Video Formats for Instagram: What You Need to Know

November 18, 2022
Contents

Instagram is undoubtedly one of the biggest photo and video sharing platforms. From Stories to Reels, in-feed videos, and more, there are many ways to share what you see and like. 

Every photo or video on Instagram serves different purposes and requirements. Recently, Instagram has shifted towards video content. It's safe to say video is dominating the internet. 

If you want your videos to perform well, you need to do things that please the algorithm and the audience. You can start by paying attention to the sizing requirements for each type of video.

There are currently four different video formats on the Instagram platform:

  • Instagram Reels.
  • In-Feed Videos.
  • Instagram Stories.
  • Instagram Live.

You must be wondering what the video formats are and why we need them, right? Read on to find the answers to your questions.

Why Do Instagram Video Size Requirements Matter?

Instagram videos have basic some requirement for performing their best. By meeting those requirements, you can ensure that your videos look as high-quality and professional as possible. 

Instagram’s video size requirements include dimensions, aspect ratios, file size, and formats. The Instagram video size requirement helps in:

Making Your Content Fit

To make your videos look more professional and high quality, make sure your video satisfies all the requirements.

Instagram crops content to optimize your videos and fit in as much as possible, losing important elements. 

It looks clumsy and mediocre. It is crucial to fulfill the requirements and ensure your video fits on the screen without sacrificing any essential elements.

Better Viewing Experience

The better the viewing experience of the audience, the more impactful it will be on them. 

To create a lasting impression on the audience’s mind, the creators need to provide their viewers with an attention-worthy spectacle which they can achieve by making the video according to the Instagram video requirement.

Instagram Video Sizes

Bbelow are the elements to keep in mind for all kinds of Instagram videos.

Type of Instagram Video Size and Dimension Video Format Aspect Ratio Resolution
Instagram Reels 1080 x 1920p MP4, MOV 9:16
(16:9 in landscape mode)
HD or 1080p
Instagram in-feed 1080 x 1080p (landscape)
1080 x 1350p (portrait)
MP4, MOV, GIF 9:16
(16:9 in landscape mode)
HD or 1080p
Instagram Story 1080 x 1920p MP4, MOV, GIF 9:16
(16:9 in landscape mode)
HD or 1080p
Instagram Live 1080 x 1920p MP4, MOV 9:16
(16:9 in landscape mode)
HD or 1080p

Reels Size

instagram reels size

Size requirements for Instagram Reels are:

  • 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels
  • Max file size 4GB

Instagram Reels was introduced in 2020, and since then, it has picked up. It has become the most viewed type of content on Instagram. 

The Instagram video size for Reels is 1080px by 1920px. This is the default size for most videos on the platform.

In-Feed Video Size

In-Feed Video Size

Size requirements for Instagram in-feed videos are:

  • 1080 x 1080 pixels (landscape)
  • 1080 x 1350 pixels (portrait)
  • Max file size 4GB

In-feed videos are the videos you see on your Instagram feeds. It can be a reel as well as a landscape video. 

The Instagram video size for an in-feed video is 1080px by 1350px, but you can also use 1080×1080, 1080×608, or 1080×1350 if needed.

In-Feed Video Size

In-Feed Video Size

Size requirements for Instagram Stories are

  • 1080 x 608 pixels (minimum)
  • 1080 x 1920 (maximum)
  • Max file size 4GB.

You can post both pictures and videos on Instagram stories. However, videos tend to be more e.ngaging. Instagram Stories have the same size requirements as Instagram Reels, with a maximum file size of 4GB. 

Live Video Size

Instagram Live Video Size

Size requirements for Instagram Live are:

  • 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels.
  • Max file size 4GB.

Instagram Live video size requirements are similar to Stories and Reels, except the duration is much larger for live videos. 

You can use Instagram live video to interact with your followers and boost engagement. 

Instagram Video Dimensions

Reels Dimensions

Instagram video dimensions for Reels are 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels because Instagram Reels are meant to be viewed full-screen, vertically, and on mobile.

Using the reels option, you can shoot and edit them directly on your phone.

In-Feed Video Dimensions

Instagram video dimensions for in-feed videos are:

  • Vertical (1080 x 608 pixels)
  • Horizontal (1080 x 1350 pixels).

