There is no single "Instagram video aspect ratio." Meta publishes at least six different ratio ranges across three separate documentation sets, and the two numbers everyone quotes — 4:5 and 3:4 — come from two different pages, neither of which is about video.
That is the reason you can read four spec sheets and get four answers. Each range below is quoted from the page it lives on, with the posting path it governs. Use the row that matches how you actually publish.
The ranges, at a glance
| Ratio range | What it governs | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|
| "between 1.91:1 and 9:16" | Reels uploaded from the app | Help centre, Reel size & aspect ratios |
| "between 0.01:1 and 10:1", 9:16 recommended | Reels published through the Graph API | IG User Media reference |
| "between 0.1:1 and 10:1", 9:16 recommended | Stories published through the Graph API | IG User Media reference |
| "within a 4:5 to 1.91:1 range" | Images published through the Graph API | IG User Media reference |
| "between 1.91:1 and 3:4" | Photos shared to the feed | Help centre, Image resolution of photos |
| 9:16, "Aspect Ratio Tolerance: 1%" | Feed video ads, Awareness objective | Meta ads guide |
Two things fall out of that table immediately. First, the widest range is the API's, not the app's: 0.01:1 to 10:1 is close to "anything," with 9:16 merely recommended "to avoid cropping or blank space." Second, the app's Reels range is the narrow one — 1.91:1 to 9:16 — and it is the only ratio range Instagram publishes for organic video at all.
4:5 and 3:4 are both official, and neither is a video spec
This is the part that page-one articles get wrong, consistently and in the same way.
4:5 is real. It appears in Meta's Graph API reference, under a heading that reads Image Specifications: "Aspect ratio: Must be within a 4:5 to 1.91:1 range." That is the API's rule for images published through it — the same block that specifies "Format: JPEG" and "File size: 8 MB maximum."
3:4 is also real. It appears in Instagram's help centre, on a page titled Image resolution of photos you share on Instagram: "When you share a photo that has a width between 320 and 1080 pixels, we keep that photo at its original resolution as long as the photo's aspect ratio is between 1.91:1 and 3:4."
So: two official numbers, two different documents, two different publishing paths — and both pages are about still images. Neither mentions video anywhere. A page that prints "4:5 is Instagram's official video ratio" has taken an API image spec, dropped the word image, and attached it to video.
The honest version: Instagram's published feed ratio window of 1.91:1 to 3:4 is documented for photos, the 4:5 to 1.91:1 window is documented for API images, and Instagram does not publish a corresponding aspect ratio specification for feed video. As of 16 September 2026, Instagram's own "post a video" help article resolves to its Reels article instead.
What happens when your ratio falls outside the range
Here the documentation is precise about photos and silent about video, so keep the two apart.
For photos, the help centre states the behaviour in one sentence: "If the aspect ratio of your photo isn't supported, it will be cropped to fit a supported ratio." The same page documents two resizing rules alongside it — share below 320 pixels wide and "we enlarge it to a width of 320 pixels"; share above 1080 and "we size it down to a width of 1080 pixels."
For API images, the equivalent rules use different numbers: "Minimum width: 320 (will be scaled up to the minimum if necessary)" and "Maximum width: 1440 (will be scaled down to the maximum if necessary)." Same idea, a different ceiling — 1080 in the help centre, 1440 in the API reference.
For video, Instagram publishes no equivalent statement. It does not say what it does to a Reel whose ratio sits outside 1.91:1 to 9:16, and it does not publish the ratio each placement crops video to. If you need certainty there, check the official documentation rather than a third-party spec sheet — no page currently states it.
What to do with a file whose ratio is wrong
Changing an aspect ratio is a crop or a pad, and that decision belongs in whatever you edited in — it is not something a compressor does, and no tool can invent the pixels a crop removed. What you can control before uploading:
- Pick the ratio from the path you are publishing through. Posting from the app: stay inside 1.91:1 to 9:16. Publishing via the API: 9:16 is what Meta recommends "to avoid cropping or blank space."
