The Instagram story size to use is 1,440 × 2,560 px at an aspect ratio of 9:16. That is the resolution Meta lists for story placements. Keep important text inside the safe area of 1,267.2 × 1,305.6 px so buttons and overlays do not cover it.
If you searched for “what size is an instagram story”, “ig story size” or “story instagram size”, that is the whole answer. The rest of this page explains how to use it, where text is safe and how to resize your image in your browser.
What size is an Instagram story?
Stories are full-screen vertical content. The size is 1,440 × 2,560 px, and the ratio is 9:16. People also ask “what is the size of an Instagram story” or “size for Instagram story”, and the answer is the same for all of those wordings.
One honest caveat: the numbers on this page come from the Meta Ads Guide for the Stories ad placement. The Instagram Help Center has no page with organic story dimensions or limits. Many designers use a different pixel size with the same 9:16 ratio, but that size does not appear on the official pages we checked, so we do not list it here. What matters most is the ratio, and the ads guide allows a tolerance of 1%.
Which size to use when
Stories only have one format, so the choice is simpler than for the feed.
Vertical 9:16 (the default)
Use 1,440 × 2,560 px for photos, graphics and video. It fills the whole phone screen with no bars.
Square or landscape content
You can still post a square or wide image, but it will not fill the screen. Either place it on a vertical background you design yourself, or crop it to 9:16 first so you control what is cut off.
Stories vs. other placements
Feed posts use different ratios, such as 4:5 or 1:1. Reels share the same canvas as stories: 1,440 × 2,560 px. If you make one vertical video, it can often serve both. See the Instagram post size and Instagram Reels size pages for details on those formats.
File types and limits
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Size | 1,440 × 2,560 px |
| Ratio | 9:16 |
| Minimum width | 500 px |
| Minimum width (video) | 250 px |
| File types | JPG, PNG, MP4, MOV, GIF |
| Max image size | 30 MB |
| Max video size | 4 GB |
| Video duration (ads) | 1 second to 60 minutes |
These limits are from the ads guide. Organic stories may behave differently, so treat them as a safe target rather than a promise.
How Instagram displays stories
The data we have covers the story canvas, not how stories appear in the feed, on the profile grid or on desktop, so we will not guess about those. What is clear is that a story fills the vertical screen, and interface elements sit on top of your content. That is why the safe zone matters.
Safe zone: where to keep text
Inside the 1,440 × 2,560 px canvas, the safe area is 1,267.2 × 1,305.6 px. In practice:
- Keep the top 358.4 px free. The profile name and other interface elements appear there.
- Keep the bottom 896 px free. Reply fields, call-to-action buttons and captions can cover that area.
- Put faces, headlines and logos in the middle.
Backgrounds and photos can run all the way to the edges. Only the key content needs to stay inside the safe area. If you are checking a design on a real phone, our iPhone Mockup Generator can help you preview it.
How to resize an image to story size with the tool on this page
Menus and labels can differ by version, so follow the general flow below.
- Open the free resizer on this page and add your image. It works in your browser.
- Choose the Instagram story preset, or enter 1,440 × 2,560 px as the custom size.
- Check that the ratio is 9:16.
- Move and scale the image so your subject sits inside the safe area. Use the safe-zone graphic as a guide.
- Pick a file type from JPG, PNG, MP4, MOV, GIF. For a photo, JPG or PNG is fine.
- Download the result and upload it from your phone through the Instagram story camera or gallery.
For other platforms, the Social Media Image Resizer covers more formats.
Instagram story size black bars and borders
If you searched for “instagram story size black”, you are probably seeing black bars around a photo or video. That happens when the file does not match 9:16. Fix it by resizing to 1,440 × 2,560 px, or by filling the empty space with a background color or a blurred copy of the image.
Common mistakes
- Uploading a landscape or square image as is. It will not fill the screen. Design for 9:16.
- Putting text at the very top or bottom. Interface elements can cover it. Respect 358.4 px at the top and 896 px at the bottom.
- Using a tiny file. The minimum width is 500 px, and small images look soft when stretched to full screen.
- Ignoring file limits. Images should stay under 30 MB and videos under 4 GB.
- Treating one size as official for everything. The values here are ads guide values, since there is no organic spec page.
- Cropping after the fact. Resize first so you decide what is cut, not the app.
Related tools
Working on a carousel as well? See Instagram carousel size. Making a short vertical video for several apps? Compare with TikTok video size.