When Instagram first graced our iPhone Home screens, it was primarily a photo-sharing app. But as the quality of our picture-taking (and editing) skills increased, so did the app’s capability to incorporate other mediums we can use to elevate our digital footprints. Video was, without a doubt, the most notable addition.
Instagram introduced video-sharing in 2013 with posts enabled to feature videos up to 15 seconds long. It was a glorious time in social media, as accounts creatively curated new content for this format.
Now, video is a massive component of an overall high-quality and engaging Instagram presence. So if you want to add video to your Instagram strategy, there’s no better time than now.
As with all good things, there are still limitations in place today on Instagram videos. In this section, we’ll go over all of the size and length restrictions you need to be aware of prior to shooting.
Instagram Stories are arguably one of the most popular features on the app, so it’s no surprise that Instagram allows and encourages users to post their videos through Stories.
Even though it may seem like the sky is the limit for videos posted to Stories, there are some restrictions to be aware of, such as:
It’s also important to note that when you upload a video longer than 15 seconds to Stories, it automatically splices it up into 15-second chunks for you. So you might have to trim your iPhone video if you want it to fit in one Story.
You won’t find any feature-length films on this social media app. While videos on Instagram have drastically changed from the original 15-second rule, there is still a short-form limitation in place. And the dimensions depend on which kind of video you use: vertical, landscape, or carousel and square.
Here are the requirements and restrictions for vertical videos:
Here are the requirements and restrictions for horizontal videos:
Here are the requirements and restrictions for carousel and square videos:
In June 2018, Instagram launched IGTV in an effort to meet users’ requests for long-format video. IGTV videos can be posted to your feed or can be found in the IGTV section of your homepage.
While you have more wiggle room when it comes to length for IGTV videos, there are still some limitations to be aware of:
Uploading videos might seem as simple as pressing a button — and often, it is — however, there are two components to consider if you want your content to be high quality: resolution and aspect ratio.
A video’s resolution is the number of pixels that can be displayed in each dimension, which determines how clear or unclear a video is. The aspect ratio is the relationship between the video’s height and width, which also determines the overall picture.
As you may have guessed, Instagram has its own requirements regarding resolution and ratio. We’ll dive deeper into those numbers in the sections below.
Having crystal clear videos on your Instagram Story can lead to an increase in engagement and user action. Here are some requirements and recommendations to keep in mind:
It’s no surprise that using high-quality videos counts the most in your posts.
In general, Instagram supports photos and videos that have a width between 320px and 1080px. However, the recommended resolution and aspect ratio depends on the format you choose: vertical, landscape, or square and carousel.
Below are the requirements and recommendations for vertical video posts:
These are the requirements and recommendations for landscape video posts:
And here are the requirements and recommendations for square and carousel video posts:
Since IGTV is increasingly growing in popularity and use, it’s important to make sure the videos you share there are easy to watch. Below are the requirements and recommendations for aspect ratio and resolution on IGTV videos:
Yes, Instagram does support videos with a resolution of 1080px for IGTV, posts, and Stories.
If you need or want to crop a video for Instagram, the process is fairly simple. Here are the instructions:
Once you go through these instructions, your newly cropped video will be saved to your Camera Roll.
If your video is too large to upload, you’ll have to resize it first. Thankfully, there are many apps and tools designed to change the Instagram video size. For the purpose of this article, we’ll be using the app No Crop, which is free to download in the App Store.
Here’s how to resize a video for Instagram using No Crop:
Instagram supports the video format MP4 for IGTV, posts, and Stories. To get even more technical, the supported video codecs are H.264 and VP8, and supported audio codecs are AAC and Vorbis.
If you’re active on Instagram — or are strategizing to be more active in the future — you’ll want to include video content. Not only is it one of the leading online formats, but it’s a creative way to break up your feed and be even more engaged with your followers. Hope this guide helps you figure out the optimal Instagram video size, format, and resolution to best tell your story.