Instagram Story Size — 1080x1920 Dimensions & Safe Zone

Instagram Story vs. Post Size

Stories and feed posts are two different shapes. A story is a full-screen 9:16 vertical at 1080x1920, while feed posts are square (1080x1080), portrait (1080x1350), or landscape (1080x566). Reusing a square post as a story leaves big empty bars above and below it; reusing a story in the feed crops it hard. The width is the same — 1080px — so the practical difference is height and how much of the screen each format claims.

Stories and Reels share the exact same 1080x1920 canvas, so one export covers both. The difference is entirely in the interface Instagram draws over each one — covered next.

Safe Zone Guide for Stories

Instagram overlays its own interface on top of every story, and that interface covers roughly the top and bottom strips of the 1080x1920 frame. Anything you put there — a headline, a logo, a price — risks sitting behind the profile bar or the reply box. Keep the message you care about in the center.

A simple rule: design full-bleed for the background (edge to edge at 1080x1920) but keep all readable elements inside the center ~1080x1420 region.

How to Resize an Image for Instagram Stories

You don’t need Photoshop to hit 1080x1920. Use the resizer above — it runs entirely in your browser, so your image is never uploaded to a server.

1. Drop your image into the tool above (Instagram is preselected).
2. Choose the Story / Reel size — that’s the 1080x1920 preset.
3. Drag the image inside the frame to reposition the crop, keeping your subject in the center safe zone.
4. Click Download to save a 1080x1920 JPG, ready to upload.

• Export at exactly 1080px wide. Uploading a larger file just triggers Instagram’s compression and softens the result.
• Use PNG for text-heavy graphics and JPG for photographs to keep edges clean.
• Check the safe zone before posting — what looks centered in your editor may sit behind the reply bar in the app.

Frequently Asked Questions