Instagram in-feed videos can be either square or horizontal, but keep in mind that the Instagram app doesn’t rotate on mobile. If you share a widescreen video, it may appear with black borders on either side.

Stories Dimensions

Instagram video dimensions for Stories are vertical (min: 1080 x 608 pixels, max: 1080 x 1920).

Like Reels, Stories are designed to be watched vertically, so make sure you film your video on your phone or in portrait mode instead of landscape.

Live Video Dimensions

Dimensions for Instagram Live are 1080 x 1920 pixels. All Instagram Live videos are streamed directly from mobile devices and must be shot vertically.

Instagram Video Aspect Ratio

Reels aspect ratio

The aspect ratio for Instagram Reels is 9:16. The aspect ratio of a video is the width in relation to the height. The first digit always represents the width, and the second represents the height

It’s important that your videos stay within the Instagram recommended aspect ratios so that none of your content is cut off.

In-Feed Aspect Ratio

The correct aspect ratio for in-feed videos, is:

  • 9:16 (1.91:1 to 9:16 are supported)

You can also upload Instagram feed videos in square formats, using a 1080×1080 pixel format. or 1:1 aspect ratio.

Stories Aspect Ratio

The proper aspect ratio for Instagram Stories is:

  • 9:16.

Like Reels and Live broadcasts, Stories perform best when shot in vertical or portrait mode.

Live Video Aspect Ratio

The right aspect ratio for Instagram Live video is:

  • 9:16.

Luckily, the aspect ratio of Instagram Live is set within the app. You can’t change the size once you’ve started.

Instagram Video Size Limit

Reels Size Limit

Size limits for Instagram Reels are

  • 4GB (60 seconds of video).

The Instagram video size limit for Reels is 4GB for 60 seconds of recorded video. We recommend staying below 15MB to reduce upload time.

In-Feed Size Limit

Size limits for Instagram in-feed videos are

  • 650MB (for 10 minutes videos or shorter).
  • 3.6GB (60 minutes videos).

Instagram allows up to 650MB for videos 10 minutes or less in length. Your video can be up to 60 minutes as long as it doesn’t exceed 3.6GB.

Stories Size Limit

Size limits for Instagram Stories are

  • 4GB (15 seconds of video).

The Instagram video size limit for Stories is 4GB every 15 seconds.

Live Video Size Limit

Size limits for Instagram Live videos are:

  • 4GB (4 hours of video).

The maximum Instagram Live video size is 4GB for 4 hours. This is an update from Instagram’s previous Live limits of only 60 minutes.

Instagram Video Formats

Reels video formats

Instagram Reels allows the following file formats:

  • MP4
  • MOV

Instagram currently only allows MP4 and MOV formats when uploading Reels.

In-Feed Video Formats

In-feed video allows the following file formats:

  • MP4
  • MOV
  • GIF

In-feed video posts can use MP4, MOV, or GIF formats on upload.

Stories Video Formats

Stories allow the following file formats:

  • MP4
  • MOV
  • GIF

Instagram Stories allow MP4, MOV, or GIF file formats to be used.

Live Video Formats

Instagram Live video allows the following file formats:

  • MP4.
  • MOV.

When going live, Instagram will create your video in either MP4 or MOV format.

All Videos on Instagram Are Now Shared as Reels

Since July 27, 2022, Instagram decided to share all videos under 15 minutes as reels. But all the videos posted before that will stay as is. 

Instagram has been focusing increasingly on being a video-sharing platform, initially created to compete with Tiktok.

In countries like India, where Tiktok is banned, Instagram reels were blessed with instant popularity among the Indian creators who used Tiktok previously.

What to consider when making an Instagram video?

There are a few things that should be kept in mind whilst making a video for Instagram:

Keep The Video Short and Concise

The average human attention span has gotten a lot shorter. 

Short-form videos give you more freedom to produce good quality, relatable videos that get to the point without the stress of creating more in-depth content. 

Ensure your content fits the attention span and proves worthy of your audience’s views.

Stick To Your Theme

You must have a signature style or theme. Be unique and consistent in the videos you post so that your viewers know what you do best and what they should look forward to. 

