How to Crop a Video on Instagram

Getting your video to fit perfectly on Instagram often feels like it should be simpler than it is. Whether you're posting a Reel, a Story, or a classic Feed post, one wrong crop can cut off the best part of your shot. This guide will walk you through exactly how to crop your videos directly within the Instagram app for every format and offer some pro-tips to make your content look polished every time.

Why Does Cropping Your Instagram Video Even Matter?

Cropping isn't just about trimming the edges of your video, it's about optimizing your content for how people actually use Instagram. Each format on the platform - Feed, Stories, and Reels - has its own unique dimensions. When you properly crop your video, you’re not just making it look better, you're making it perform better. A well-framed video grabs attention instantly, prevents viewers from getting distracted by weird black bars, and makes your entire profile look more professional and intentionally designed.

Think about how you scroll. On the Reels feed, you expect tall, immersive vertical videos that fill your entire screen. On your main grid, you might see square or slightly taller portrait videos. A video that ignores these expectations feels out of place and can interrupt the viewing experience, making it more likely for someone to scroll right past. Essentially, taking a few seconds to crop correctly tells your audience that you value their attention and you've put care into what you’re sharing. It's a small detail that contributes to a stronger brand and more engaged followers.

Understanding Instagram's Main Video Aspect Ratios

Before you start resizing, knowing the basic dimensions will save you a lot of guesswork. An aspect ratio is simply the proportional relationship between the width and height of a rectangle. Here are the most common ones you'll need for Instagram:

• Stories & Reels (9:16): This is your classic vertical phone screen. The ideal dimensions are 1080 x 1920 pixels. This format is designed to be fully immersive, taking up every bit of screen real estate.
• Square Feed Post (1:1): The original Instagram format still looks clean and balanced on your profile grid. Optimal dimensions are 1080 x 1080 pixels. It's safe, reliable, and works well for a wide variety of content.
• Vertical Feed Post (4:5): This is arguably the best-performing format for the main feed. At 1080 x 1350 pixels, it's taller than a square post, giving your video more space in the feed and pushing other content further down the screen. More screen time equals more opportunity to hook a viewer.
• Horizontal Feed Post (1.91:1): While possible, horizontal video (1080 x 566 pixels) isn't recommended. On a mobile device, it creates a small video with empty space above and below, failing to capture attention effectively. Your best bet is to avoid this unless absolutely necessary.

Your goal is to make your video fit naturally into one of these containers. Now, let's look at how to do it right inside the app.

How to Crop a Video for an Instagram Feed Post

When you share a video to your main profile grid, Instagram gives you a couple of standard framing options: the default 1:1 square and the taller 4:5 portrait. The in-app tool makes it easy to switch between them and adjust your video inside the frame.

Here’s the step-by-step process:

1. Start a New Post: Tap the `+` icon at the bottom of the Instagram home screen and select "Post."
2. Choose Your Video: Select the video you want to upload from your phone's camera roll. By default, Instagram will show you a square (1:1) preview.
3. Select Your Aspect Ratio: This is the most important step. In the bottom-left corner of the video preview, you'll see a small crop icon that looks like two overlapping right angles. Tap this icon to toggle between the default square frame and the "fit to screen" option. If your video was originally vertical, it will snap to a 4:5 portrait frame. If it was horizontal, it will fit the horizontal dimensions.
4. Reframe Your Shot (If Needed): Once you've chosen your frame (we strongly recommend the 4:5 portrait one!), you can adjust what appears inside it. Use two fingers to pinch and zoom in or out, or simply drag the video with one finger to move it up, down, left, or right. This centering is what allows you to "crop" the video to focus on the main action. For example, if your original video had a lot of empty space at the top, you could drag the video down to ensure the subject is perfectly centered in the 4:5 frame.
5. Proceed to Edit &, Post: Once you're happy with the framing, tap "Next." From here, you can add filters, trim the video's length, choose a cover photo, write your caption, and share it with your followers.

How to Resize a Video for Instagram Stories & Reels

For Stories and Reels, the process is less about a direct "crop" tool and more about resizing and reframing your video to fit the full-screen 9:16 format. Instagram automatically tries to make your video fit, but manual adjustments give you a much better final product.

