How to Export for Instagram

Nothing's more frustrating than spending hours editing a video, only to have Instagram turn it into a blurry, pixelated mess. Your carefully crafted content deserves to look as good on the feed as it does on your timeline. This guide cuts through the confusion and gives you the exact, no-nonsense export settings to get crisp, professional-looking video and photos on Instagram every single time.

Why Instagram Compresses Your Content (and How to Work Around It)

First, let's get one thing straight: Instagram compresses every single piece of media you upload. There's no secret setting to turn this off. The platform serves billions of users on countless different devices and internet connections, so its top priority is making sure content loads quickly for everyone. A massive, uncompressed 4K video file might look pristine on your computer, but it would take forever to load on a shaky 4G connection. That's a bad user experience, and Instagram will do anything to avoid it.

So, the platform takes your beautiful, high-resolution file and runs it through its compression algorithm to make it smaller and faster to serve. This is where things go wrong. If your file is drastically different from what Instagram prefers - say, a 4K video with a massive bitrate - the compression algorithm has to work overtime. It aggressively throws away data to shrink the file, and that lost data translates into pixelation, banding in gradients, a soft look, and muddy audio.

The goal isn't to upload the biggest file possible and fight the compression. It's to do the opposite. You want to give Instagram a file that’s already been optimized for its platform. By exporting your content with settings that are very close to Instagram’s ideal specifications, you give its compression algorithm very little work to do. When it sees that your file is already the right size, resolution, and format, it doesn't have to compress it as aggressively, preserving the quality you worked so hard to create. Think of it as meeting Instagram halfway so it doesn't have to come stomp all over your content.

The Universal Best Export Settings for Any Video Editor

Whether you're using a professional desktop editor or a simple mobile app, these core settings are the foundation for a perfect Instagram export. Nearly every video editor will allow you to adjust these basics. We’ll cover specific software walkthroughs next, but memorizing these values will serve you well no matter what you use.

Video Settings: Your Go-To Recipe

These settings are optimized for Reels, Stories, and IGTV, which are now the dominant formats on the platform. Following these will deliver a file that is lightweight yet high-quality.

• Container/Format: MP4. This is the universal standard for web video. If you see format options, MP4 is always the one you want.
• Codec: H.264 (sometimes called AVC). Think of the container (MP4) as the box and the codec (H.264) as the way the video is packed inside a box. H.264 is the most efficient and widely supported codec for web use.
• Resolution: 1080p on the shorter side.
  • For vertical video (Reels/Stories): 1080 x 1920
  • For square feed posts: 1080 x 1080
  • For 4:5 vertical feed posts: 1080 x 1350
  Don't bother with 4K. While your camera might shoot in 4K, Instagram will immediately downscale it to its preferred resolution, and its downscaling process can introduce artifacts. You'll get much cleaner results by resizing to 1080p yourself during export.
• Frame Rate: 30 fps (frames per second). Instagram's player runs at 30 fps, so giving it a file that already matches this frame rate is best practice. If you filmed at 60 or 120 fps for slow-motion effects, make sure your project timeline is set to 30 fps and your final export is 30 fps. The editor will correctly handle the slow-motion playback within that container.
• Bitrate Mode: VBR, 2-Pass. VBR stands for Variable Bit Rate. This is a smart way to allocate data. Unlike a Constant Bit Rate (CBR) that uses the same amount of data for every second of video, VBR assigns more data to complex, high-motion scenes and less data to simple, static scenes. "2-Pass" means the software analyzes your video twice - once to figure out where to best allocate the data, and a second time to perform the actual export. It takes slightly longer but results in significantly better quality for the same file size.
• Target & Maximum Bitrate: This is the secret ingredient. For a 1080p video at 30 fps, use a Target Bitrate of 10-12 Mbps (Megabits per second) and a Maximum Bitrate of 15-20 Mbps. Some editors use "Kbps" instead of "Mbps" - in that case, the values would be 10,000-12,000 Kbps and 15,000-20,000 Kbps. Uploading a video with a bitrate of 30, 40, or 50+ Mbps is overkill. It’s like turning a fire hose on a garden pot - most of it is wasted and Instagram will just crank up the compression to get it down to a manageable size, ruining your quality in the process.

Audio Settings: Simple and Clean

While video gets all the attention, poor audio quality can instantly make your content feel unprofessional. Luckily, the settings are simple.

• Audio Codec: AAC (Advanced Audio Coding). This is the standard for web video and offers high quality at low file sizes.
• Audio Sample Rate: 48,000 Hz (or 44.1 kHz, both are fine).
• Audio Bitrate: 128 kbps. This is more than enough for clear sound through phone speakers or earbuds. Going higher doesn’t provide a noticeable difference on social media and just adds to the file size.

Walkthroughs: Exporting from Top Editing Apps

Knowing the settings is half the battle. Here's a quick look at where to find them in some of the most popular video editors.

