and grid crops apply to organic Reels.

In the Reels viewer the whole frame plays, but Instagram's header sits on the top 269 px and the caption, account name, audio line and button sit on the bottom 672. In the home feed the same Reel previews as its center 4:5, which cuts 285 px off each end. On your profile, grid tiles have been 3:4 since January 2025, so 240 px go from each end; photo posts get the same tile.

Instagram documents neither the feed nor the grid crop; 4:5 and 3:4 are what the size guides give. Ads can differ: Meta says 9:16 video ads in Instagram Feed follow the Reels safe zone, which suggests they show taller than 4:5.

Keep every word between y 285 and y 1248

Stack those three views and the area that shows everywhere is about half the frame: y 285 to 1248, x 65 to 1015, minus a strip on the right below y 1152 where the like, comment and share icons sit. The top limit is 285, not Meta's 269, because the feed preview cuts deeper than the Reels header. The 65 px sides come from Meta's safe-zone guidance: on phones taller than 9:16, Meta may zoom the creative to fill the screen and doesn't say how far. On a 1440 x 2560 ad file the same band is y 380 to 1664, 86 px in from each side.

The bottom edge of that band is where most ads go wrong. When we checked 91 long-running 9:16 image ads for our Instagram ad examples, 50 had text, a logo or a button in the bottom 35%. Siena Sleep ran the same offer both ways:

Siena Sleep 9:16 ad: UP TO 50% OFF, Starting at $199 and a Shop Mattress button in the middle of the frame, above a bed — Days running as of October 9, 2026. Both list Facebook and Instagram; the Ad Library doesn't show which placement served them, and run length isn't a performance measure.

Both ads have run for more than two years, and that tells you nothing about which one converts better. What the overlay shows is the low version's drawn button sitting under the caption, right above the call-to-action button Instagram adds, so the screen asks for the same click twice. Moving it above y 1248 costs nothing.

To check your own file, open it in the free safe-zone checker with the Reels overlay on, or put the 1080 x 1920 Reels overlay on your editing timeline.

Length decides who the Reel reaches

The crop decides what people see; length decides who gets shown the Reel at all, and the limits that matter sit far below the 20-minute maximum.

On one 20-minute scale

How long a Reel can run, and where reach stops

90 s: Boost limit3 min: reach limit

Organic Reel

Past 3 min, not recommended to new audiences

20 min

Instagram Reels ad

Set up in Ads Manager

15 min

Facebook Reels ad

Meta lists no limit

No maximum

05 min10 min15 min20 min

Striped: an organic Reel still posts, but Instagram won't recommend it to people who don't follow you.

Instagram lets you post 20 minutes but won't recommend anything over 3 minutes to people who don't follow you, so a long Reel is a Reel for your followers. The Boost button stops at 90 seconds and needs a 9:16 file. Through Ads Manager the ceiling moves to 15 minutes on Instagram and goes away on Facebook.

If a Reel might become an ad later, leave out licensed music, face or camera effects, GIFs and product tags. Instagram won't run a Reel that uses them as a Reels ad or a boost, and each one has its own boost rejection message.

Covers and files that aren't 9:16

The same band rule settles the two leftover questions. Upload the cover at 1080 x 1920 as JPG or PNG and keep its title inside the center 1080 x 1350: that is the feed preview, and it fits inside the grid tile too. Instagram's help page still suggests 420 x 654, a shape that matches neither the player nor the grid.

Instagram accepts anything from 1.91:1 to 9:16, but a wider file plays with bars above and below and can't be boosted. For ads, Meta fills a missing 9:16 version itself with padding, cropping or AI expansion, so check what it made before you publish. Our 4:5 guide shows how a 4:5 file sits on a Reels screen.

Instagram Reels size FAQ

What size is an Instagram Reel?

1080 x 1920 pixels, a 9:16 ratio. For Reels ads, Meta recommends 1440 x 2560.

What is the aspect ratio of Instagram Reels?

9:16. Instagram accepts anything from 1.91:1 to 9:16, but only 9:16 fills the screen and only 9:16 can be boosted.

How long can an Instagram Reel be?

20 minutes. Instagram won't recommend Reels over 3 minutes to new audiences, and the Boost button needs 90 seconds or less.

What is the Instagram Reels safe zone?

On 1080 x 1920, Meta's numbers are 269 px at the top, 672 px at the bottom and 65 px on each side, plus a 227 x 768 icon block at the bottom right. Add the feed and grid crops and text belongs between y 285 and 1248.

What size is an Instagram Reel cover?

Upload 1080 x 1920 as JPG or PNG and keep the title inside the center 1080 x 1350 so it survives the feed preview and the grid tile.

What size are Facebook Reels ads?

9:16 at 1440 x 2560, with no maximum length. Other Facebook placements are in our Facebook video ad sizes sheet.

Before you export a Reel

1Export 1080 x 1920 for organic Reels, 1440 x 2560 if it will run as an ad, at 30 fps or more.
2Hook, offer and logo between y 285 and 1248, at least 65 px from each side (y 380 to 1664 and 86 px on a 1440 file).
3Nothing you need in the right 227 px below y 1152. The like, comment and share icons sit there.
4No drawn button in the bottom 672 px. Instagram puts its own there.
5Under 3 minutes to reach people who don't follow you, 90 seconds or less to keep Boost available.
6Cover at 1080 x 1920, title inside the center 1080 x 1350.

How we got this

Specs come from Instagram's Help Center (Reel size, Record a reel, Boost a reel) and Meta's Ads Guide and safe-zone page, checked October 10, 2026. Safe-zone pixels are Meta's percentages applied to 1080 x 1920, the same values our checker uses. Instagram doesn't document the 4:5 feed preview or the 3:4 grid tile; those come from size guides (Hopper HQ, PostFast, NapoleonCat) and the grid change announced in January 2025. The Edits 2K advice is from Instagram's Edits team, quoted by Social Media Today in May 2025. The 91 ads come from 780 live US ads we pulled from Meta's Ad Library on October 10, 2026; the Ad Library doesn't show which placement an ad served in.