- Hit the other documented minimums while you are there. The help centre asks Reels for "a minimum frame rate of 30 FPS (frames per second) and minimum resolution of 720 pixels." Note it does not say whether that 720 is width or height.
- Get the file size under control. The API path has a hard "300MB maximum" for Reels; the app path has no published limit, which means no number to aim at and nothing to blame when an upload stalls.
Try it right here
Runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded anywhere.
That runs inside your browser tab — the file is read from disk, re-encoded locally and handed straight back, so unpublished footage never gets a second copy on someone's server. It re-encodes at your existing framing; it does not reframe the shot. If your source is a QuickTime file straight off a Mac or iPhone, MOV to MP4 changes the container the same way, and all Clapr tools lists the rest.
Placement-specific gotchas
One orientation rules a whole carousel. The help centre is explicit: "Keep in mind that the orientation you choose (square, portrait or landscape) affects all of the photos or videos in your post. You can't select a different orientation for each photo or video." Mixed-ratio clips in one carousel is not a thing you can do.
Carousel videos are not Reels. In Instagram's words: "videos in carousels are not considered reels and will not show up in the Reels tab or have reels features." That is the one documented way to keep a video in the feed and out of the Reels tab — at the price of Reels features. Instagram does not publish duration, size or ratio limits for video inside a carousel.
The only stated tolerance is 1%, and it is an ads number. Meta's Feed video ad guide, for the Awareness objective, lists "Aspect Ratio Tolerance: 1%" next to a 9:16 ratio and a 1080 x 1920 resolution. It is the one published figure describing how much ratio drift Meta accepts anywhere — documented for that ad placement, not for organic posting.
Reels and Stories differ by a factor of ten. The API's lower bound is "0.01:1" for Reels and "0.1:1" for Stories. Both are verbatim, on the same page. It is an easy digit to copy wrong.
Cover photos get cropped twice, and that part is documented. The API reference: if a Reel cover is not 9:16, "we crop the image and use the middle most 9:16 rectangle," and if the Reel is shared to the feed, "we crop the image and use the middle most 1:1 square." Anything that must stay legible has to survive both crops.
FAQ
What aspect ratio should I use for Instagram videos? For a Reel posted from the app, anything inside Instagram's stated range of 1.91:1 to 9:16. For an API upload, Meta recommends 9:16 explicitly. For feed video posted from the app, Instagram publishes no ratio specification, so there is no official target to hit.
Is Instagram 4:5 or 3:4? Both, on different pages, and both are about still images. 4:5 to 1.91:1 is the Graph API's image specification. 1.91:1 to 3:4 is the help centre's photo page. Neither range is published for video.
Does Instagram crop my video if the aspect ratio is wrong? Instagram documents cropping for photos — "If the aspect ratio of your photo isn't supported, it will be cropped to fit a supported ratio" — and for Reel cover images. It publishes no equivalent statement for video. Check the official documentation rather than assuming the photo rule transfers.
Why does my 1080 x 1920 export still get adjusted? The only published tolerance figure is "Aspect Ratio Tolerance: 1%", in Meta's Feed video ads guide for the Awareness objective. An export that is a few pixels off exact 9:16 can fall outside a 1% window. For organic posts, Instagram publishes no tolerance at all.
Can I post a landscape video to Instagram? The app's documented Reels range starts at 1.91:1, which is landscape — so a wide clip is inside the stated range. The API's Reels range is wider still, up to 10:1, though 9:16 is what Meta recommends there.
Can different clips in one carousel have different ratios? No. The help centre states that the orientation you pick applies to every photo and video in the post, and that you can't select a different orientation for each one.
For the full spec comparison across all three publishing paths, see Instagram Reels video specs; for the other short-form platform, TikTok video size limits; or browse the rest of the platform limits guides.
Every ratio above is quoted from the Meta and Instagram pages linked in the table, checked 16 September 2026. These specs change — verify against the source before relying on them.
