Instagram Story Size: Dimensions and Safe Zones

Last reviewed: 6 October 2026

The short answer

Instagram Stories are full-screen and vertical, so design them in a 9:16 ratio. In practice that means 1080 × 1920 pixels, or 1440 × 2560 pixels if you want extra sharpness. Both are exactly 9:16.

Here is where each number comes from, because it matters:

• Instagram’s Help Center doesn’t publish one pixel size for ordinary (organic) Stories. It explains how to share them and how long they last.
• Meta’s Ads Guide lists a recommended resolution of 1440 × 2560 pixels for image ads in Instagram Stories (Image ad specs on Instagram Stories). Because ads appear between organic Stories, this is the closest official reference for the full-screen frame.
• 1080 × 1920 is the same 9:16 shape at a lower resolution. It is widely used and works well for organic Stories, but we label it as a common practice rather than an official Instagram number.

Checked on Instagram’s Help Center and Meta’s Ads Guide on 6 October 2026. Meta changes specs from time to time; check the linked pages before a big campaign.

Safe zones: where to put text and buttons

A Story frame isn’t all usable space. Your profile picture and name sit at the top, and the reply bar, stickers and (for ads) the call-to-action sit at the bottom. Meta’s Ads Guide suggests leaving roughly 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% on each side free from text, logos and other key elements, so they aren’t cropped or covered.

On common canvases, that works out to:

Our arithmetic from Meta’s percentages. Meta’s safe zone help page also notes that on screens taller than 9:16, a creative may be zoomed (cropping areas outside the safe zone) or shown with black bars.

For organic Stories the bottom margin is less critical than for ads, but keeping important text in the middle of the frame is still the safest habit, especially if you add stickers, polls or links.

What about photos that aren’t 9:16?

Most phone photos are 3:4 or 4:3, and Feed posts are often 4:5 or square. When you share them to a Story, they won’t fill the screen, so Instagram shows a background around them. You have three options:

• Embrace the frame: place the photo in the middle and add text above or below it.
• Crop to 9:16 in an editing app before uploading, keeping the subject centred.
• Design a 9:16 template that holds a 4:5 post with your branding around it, useful when you share Feed posts to Stories.

For Feed posts, Instagram keeps photos at their original resolution when they are between 320 and 1080 pixels wide with an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 3:4 (Image resolution of photos you share on Instagram). Our social media image size guide lists every Feed, Reel and profile size with its source and a resize tool.

Highlights: keep your best Stories

Stories disappear after 24 hours unless you add them to your profile as Highlights (Instagram Help: Stories). For a business, Highlights act like a mini website on your profile:

• Start here / About: who you are and what you offer.
• Services or menu: one Story per service, product range or price list.
• Reviews: screenshots of customer messages (with permission).
• FAQs: delivery, booking, opening hours.
• How to order / contact: a clear final step.

Use the same 9:16 safe-zone rules for Highlights, and design simple matching covers so the row looks tidy.

For cover sizes and step-by-step setup, see our Instagram highlight covers guide. Adding a link to a Story? Read how to add links to Instagram Stories.

Want a Story only your best customers see? Share it to your list; our Instagram Close Friends guide explains how.

Common Story size mistakes

• Text at the very top or bottom, where it sits under the profile name or reply bar.
• Landscape videos that become a small strip in the middle of the screen.
• Tiny text. Stories are viewed quickly on a phone; use large, high-contrast type.
• Low-resolution images stretched to full screen. Start at 1080 × 1920 or larger.
• Too much on one Story. One message per frame works better than a crowded slide.
• Designing for desktop. Always preview on a real phone before posting.