Make sure to organize and stick to your theme so that your feed and videos look high quality and professional.

Good Lighting and High-Quality Camera

Lighting and the quality of your video are crucial when recording a video. Make sure you record your videos with a good-quality camera or an iPhone. 

This way, your video will look more professional and sophisticated. Try shooting your video during the day for good lighting and if you want to shoot at night. 

Make sure you do it with proper lighting. Furthermore, investing in a good ring light will help you create high-quality content, even at night.

Shoot According to Your Content Format 

Shoot according to your necessity. For example, shoot in portrait mode or vertically if you want to make a video for a reel or a story. 

In comparison, if you wish to post videos for IGTV, we recommend shooting your video horizontally or in landscape mode.

Pay Attention to Audio

Make sure that alongside your video quality, the audio quality of your video is also good and high-quality. This way, people can decipher what you want to communicate through your videos. 

Use Texts in Your Video Carefully 

You can use texts and captions for better communication. However, you also need to ensure they don’t overlap essential clips and other vital elements to prevent your videos from looking sloppy and unprofessional.

How To Increase the Quality of Your Videos on Instagram

There are many ways to increase the quality of your videos. These are a few tips you can keep in mind to upload high-quality videos on Instagram:

Use High-Speed Internet

Make sure you have a stable internet connection and you’re connected to Wi-Fi to upload your video faster and in high quality as well. 

High-speed internet helps you post your videos sooner and lets you notice how your videos are doing there. 

If your internet connection is going on and off, Instagram may have a hard time and will dramatically reduce the quality of your content.

Turn Off Data Saver Mode

To save our cellular data or internet plans, Instagram might reduce our video quality. 

So make sure that you toggle off the data saver mode on Instagram. Follow the following steps to turn off the data saver mode:

  • Tap the Instagram icon on your Home Screen to launch the app. 
  • Tap your profile icon in the bottom right corner to view your profile.
view profile button in instagram
  • Tap on the three dashes in the upper right corner. A list of more options will pop up. Tap “Settings” at the very top of the list.
tap the three dashes on instagram to open settings
  • Tap “Account” and then “Cellular Data Use” towards the bottom of the list.
tap cellular data use on instagram
  • Alternatively, you can simply search for “Cellular Data Use” back in the Settings menu. 
  • Now, you will need to deactivate the toggle button next to “Data Saver” to unblur the “High-Resolution Media” setting directly below. 
deactivate data saver on instagram
  • Once you do that, it will let you choose from three options: never, WiFi only, or Cellular + WiFi. 
  • Choose “Cellular + WiFi,” and now, regardless if you’re connected through your cell service or WiFi, the Instagram app won’t change your uploads or even attempt to compress or distort any of the content you view.

Right Dimension

You need to follow the correct dimensions for all the formats of videos you want to upload to Instagram. 

This way, you can ensure that your videos look professional and high quality. 

Choose the correct dimensions, size, and aspect ratios for your videos, and make sure they fit in. 

So you do not lose any critical elements to your video as Instagram tends to crop videos to make them fit the specified standards. 

If you don’t post in the recommended dimensions, Instagram can and will frequently reduce the quality of your video or picture as it resizes your content.

HD Video Upload (Preferably 4K)

Try to make sure that you shoot your videos with the best cameras or smartphones and that they are in high definition so that the picture quality of the video appears topnotch. 

If your video is shot and uploaded in ultra high definition or 4K, your video will look surreal and crystal clear, and your viewers will love it.  

Share Your Files Wirelessly

Try to transfer your video files through cloud storage platforms like Google Drive or a file-sharing feature like Airdrop, as it may not deteriorate the video quality. 

You can also use DropBox or Wetransfer to share your files between Mac to Android. By doing so, you can ensure that your video quality doesn’t get changed or tampered with while uploading it to Instagram.

3 Fantastic Video Editing Tools

If you want to start creating high-quality, long-form video content, a professional video editing program will be beneficial. Below are three of the best video editing tools available online:

1. Adobe Premiere Pro CC

This powerful video editing software program is available on Windows and Mac computers. 

Adobe provides a free seven-day trial. After that, an Adobe Premiere Pro CC Individual account costs $31.49 per month.

