Social Media
Crop Image for Instagram – The Right Sizes and Ratios
Instagram silently crops photos that do not match its required aspect ratios — often cutting off exactly what you wanted to show. Here are the correct sizes for every Instagram format, and how to crop your image before uploading.
Instagram image size requirements
Why Instagram crops your photos
Instagram accepts images in a range of aspect ratios but enforces limits. Feed posts must be between 1.91:1 (landscape) and 4:5 (portrait). If your image falls outside this range — for example a very tall portrait photo at 3:4 or a very wide panorama — Instagram will crop it to fit within the allowed range, usually from the centre.
This auto-cropping often cuts off people's heads, removes subjects from the edges, or eliminates important context. Cropping your image to the correct ratio before uploading gives you full control over what appears in the feed.
Which ratio to choose
4:5 portrait is the most popular for feed posts because it takes up more vertical space in the feed — giving your content more visibility. Use this for standard photos and graphics.
1:1 square is best when you want a consistent look on your profile grid. All square posts create a clean, uniform grid layout that many brands prefer.
1.91:1 landscape works for panoramic scenes, wide architectural shots, or images where the full horizontal context is essential and cropping vertically would lose the point of the image.
Crop your image to the right Instagram size
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Crop Image for Instagram →Frequently asked questions
What size should Instagram photos be?
Instagram recommends uploading images at 1080px wide. The height depends on the format: square posts are 1080×1080px (1:1), portrait posts are 1080×1350px (4:5), and landscape posts are 1080×566px (1.91:1). Instagram will compress images larger than these dimensions.
What is the best Instagram post ratio?
The 4:5 portrait ratio (1080×1350px) is generally considered the best for feed posts because it takes up the most vertical space in the feed, making it more visible to followers. Square (1:1) is safe for profile grids that need to look uniform. Landscape (1.91:1) is used when the full width is important.
Why does Instagram crop my photos automatically?
Instagram enforces aspect ratio limits. If your image is taller than 4:5 (portrait) or wider than 1.91:1 (landscape), Instagram will crop it to fit within those bounds. Images outside these ratios are not rejected — they are automatically cropped, which often cuts off important parts of your photo.
What size are Instagram Stories?
Instagram Stories are 1080×1920px (9:16 ratio). This is full-screen vertical format designed for mobile viewing. If you upload a landscape or square image to Stories, Instagram will add blurred background bars to fill the frame, or you can manually position and scale it.
What size are Instagram Reels?
Instagram Reels use the same 9:16 ratio as Stories — 1080×1920px is the recommended resolution. Content filmed in 4:5 or 1:1 will have black or blurred bars added on the sides. Shooting or cropping to 9:16 before uploading gives the cleanest result.
How do I crop a photo to square for Instagram?
To crop a photo to square (1:1) for Instagram, make the crop selection equal in width and height, then centre it on the most important part of the image. Most online crop tools are freeform, so you need to drag the handles to create a square manually. Alternatively, some tools offer aspect ratio presets including 1:1.