Adobe Premiere Pro / Premiere Rush

Premiere gives you full control over every setting, which is perfect for dialing things in.

1. Open the export window by going to File >, Export >, Media… or pressing CMD + M (Mac) / Ctrl + M (Windows).
2. In the "Export Settings" panel on the right, set the Format to "H.264".
3. Open the Video tab. Make sure "Match Source" is unchecked if your timeline is a different size. Set the Frame Size to 1080 width x 1920 height. Set the Frame Rate to 30.
4. Check the box for "Render at Maximum Depth" to improve quality with gradients and color.
5. Scroll down to Bitrate Settings. Set the Bitrate Encoding to "VBR, 2 Pass". Drag the Target Bitrate slider to 12 Mbps and the Maximum Bitrate slider to 20 Mbps.
6. Open the Audio tab. Set the Audio Format to "AAC", the Sample Rate to "48000 Hz", and the Bitrate to "128 kbps".
7. Check "Use Maximum Render Quality" at the bottom of the window, then click Export.

Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro abstracts some settings to keep things simpler, but you can still get excellent results.

1. Go to File >, Share >, Export File... (or add a new export destination). Some versions may label it "Master File."
2. In the Settings tab, make sure the Format is set to "Computer" (this defaults to MP4).
3. For Video Codec, choose "H.264 Better Quality". This is FCP's version of a well-optimized VBR setting and typically lands in the perfect 10-20 Mbps range.
4. Set your Resolution to the correct vertical size, like "1920 x 1080." On FCP, you may need to first ensure your project itself is set to a custom vertical resolution for this option to be available.

DaVinci Resolve

Resolve's "Deliver" page can seem intimidating, but it offers powerful customization just like Premiere.

1. Go to the Deliver page (the rocket ship icon at the bottom).
2. In the Render Settings on the very top left, choose the "Custom Export" setting.
3. Choose your filename and location. Set the Format to "MP4" and the Codec to "H.264".
4. Under the video settings, set your Resolution to 1080x1920 and your Frame Rate to 30.
5. In the Quality section, choose "Restrict to" and enter 12,000 kb/s. This is your target bitrate.
6. Switch to the Audio tab. Keep the Codec as "AAC". Under Data Rate, set it to "128 kb/s". Add to Render Queue and start your render!

What About Photos? Exporting Sharp Images Every Time

Good export settings aren't just for video. The same principles apply to photos, and Instagram will compress your images if you don't give it what it wants.

• File Format: JPEG. It's the standard for web photos.
• Color Space: sRGB. This is perhaps the most important setting. If you edit in a wider color space like aRGB or ProPhoto RGB and forget to convert on export, all your beautiful colors will look washed out and dull when uploaded. Instagram's platform is built on the sRGB color space.
• Dimensions: Keep the narrow edge at 1080px.
  • For a standard portrait photo (4:5 ratio), this means 1080px wide by 1350px tall.
  • For a square photo, it’s 1080px wide by 1080px tall.
  Instagram caps the width at 1080px, so resizing your image to this dimension before uploading prevents Instagram from doing its own lower-quality resize.
• Quality & Sharpening: In Lightroom or Photoshop's "Export As" dialogue, set the JPEG quality to around 76-80%. This provides an excellent balance of file size and detail... and yes, Instagram is just going to re-compress it anyway. In the same panel, apply output sharpening for "Screen" at a "Standard" or "Low" amount. This adds a nice pop of sharpness that counteracts the softness added by compression.

Pro Tip: Don't Ruin Your Export When Transferring to Your Phone

You've followed all the steps and created a perfectly optimized file. Don't fall at the final hurdle. Many common methods of getting a file from your computer to your phone will do their own aggressive compression, ruining all your hard work before you even upload.

Methods to AVOID:

• WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger
• Standard MMS text messages
• The default "email to yourself" method on some providers

Methods you SHOULD use:

• AirDrop: The fastest and easiest way for Apple users. It’s a direct transfer with zero quality loss.
• Cloud Storage: Upload your file to Dropbox, Google Drive, or WeTransfer on your computer, then download the file from their app onto your phone. No compression involved.
• A trusted scheduling platform that handles media correctly.

Final Thoughts

Mastering your export settings is about taking control away from Instagram's unpredictable compression algorithm. By providing a clean, optimized file that meets the platform's preferred specifications, you can guarantee your content looks sharp, professional, and exactly how you intended it to look every time you post.

Perfecting your export is the final step in creation, but the job is only half done. We built Postbase to solve the frustrations that come next. Because our platform is designed for today's video-first world, you can upload your perfectly exported Reels and schedule them without worrying about unexpected compression, format issues, or the dreaded "failed to post" notification. Your hard work deserves to be seen, on time and with the quality it deserves.