How to crop a photo for Instagram
- Choose the photo you want to post.
- Pick a size: a tall, square or wide post, a story or reel, or a profile photo.
- Move and resize the box over the part you want to keep.
- Download it at the exact size Instagram uses.
Every Instagram size in one place
- Portrait 3:4: 1080 x 1440. The tallest feed post Instagram allows, and the shape your profile grid now uses.
- Portrait 4:5: 1080 x 1350. Still supported, but the grid trims a little from each side.
- Square: 1080 x 1080.
- Landscape: 1080 x 566, the widest post Instagram accepts.
- Stories and reels: 1080 x 1920, full screen on a phone.
- Profile photo: shown as a circle. Upload a square at least 320 x 320; 1080 x 1080 stays sharp.
Anything wider than 1080 pixels is shrunk to 1080, and anything taller than 3:4 is cropped, so saving at these sizes means Instagram does not crop it for you.
3:4 or 4:5 for portrait posts?
Since 2025 the grid on your profile shows every post as a 3:4 rectangle. A 3:4 post fills that tile exactly and is the largest a post can appear in the feed. A 4:5 post still looks fine in the feed, but loses a sliver from both sides on your grid. For new posts, 3:4 is the better choice.
Stories and reels: keep text away from the edges
Your name sits across the top of a story and the reply bar and buttons cover the bottom, while a reel adds the caption and icons along the bottom and right. Keep words and faces inside the dashed box this tool shows, and use the full height for background. Your photo is cropped on your device and never uploaded.
Questions people ask
What size is an Instagram post?
1080 pixels wide. 1080 x 1440 for 3:4 portrait, 1080 x 1350 for 4:5, 1080 x 1080 square and 1080 x 566 landscape.
What size is an Instagram story?
1080 x 1920 pixels, the 9:16 shape of a phone screen. Reels use the same size.
Why does Instagram crop my photo?
Anything taller than 3:4 or wider than 1.91:1 is cropped to fit. Cropping to one of these sizes first means you choose what is kept.
What size is an Instagram profile picture?
It shows as a small circle, but upload a square. 320 x 320 is the minimum and 1080 x 1080 keeps it sharp.
Does Instagram reduce the quality of my photos?
It resizes anything wider than 1080 pixels and compresses every upload. Posting at exactly 1080 wide avoids an extra resize.