Instagram Reels size, length and safe zone

Instagram takes any shape from 1.91:1 to 9:16, so a 4:5 or even a horizontal video posts as a reel.[1] But it recommends reels filmed vertically, and shows reels with borders less often.[10] Meta doesn't publish how it fills the screen around a wider reel.

An upright frame, nine units wide for every sixteen tall: the full-screen shape of Reels.[14] In pixels that is 720 × 1280, 1080 × 1920, 1440 × 2560 or 2160 × 3840. On phones taller than 9:16, Meta says an ad may be zoomed to fill the screen or shown with black above and below.[19]

And at least 30 frames a second.[1] Instagram's own advice is to upload the highest resolution you can,[5] and you can set every upload to its highest quality.[1] Its Edits app exports HD, 2K or 4K.[39] Make it 30 fps: Instagram asks for at least 30,[1] and Facebook's export settings for 30 or lower.[11]

It's Instagram's sweet spot for tutorials and most formats. Shorter suits a one-line hook, longer a walkthrough;[6] past 3 minutes a reel isn't recommended to people who don't follow you yet.[4] Facebook says reels of 10 to 30 seconds drive reach, and longer ones engagement.[16]

Instagram moved to a tall profile grid in January 2025.[22] Measured on instagram.com, each tile is 3:4, three to a row, with the picture cut from the middle.[20] So a 1080 × 1920 cover shows only its middle 1080 × 1440 on your grid: keep its title inside that.

Switch on closed captions under More options and the speech is written out at the bottom, with a translation option;[40] or add the Captions sticker to edit, style and move them.[6] They're offered only in some places.[41] With the sound off, Instagram shows them by itself.[5] Our reels go further. Every word said is on screen, in all eight reels: 790 of 790.

Instagram allows up to 5 hashtags on a post, and a reel is a post: add a sixth and it won't post.[29] The 30 you may still read about is the limit for one comment,[42] and Meta's Feed ads guide still lists 30.[2] So pick the five that say what the reel is about.

Instagram's music library is for personal, non-commercial use, and certain business accounts and kinds of posts can't use it; those may get Meta's Sound Collection instead.[43] Reels ads can't carry licensed music at all.[3] Instagram recommends reels with original audio too,[10] and every film we make gets your brand's own music.

Since September 2025, every video you post on Facebook is a reel, in any shape, from 3 seconds up with no maximum length.[34][15] For the cleanest upload, Facebook's export settings ask for sides divisible by 16 and 30 fps or lower:[11] 1440 × 2560 divides by 16; 1080 × 1920 doesn't (1080 ÷ 16 = 67.5), though Facebook takes any shape.[34]

Turn it on when you post; once your profile is connected to a Facebook Page, it's on by default.[23] One catch: a reel already shared to Facebook can't be boosted from the app.[14]

MP4 or MOV, H.264 with stereo AAC at 128 kbps or more, up to 15 minutes and 4 GB, no licensed music; primary text past 44 characters may be cut off.[3] Facebook Reels ads have no maximum length, and text past 40 characters may be cut.[9] Boosting from the app takes 90 seconds or less.[14] Ads now carry the label "Ad".[27]

A trial reel is shown first to accounts that don't follow you.[25] It needs a professional account; insights arrive within 24 hours. If you choose, Instagram then shares it with your followers too, if it finds the trial is performing well: a lot of views in its first 72 hours.[25]

Feature teasers, how-tos, before and afters, the question your buyers ask answered on the real screen, a founder's take, one customer's story. Whatever the kind, Instagram's own advice holds: hook people in the first three seconds, and make it work with the sound off.[5]