Instagram photo sizes
Instagram’s help center says photos are kept at up to 1080 pixels wide. If a photo is between 320 and 1080 px wide and its shape is between 1.91:1 and 3:4, Instagram keeps the original resolution; wider photos are scaled down to 1080, narrower ones are enlarged to 320, and other shapes are cropped to fit. At 1080 px wide that range means a height from 566 to 1440 pixels.
| Shape | Size at 1080 wide | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Square 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | Grid-friendly posts, products |
| Portrait 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | People and products; fills more of the feed |
| Tall portrait 3:4 | 1080 × 1440 | The tallest shape Instagram keeps uncropped |
| Landscape 1.91:1 | 1080 × 566 | Wide scenes, group photos |
| Story or Reel 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | Full-screen Stories and Reel covers |
The first four rows follow directly from the official range. Stories and Reels are vertical 9:16; Meta’s ad specifications recommend 1440 × 2560 for Story ads, and 1080 × 1920 is the same shape at Instagram’s 1080 px feed width. See the social media image size guide for sources.
How to resize photos for Instagram
- Drop or choose your photos; on a phone, tap Choose photos and select several from your library.
- Tap a shape. Portrait 4:5 is selected by default because it takes the most room in the feed while staying uncropped.
- Keep Crop to fill to trim from the center, or choose Fit inside to keep the whole picture with white edges, popular for artwork and wide panoramas posted as squares.
- Check the framing with the divider, then download each photo or a ZIP and post them from your phone.
Why resize before posting?
Instagram resizes and recompresses everything you upload. If you let it crop a landscape photo into a portrait slot, it decides what to cut. Resizing yourself means you choose the crop, you can fit artwork inside a border, and you send a file that is already 1080 px wide so the app has less reason to resample it. Exporting at JPG quality 90% leaves Instagram’s own compression a clean starting point.
Everything happens inside this browser tab. Pixdesk reads your files with the browser’s own image decoder, redraws them on a canvas in a background worker and saves the new file with the browser’s encoder. There is no upload endpoint on pixdesk.cc, and the page makes no network request while it works. You can check that yourself in two minutes with your browser’s Network panel.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best image size for Instagram?
For feed posts, 1080 pixels wide. Instagram keeps photos between 1.91:1 and 3:4 at their original resolution up to that width, so 1080 by 1350 (4:5) or 1080 by 1440 (3:4) give the tallest uncropped posts.
What size is an Instagram square post?
1080 by 1080 pixels. Choose Square 1:1 and Pixdesk crops the center of each photo, or pick Fit inside to add white edges instead.
What size are Instagram Stories and Reels?
They are vertical 9:16. 1080 by 1920 is that shape at Instagram’s 1080 pixel width; Meta’s ad guide recommends 1440 by 2560 for Story ads.
How do I post a whole photo without cropping?
Choose a shape, then set When the shape differs to Fit inside. The whole photo is kept and the empty space is filled with white or transparency.
Does Instagram reduce quality after I upload?
Instagram recompresses uploads. Starting from a 1080 pixel wide JPG at high quality gives its compression the best starting point and avoids an extra resize.
Can I resize a carousel of photos at once?
Yes. Add up to 30 photos and they all get the same shape, which keeps a carousel consistent. Download them as a ZIP.
Can I use iPhone HEIC photos?
Yes. HEIC photos are decoded in the browser and saved as JPG at the Instagram size you choose.
Are my photos uploaded to Pixdesk?
No. Resizing happens in your browser and the photos never leave your device.
Sources
- Instagram Help Center: Image resolution of photos you share — up to 1080 px wide; ratios from 1.91:1 to 3:4
- Meta Ads Guide: Instagram Stories image ads — 9:16, 1440 × 2560 recommended
Sources checked on 19 October 2026.