Instagram Story video size and specs
What a Story asks of a video, quoted from Meta and dated, and a button that opens your video reframed for it, on your own device.
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The spec, in Meta’s words
| What | Figure | Their words |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | 9:16, vertical | Ratio: 9:16 Meta |
| Picture size | 1440 × 2560, recommended | Resolution: 1440 x 2560 pixels Meta |
| Shortest | 1 s | Video duration: 1 second to 60 minutes Meta |
| Longest | 1 h | Video duration: 1 second to 60 minutes Meta |
| Largest file | 4 GB | Maximum file size: 4 GB Meta |
| Keep clear | 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom, 6% at each side | Consider leaving roughly 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% on each side of your asset free from text, logos or other key creative elements Meta |
Meta publishes these figures on its ad specifications page; the help pages for ordinary Instagram posts are drawn by script and state no figures that could be read. The frame and the limits are the ones the app’s own player shows.
Where words and logos are safe
In a 1440 × 2560 frame that is 358 px at the top, 896 px at the bottom and 86 px at each side.
Drawn to scale from the shares above. In Shycut’s editor the same kind of guide appears while you move words on a vertical video.
Stories split long videos into cards
Meta’s spec page notes that a video of 16 seconds or longer may be split into separate Stories cards. If one unbroken moment matters, keep it under 16 seconds, or trim the clip to the part people should see.
The frame is vertical, and the top 14% and bottom 35% are what Meta asks to keep free of words and logos. Shycut’s reframe follows the main face once faces are found, which keeps the person away from both edges.
What the button sets up
- A 9:16 frame
- Cut out of your video, following the main face once faces are found, and made full HD. You can drag the crop or change the shape in the editor’s Size tab.
- Its length, checked as you trim
- The Size tab says whether your edit is a length it takes: at least 1 s and up to 1 h. The save window says it again before anything is made.
- Kept under 4 GB
- The save window aims the file under that size and steps the picture down only if it has to.
- On your device
- The video opens in this browser tab and is made there. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no size limit on the original.
Where these facts come from
Questions
What size is an Instagram Story video?
9:16, with 1440 × 2560 pixels recommended by Meta. Shycut saves 1080 × 1920, the same shape.
Why did my Story turn into several cards?
Meta says videos of 16 seconds or longer may be split into separate Stories cards. Trim to under 16 seconds to keep it in one.
Can I make a Story from a landscape video?
Yes. The button cuts a vertical frame out of it and follows the main face once faces are found; you can drag the crop in the editor.
Your video stays with you.
Open Shycut, drop the video in and export. Free, with no account, and your video never leaves your device.
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