The design tools in Premiere Pro, combined with the search and edit capabilities of the Text panel, let you craft incredible, custom titles and graphics for any video project. 

Your titles can be simple, beautiful typography, or enriched with graphics and animations.

With the Text panel, you can manage projects with hundreds of titles, and it’s easy to save the designs you want to reuse in your template libraries.

The latest update of Premiere Pro gives you more controls when adding textures to letters or shapes and the ability to export all of the titles in your sequence as text files for easy reviews. 

Thanks to new contextual menus, it’s faster and easier to edit any layer in your design. It also covers the basics, including text overlays, graphics, transitions, and color grading.

2. Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro combines revolutionary video editing with a powerful media organization and incredible performance. 

Apple provides a 30-day free trial. After that, Final Cut Pro X is available for a one-time fee of $299.99.

Apple’s Final Cut Pro X is another feature-packed video editing program only available on Macs. 

The Final Cut Pro X user interface is intuitive and relatively simple to use considering the multitude and complexity of its features. 

Like Adobe Premiere Pro CC, this program provides Multicam editing, unlimited video tracks, automatic syncing, and intelligent color balancing. It is best for Mac users with a production budget. 

3. OFFEO

OFFEO is an AI-powered video editing tool that helps you create short videos in less than 3 minutes. It's easy to use, so you can start making your videos today!

No design experience is needed—it's fully automated for your convenience. 

It offers a variety of features and customizations to suit your needs. You can either use our library of millions of Shutterstock images/footage or upload your images and be spoilt for choice.

You can also choose from thousands of designs, so you'll never get bored with your videos again!

It is suitable for any social media platform for personal and professional videos. You can customize the dimension to suit any platform. 

With OFFEO, you can easily customize the size to fit any platform, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and many more.

Offeo offers its Premium services at only $19/month, but you can get it at a throwaway price of just $12.42/month, billed annually. You will have to pay $149 annually to get the premium version of Offeo. 

It also offers a 30-day refund promise, so if you do not like using the platform, you can also ask for a refund.

FAQs: Video format for Instagram

What is the best video format for Instagram?

Although you can upload a few different types of video, the ideal Instagram video format is .mp4. That will give your videos the best resolution and playability for your viewers.

Should you use dimensions larger than your smartphone screen?

Instagram works best on mobile phones when you post videos with 1080 x 1920p dimensions for full-screen applications like Stories, Reels, and IGTV.

Videos in the regular feed look best at 1080 x 1350p. You can also post videos with dimensions exceeding those of a smartphone screen, and Instagram will properly shrink the video to fit a user’s screen.

How long can an Instagram video be?

The videos that appear in the regular newsfeed and Stories can be 15 seconds long. Instagram will automatically splice longer videos into 15-second pieces. 

Videos posted as a Reel can be 60 seconds long. The format for the longest videos is IGTV, and those videos range from 60 seconds on the low end to 60 minutes on the high end.

What is the bitrate for an Instagram video?

Instagram uses a 3500kbps bitrate.

Can you post 16:9 on Instagram? ‍

Instagram recommends shooting with an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 4:5. However, the platform can accommodate videos with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Can you post horizontal videos on Instagram?

Instagram’s layout prefers vertical videos, also known as portrait videos. 

However, you can also upload horizontal videos or landscape videos. They will look smaller and zoomed out on the regular Instagram feed, but they can appear full-sized in full-screen video applications such as Stories, IGTV, or Reels.

How to change a video’s format to MP4?

Select and upload a video from your device. Videos can be up to 1 hour long.

Convert your video using an online .mp4 converter which will automatically convert your video. Trim, mute, and preview your clip if you need to. Then, instantly download your video as an MP4.

How do I change the aspect ratio of an Instagram video?

It’s crucial that your videos stay within the Instagram recommended aspect ratios so that none of your content is cut off.  

What is the max video size for Instagram?

 The maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.

Conclusion: Video format for Instagram

Making amazing Instagram videos requires creativity and a good understanding of what specifications to use for each type of video. 

Remember to stick to video format and requirements, and be mindful of aspect ratio recommendations and video resolution to create easy and enjoyable videos. 

Also, pay attention to file sizes and create shorter content. Use video editing tools like Offeo to make your video look even better. 

Written By
Ankita

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