This process works virtually the same whether you're creating a Story or a Reel.

1. Open the Story or Reel Editor: Swipe right from the home screen to open the Story camera, or tap the `+` icon and select "Reel."
2. Select Your Video: Swipe up or tap the gallery icon in the bottom-left corner to access your camera roll and choose your video file.
3. Resize and Reframe Manually: Instagram will drop the video onto the 9:16 canvas.
   • If your video is already in 9:16 format, congratulations! No adjustments are needed.
   • If your video is horizontal, it will appear in the center of the screen with large empty spaces above and below it.
   • If your video is in a different vertical format (like 4:5), it will be centered but won't fill the full screen heightwise.
   To fix this, simply use two fingers to zoom in. Spread your fingers apart on the screen to enlarge the video until it completely fills the 9:16 frame. Once it's zoomed in, you can drag it around to perfectly position the main subject. This is effectively how you crop for this format.
4. Check for "Safe Zones": Before you proceed, remember that the Instagram interface will place your username, the caption, and the like/comment/share buttons over parts of your video at the bottom and sides. Keep the most important visual elements and any on-screen text away from the extreme edges to prevent them from being covered up.
5. Add Your Creative Elements and Post: After you’ve framed your video, you can add text, stickers, music, or filters before sharing it as a Reel or to your Story.

When Instagram's Crop Tool Isn't Enough

The in-app tools are great for quick, simple adjustments. But sometimes, you need more precision. Cropping by pinching and zooming can sometimes mean losing video quality, and it doesn't give you exact control. If you're repurposing a horizontal YouTube video into a vertical Reel, for example, you might need to crop out a very specific portion of the frame.

In these cases, a third-party video editing app is your best friend. Apps like CapCut, InShot, or VN Video Editor give you professional-level control right on your phone, often for free.

Using a Dedicated Video Editor

The process is generally the same across these apps:

1. Import Your Video: Open the app and start a new project with your video footage.
2. Find the Crop/Canvas Tool: Look for an option called "Canvas," "Format," "Aspect Ratio," or "Crop."
3. Choose a Preset: These apps come with presets for all major social media platforms. You can simply select the Instagram icon and choose "9:16 Reel/Story" or "4:5 Post" to instantly set the right canvas size.
4. Adjust Your Footage: With the canvas set, you can now drag and zoom your original video layer within it until the framing is perfect. You'll see a precise preview of what will be cropped out, giving you complete control.
5. Export and Upload: Once you've perfected the crop, export the video in high definition (1080p is a great choice), and it's ready to be uploaded to Instagram, formatted perfectly from the start.

Final Pro-Tips for Perfect Instagram Videos

• Film with the Destination in Mind: The easiest way to avoid tricky cropping issues is to film vertically if you know your video is going to be an Instagram Story or Reel. Thinking about the final format before you even press record saves huge amounts of time in editing.
• Protect the Center: When filming action or interviews, try to keep the main focal point relatively centered. This gives you maximum flexibility when cropping for different aspect ratios later. Your subject won't get awkwardly cut off if you need to convert a horizontal video to a square or 4:5 version.
• Beware of Quality Loss: Digitally zooming a video is not the same as having a zoom lens. Every time you pinch and zoom to crop a video, you're essentially discarding pixels and stretching what's left. A significant crop on a low-resolution video will result in a blurry, pixelated final product. Always start with the highest quality original footage you can.

Final Thoughts

Perfectly cropping your videos is a fundamental skill for creating content that looks professional and performs well on Instagram. By understanding the key aspect ratios and mastering both the in-app tools and third-party apps, you can ensure your content always fills the screen effectively and grabs your audience's attention for all the right reasons.

We know that getting your videos perfectly sized and edited is only one part of the social media management puzzle. It's often the pre-game work before the real challenge: scheduling everything consistently across multiple platforms. That’s why we built Postbase, a social media tool designed for the modern creator, with a special focus on short-form video. Once your Reel, TikTok, or Short is perfectly cropped, you can upload it once and schedule it everywhere from a single, beautiful visual calendar, letting you get back to creating instead of just managing.